Whenever I talk to someone about juicing, some of the first questions I always get asked are, “Why juice vs blend?” or better yet, “Why go through the trouble of juicing an apple, or a carrot, when I could just well, eat the carrot?” and finally “Doesn’t that seem like a waste, to throw all that pulp away?”
Great questions.
First, just in case this is all new to you, let me explain.
Blending is throwing all the fruits and vegetables into a blender and making a shake, or smoothie type of drink.
Juicing is using equipment (a juicer) that extracts the juice and water from the fruits and vegetables discarding the indigestible fiber.
The juice you’re left with contains most of the vitamins and minerals found in the whole fruit or vegetable. Obviously because of this process, it requires a greater volume of fruits and vegetables to make a glass of juice than it would to make a blended shake or smoothie. But the nutritional value you receive from a juice is far higher than it would be from a smoothie.
Both juicing and blending are great options. But consider juicing a way of getting the best nutritional value from several fruits and vegetables in their most concentrated form, in one glass (or bottle).
In other words, I could eat a carrot and get about 25 calories worth of energy, a little bit of vitamins and nutrition and still be hungry. Or, I could drink a full glass of carrot juice, which would satisfy me with about 175 calories worth of energy and loads more vitamins and nutrients than I would get out of one carrot.
Let me just be honest. If it weren’t for juicing, I would not get my recommended daily intake of vegetables. I just wouldn’t. So for me, the decision to juice really comes down to nutrition and giving my body what it needs.
Additionally, it really helps to give our digestive system a break every now and then. Drinking juice instead of eating makes it easier for our bodies to absorb the nutrients quickly since our body doesn’t have to break down and digest the food. The nutrition of a juice goes straight to your system, which provides a wonderful, noticeable boost of energy.
Now, that’s not to say that I won’t have a smoothie every now and then when I’m on a juice fast. But having done both all-smoothie fasts and all-juice fasts, I can attest that I feel noticeably different and much much healthier and energized from drinking juices vs drinking smoothies. There’s just really no comparison.
Be sure to join me for my next post, “How Many Juices Per Day?“ The answer is probably more than you think.
Here’s to your health,
Linda G Riddle
Linda G Riddle 