Studies show that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables every day is the best strategy for weight management and reduction of risk for chronic heart diseases. With both juicing or blending, you can easily maintain the daily intake of fruits and veggies.
Juicing and blending are proven to be easier than eating fruits and vegetables as a whole. Vegetable extracts reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and increase the percent of antioxidants present in the body.
The best thing about blending or juicing is that you can add any ingredients of your choice. Even a large volume of stuff looks small and it becomes easy to consume. Spinach, kale, cabbage are veggies that are very essential for your daily intake.
But, What if you don’t like its taste? The simple yet effective way is to blend or juice it with any of your favorite ingredients. In this way, the bitter taste and unpleasant odor are suppressed giving the essential nutrients you require.
Difference Between Blending and Juicing
If you are already having a juicer or blender, but are confused with the terms blending and juicing, you should know their differences. Both juicing and blending might look the same. But they are not. A juicer will give you the juice of the fruit or veggies you put in. Juice refers only to the water and nutritional content of the fruit. Whereas, a blender gives you a smoothie.
Have you ever wondered why fancy restaurants and fruit shops charge more for fresh juice than smoothies? It is because juicing requires a greater volume of ingredients. An entire apple will just give your half cup of juice until water is not added. But smoothies are exactly what you put in. The same amount of stuff you put in will go inside your body.
Smoothies are a great meal replacement. You can easily stuff in fruits, veggies, nuts, raisins, protein, or collagen powder. The consistency is much thicker than the juice.
Juices are a great source of refreshment. It feels like water but brings in all the essential nutrients that are required. However, nothing in this world is completely perfect, isn’t it? Both juicing and blending have their pros and cons. Also, read uses of mixer grinder.
It all depends on your nutritional and mood requirements. At the end of this article, you will have a detailed insight into their pros and cons, so that you will be able to purchase a blender or juicer according to your choice.
Juicing- Pros and Cons
Many juicers work with the concept of centrifugation. Fruits or vegetables are revolved at a higher speed to remove all the fiber to extract the nutritional content alone.
However, some expensive juicers masticate the ingredients at a slower pace for the efficient extraction of minerals and nutrients. Both types of juicers work well. Attention must be paid to factors like maintenance, ease of digestion, and nutritional absorption.
Pros of juicing:
Easy absorption
Juices are devoid of all the fibrous contents a fruit or veggie has. The fibers delay the process of digestion. Juices can act as an immediate source of glucose. It is quickly assimilated and absorbed into the blood.
Fresh juices can act as an immediate boost after your daily workout
Low sugar levels
Juices are great for diet and weight loss management. The stuff you will be adding to the jar will be either vegetables or fruits. The calorie intake is also minimal in the case of juices. You will not need to add additional filters or nuts to them.
They are mostly very light and can be taken between meals.
Veggies
Adding an adequate number of servings of vegetables every day is much difficult than fruits. You will have to boil, cook, and then eat. That becomes more tedious and boring. By juicing all the vegetables with your favorite fruits, you will be able to get maximum nutrients in a glass.
Cons of juicing:
Maintenance
Whatever kitchen appliance you buy, you will have to spend time on its cleaning and maintenance at the end of the day. Before you choose between a juicer and a blender, make sure you inspect whether it would be comfortable to clean them. If you don’t do that, you are probably wasting money on a product that is going to stay idle in your kitchen for years.
Fibrous content
Fibrous contents are completely stripped off from the fruits. All you drink is just the flesh of the ingredient. It might be light and easy to drink but the fibers present in fruits are very important to ease your digestion and ensures smooth bowel movements.
The fibers are wasted while juicing. This factor must be kept in mind before relying on juices completely for your nutritional requirements.
Not a meal replacement
If you are looking for a meal replacement for breakfast or lunch to quickly satisfy your nutrient requirement, then juicing is not for you. They can only act as supplements to aid your nourishment. You will end up being hungry as only water and natural sugars are present in the juice. You can have juices at intervals of your workout or when you feel to have.
Cost
Juicing extracts only the water and nutrition from the fruit or veggies. This results in a very less volume of juice. You will have to stuff in large quantities to get a decent amount of juice. That is why restaurants charge much higher for fresh juices. Besides purchasing a juicer, a large number of ingredients will add up to your expenses.
Blending – Pros and Cons
Smoothies are a result of everything you put into the jar. It blends everything without stripping of fibers and antioxidants. Smoothies are a great meal replacement. Smoothies also work with routine diets.
Purchasing a blender is inexpensive than a juicer. A basic blender will work with all types of ingredients to give you delicious smoothies. However, there are pros and cons of blending that you should consider looking at before you blend your first or next smoothie.
Pros of Blending:
Fibrous content
Fibers and antioxidants are preserved in smoothies. You will get all the benefits of eating in blending. Blenders mix all the ingredients at a faster rate to form a uniform mixture that we call a smoothie.
In addition to the benefits offered by a juice, you will get the required antioxidants to eliminate toxins from your body efficiently. With a blender, you can blend all the parts of a fruit(seeds, peels, and leaves).
Affordable
A blender is cheaper than a juicer. Regarding the ingredients, you will not need to purchase them in larger amounts. As all the contents are preserved you will get a decent amount of mixture.
The blender will last for quite longer than the juicer. It is also easy to clean and maintain.
Versatile
With blenders, you can blend whatever you want. Other than fruits and vegetables you can add your collagen powder, yogurt, protein powder, nuts, milk, and anything else you feel to.
With smoothies, you can be creative and ensure that you acquire a wholesome balance of nutrition every day. You can also add oats, cereals, or pulses to make your smoothie beneficial.
Meal replacement
Smoothies are a great meal replacement. Blending saves you a lot of time. You will just have to pile up all the ingredients and blend for a few minutes. Your breakfast will be ready in no time. You will no more have to worry about getting up early and prepping your breakfast before work.
It fills your stomach and let you stay full for a longer time. Smoothies are recommended by many nutritionists for weight loss diets as they have dual benefits of both nutrition and fibers.
Cons of Blending:
Calories and sugars
Blending might tempt you to add more fillers to improve the texture and taste of your smoothie. This might turn dangerous most of the time. You will end up losing track of the calorie count of all the ingredients you have.
Fillers like yogurt, butter, and milk will add up more sugars to your drink that you will not even know. You will have to limit the ingredients and maintain track of their calorie and sugar levels.
Note: People with medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases must seek medical assistance about calories and sugar intake.
Comparison between Juicing and Blending
1- Digestion
Smoothie might seem better than juices in aiding digestion. Research studies show that the blades of the blender destroy soluble fibers to a major extent. However, insoluble fibers present in smoothies are obtained without any loss. More doses of insoluble fibers might elongate the stools causing difficulties for people with piles and other intestine troubles.
Juices on the other hand strip out all the fibrous content not allowing the chance of absorption of them. Antioxidants are a greater eliminator of toxic substances from your body. Juicers destroy the majority of antioxidants which again are not good for health. If you dwell more on these areas, you will end creating a mess in your head. These terms will become more difficult and confusing for you to choose from.
The best way to make sure that you get only the benefits and not in trouble is to maintain balance. Whichever option you choose, don’t completely rely on them. Consult a professional if you have digestion problems. Both juices and smoothies can be your best friend if you understand their use in the right way without overdosage.
2- Nutrient Absorption
Both juicing and blending reduce the time of absorption compared to eating. Juicing contains only the nutrient and water content that is easily absorbed from the intestine. It acts as an immediate source of sugar (fructose in fruits).
Absorption in the case of blending is slightly longer than juicing. The fiber contents present in a smoothie will take time to be completely digested and assimilated. That is why having a smoothie will make you feel full for a long time.
3- Calorie Intake and Weight Loss
The ideal calorie intake for a normal adult is about 2000-2500 calories. It is important to track your intake before anything goes into your stomach. Juices have fewer calories compared to smoothies. However, you can also restrict the ingredients you use while blending to adjust the calorie intake.
If you are on a weight loss plan, both juices, and smoothies will help you if you use them in the right way. Skipping breakfast and having a glass of juice is not going to help in any way. Prefer having smoothies while skipping meals. This will help you to come up with hunger. Consume juices during intervals and at times when you are tired.
4- Antioxidants and Nutrients
Antioxidants are a very essential substance that reverses skin aging by removing all the harmful substances from your body. Smoothies retain a lot of antioxidants despite the blades than juices. However, a masticatory juicer is proven to be efficient in preserving the antioxidants.
Nutrients are completely extracted by juicing. Blending promises to provide all the benefits of juicing. But when we look deeper into it, it is not true. Blending involves the rotation of blades at higher speeds that produce an enormous about of heat. Studies show that excess heat can kill the nutrients. That is why juicing is preferred over smoothies for more nutrition.
Conclusion
Blending or juicing, both have their pros and cons. Make sure you have detailed knowledge about them before you buy a juicer or blender. Be prepared with the fact that both of them will require frequent cleaning and maintenance.
If you are in a hurry to work and don’t have time for breakfast, then smoothies are better than skipping meals. Juicing is best if you want something light to have in between the meals for refreshments.
In case of a serious diet or weight loss plan, you will have to discuss with your dietician to help you out in selecting between both. Juices and smoothies have become so popular these days because people don’t have time or they’re lazy to cut and cook to eat.
Juicing and blending skips the mastication process entirely which is not good for the long run. Eating fruits and veggies must be included in your daily regime. Go for these options only when you don’t have time or if you are not able to satisfy your daily nutrient requirements.
