Juicing and smoothie making is incredibly popular these days for many reasons. They are both great ways to get in your fruits and vegetables which contain so many essential nutrients. I believe there is a time for juices and smoothies in a healthy lifestyle so I will be going over the benefits of each. I will be going a little more in depth about juices in this post as I have a fairly extensive post about smoothies here.
Nutrition
So let’s start with juicing! Juicing is essentially extracting the liquid from raw fruits and vegetables. This liquid is packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and is easily digested. It’s a great way {as are smoothies} to get in your fruits and vegetables in one shot. Drinking juices helps the body’s natural detoxification process {as does all whole natural foods}. Therefore it is not necessary to engage in juice cleanses to get the same detoxification results. Simply having a juice once a day or every other day is very nutritious and can be very beneficial to your health. Juice cleanses are when people drink only juices for a certain period of time which can be dangerous. Definitely speak with your doctor before engaging in any juice cleanse. Another important thing to mention about juicing is that the pulp is left behind which contains the fibre from the fruits and vegetables. Therefore juicing is great when you need quick energy {like during those early mornings!}.
Smoothies on the other hand are blended fruits and vegetables that contain their natural vitamins, minerals, fibre and other nutrients. Since smoothies contain fibre, they will digest slower and keep you feeling full for a longer period. They can also be a meal replacer {by adding protein and healthy fats} whereas juices are not. Like I mentioned with juices, drinking smoothies that are packed with vitamins and minerals will help the body’s natural detoxification process. Check out my post here on how to create the perfect smoothie that tastes great and will keep you full.
Taste
The flavours in juices are a lot stronger than in smoothies. The taste of certain flavours {such as greens} can be easier to disguise in smoothies. If you want to eat more greens, try making a smoothie with spinach. Spinach blends very well with other vegetables and fruits and does not have a strong taste. I would also recommend my Ultimate Green Smoothie that contains kale but you won’t taste the kale!
How to make & store
For juicing, I recommend this juicer. Some blenders have a juicing option as well. Since juicers can be a bit of a pain to clean, I recommend storing juice in an airtight container for up to 48 hours if you’re not drinking it right away. This will save you lots of time as you can pre-make a couple juices for the mornings.
What to juice// some ideas but not limited to// fruits: apples, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pineapple, and grapes. vegetables: cucumbers, carrots, beets, celery, kale, romaine lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, various herbs & spices.
THREE SIMPLE JUICE RECIPES COMING ON THURSDAY! Sign up for my email to get a first look at them!
Smoothies can be made from a blender, I love my Vitamix but more affordable blenders I recommend are this one and the magic bullet. If you are thinking about getting a Vitamix I did a whole review when I first got it (see that here). If you have any more questions feel free to email me as I’ve had my Vitamix for over half a year and can give a pretty good review on it.
What to put in your smoothies// see a whole list here!
Find a list of all my smoothie recipes under “smoothies” in the recipes tab or click here.
Cold-Pressed Juices
Cold-pressed juices use a hydraulic juice press machine that extracts the liquid from the fruits and vegetables. There is no heat involved in this process {juices are unpasteurized} and it’s the best way to keep all nutrients when juicing. Cold-pressed juice companies have been popping up in cities within the past 10 years with the increase demand for healthy juices. These are great to have available when on the go but keep in mind they can get a little pricey.
FREE downloadable guide available here.
Hopefully this clears up some confusion between juices and smoothie! If you have any questions definitely leave them below in the comments and I will get back to you! Also be sure to check back on Thursday when I will be sharing 3 delicious juice recipes!
-Brittney
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[…] Hi everyone! On Tuesday I posted everything you need to know about juicing and some of the differences between juices and smoothies. I have a ton of smoothie recipes on my blog so I thought it was about time to share some juice recipes! Three of my favorite combinations of juices all in one place. If you want to know more about juicing check out my post here. […]