Juice and Smoothies are of course different. But I still see that many of you confuse these two methods, or you follow many drink recipes but do not understand the difference or the benefits as well as strength of each method, from juicing, blending to plant milk, thinking that they are the same and just follow them because they’re clamed as good and healthy.
Here’s a little explanation about the difference between juicing and blending according to their nature, their making process and their benefits.
Similarity
They are all delicious, pure and easy home-made drinks. If you have already prepared all the ingredients, the processing time is quite fast, which is super convenient in a rushing morning.
It is derived from raw foods (vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits) and is rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes and so on.
You can substitute it to your meals or simply use them as snacks, or drink to soup up your daily meal.
Both children and the elder can use them. Easy to absorb, no chewing work.
Difference
On processing method
Juicing is made by separating the juice from the vegetables or fruits while removing their insoluble fiber. On the contrary, blending is made by pureeing them all, they still consist of insoluble fiber.
This is the fiber that our body must always release, it goes in a long path in our stomach, mainly to help us feel full and support digestion with no devotion in nutrients, then “go out”.
Tools
Juice is made from juicers. Smoothie is made from blenders.
Ingredients
Many fruits and vegetables can only be juiced while can’t be blended and vice versa. In my opinion, juice is much richer in nutrients than smoothies, especially hard fruits (like amaranth, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, carrot, guava, toad, cucumber, celery and broccoli), while with smoothie, you should opt for the softer fruits and vegetables (for example spinach, kale, lettuce and clams).
However, smoothies strike back with more diverse recipes. I mean you can mix different types of toppings, different boosters and superfoods powder that can’t be used in juice (such as goji berry, dried fruits, flaxseed, dried coconut, cocoa beans, bee pollen, superfoods and various types of butter or nut butter, etc.).
Smoothie often requires liquid to mix with tough ingredients (like almond milk or coconut milk, walnut milk). Juice basically does not need water, but directly extract juice from vegetables and fruits, because the nature of the process is to extract liquid from plants.
Form and texture
Juice is water. Smoothie is a thicker and denser form.
Nutritional value
To describe and analyze the process of juice and smoothie from when you drink it, get into your belly until it is absorbed to the cells will need a little bit too much scientific terms.
In a nutshell: Juice delivers a very high level of vitamins and enzymes and is rapidly absorbed into the blood by all means because of its fiber-free and non-digestible nature (due to the fact that most of the fiber is already eliminated).
Besides, juice allows the loading of vitamins, minerals and enzymes much concentratedly, quickly and more rather than when you have to eat the same amount of food and wait for the body to digest and absorb.
When the body does not need to use a lot of energy to digest, the cells get rested, absorb the substances and recover more quickly. In addition, the juice is suitable for those with digestive system sensitive to fiber, allowing you to get all benefit from plants such as vitamins and minerals without worrying about the amount of fiber in it.
Meanwhile, when you blend / make smoothie, all the ingredients are pureed, including the fiber. So, smoothie gives a feeling of fullness. The amount of fiber that helps in the release of sugar, mineral and vitamins is slower, not as stressful as juice (long lasting, suitable for those who need to monitor blood glucose levels).
The effect of juice you can feel immediately after drinking in just a few minutes but drinking too much fruit juice is risky to increase too fast the blood glucose (but if you do not have blood sugar problems, do not worry too much).
Another significant benefit of blending, as mentioned above, is that it allows you to make many recipes with a wide variety of ingredients that juice can’t, allowing high levels of protein, healthy fat and carbs to create a convenient and healthy meal.
So, which is better – juicing or blending?
On the nutrition side, juice keeps some nutrients better than smoothie!
According to a separate study conducted by the Australian Government National Measurement Institute in Melbourne, green juice extracted from a good quality centrifuge (like Breville) and green smoothie from a blender (like Vitamix, blending in 60 seconds), with the same amount of ingredients, (however, with the blending, you need to add some water) the following conclusions have been made:
Green juice from the juicers contains twice as much nutrients (more than 142% of Vitamin C – nearly double, 73% of Alpha Carotene, 109% of Beta Carotene and 54% of Potassium). The stronger the blender, the less effective it is to keep the plant’s nutrition.
The reason is mostly due to oxidation (air mixing into food cells) while pureeing causes some side effects to the nutrients. However, the amount of magnesium is equivalent, and the amount of calcium of green smoothie is higher than green juice.
However, the amount of Calcium from green leafy vegetables after the juice or smoothie is not enough with the recommended daily dose (RDA)
You can see more details of this research here.
So, to conclude what is better, what should be used, the answer is: Why choose? Go for both ways.
To be honest, I find neither of these tools are the best, but only the balance in usage is perfect to optimize for one’s self in terms of their health condition. Both juice and smoothie are good and allow us to add a lot of fruits and vegetables each day. In one way or another, eat or drink, juicing or blending, the more methods and the more abundant, the better and the more fun! An interesting diet should be diverse in ingredients and methods, right? You need to give them a try and decide for yourself. I drink juice every day, and sometimes make smoothies to enjoy as my breakfast.
Here are some more tips for you:
– You should try green juice and green smoothie. If you are interested, I will talk about the great effect of green juice. Reduce the amount of sweet fruits (start with a little green vegetable and gradually increase) and know that the taste can change it.
– Juice and smoothie can be done in advance for a few days if you do not have time to make them every day. Of course, the freshness is the best to drink immediately but there are ways to preserve and self-help for yourself.
– You can make use of lemon / lime juice in green formulas to increase the ability of vitamin C absorption as well as to reduce the risk of diarrhea due to oxidation.
– Always try to use the latest organic and freshest fruits or veggies as much as possible. It’s okay if you don’t find an organic fruit/veggie store nearby, pick what are the most convenient for you.
Wish you have more and more healthy nutrition options to add in your body as well as boost your health.
