Smoothie or Juice: How to choose?

There’s a new smoothie and juice bar that opened up down the street from your office, your friend is loving her new smoothie kick, and they even got a blender to add to the staff kitchen at work. Whether you’re already fully on the juicing bandwagon or just curious, juicing and blending smoothies seems to be the latest health fad. But is this just a craze, or should we be incorporating smoothies and juices into our diet long term, because they really are so good for us? And what are the benefits of juicing, versus the benefits of smoothie-ing? In short, the craze couldn’t have come at a better time. With so many more ailments, health issues, and dis-ease coming up in the mainstream population, we certainly can all use several servings of fruits and veggies everyday – and juicing and smoothies are just the way to make this happen. Here we’ll uncover the top reasons to juice and blend, and how you can choose which to go for (or both!) based on your health goals, as well as some great recipe ideas to get you started.

Top Reasons To Juice

Great way to get your fruits and veggies According to the National Cancer Institute, the average American gets only 1.5 servings of vegetables, and no fruit per day. Yikes! Juicing also separates the vitamins and minerals from the pulp, and this allows the body to receive a mega-dose of vitamins that would be difficult to achieve eating that many veggies. Juicing can be a fast, delicious and easy way to get in more servings of the good stuff.

True Hydration Beyond being full of pure, clean water, fruits and veggies are also full of natural electrolytes and vitamins – the original vitamin water and sports drink, combined!

pH balance Our body is in a constant state of re-balancing our pH levels, and most of the time, due to the consumption of caffeine, alcohol, sugar, and being stressed, our bodies are far too acidic. The alkalinity found in leafy green and other vegetables is just what we need to balance it all out.

Detox In addition to hydrating and balancing pH levels, juice detoxes the blood and organs. Enzymes found in the juice work immediately to cleanse the blood, re-energizing the body. Add a little lemon and ginger, and not only are you aiding digestion, but you’re cleansing the liver too.

Juicing Tips:

• When you juice, you miss out on the fibre in the pulp. But not to worry, no waste necessary – you can mix some of the pulp back in to get a fibre-rich juice, or even use the pulp in cooking, for example; mix into veggies burgers, broths for soups, or cooking rice, etc.
• When juicing, put through your leafier, less juicy items first, followed by your juicier fruits and veg (i.e. spinach and kale before cucumber and apple). The juicier goods will help push through and extract the juice from the not-so-juicy ingredients.

Top Reasons to Smoothie

Get Your Fruits & Veggies: Like juicing, smoothies provide a fast and delicious way to get loads of fruits and veggies when you might not ordinarily. For our on-the-go lifestyles, smoothies can be that easy way to get your nutrients and daily intake of fruit and veggies.

Protein Punch Not only can we get our daily recommended intake of fruits and veggies from our smoothies, but we can get a protein boost too. There are many different options out there, so ensure you are choosing a high quality protein powder.

Quality Ingredients Since you’re the one blending, you know exactly what’s going in to your smoothie. Understanding healthy smoothie choices means understanding healthy diet choices. This will allow you to have food confidence, and make better food choices when the blender isn’t around.

Improved Digestion A blended meal or snack is pre-chewed by your blender, easing the burden on your digestive organs, thereby leading to healthier overall body function.And because your body is getting such a direct serving of high quality nutrients, chances are you’ll feel fuller longer, cutting appetite, and helping with weight loss.

Smoothie Tips:

• Nut or seed butters turn a healthy smoothie into a creamy, smoother smoothie. And, they add that extra hit of protein!
• Your liquid in smoothies needn’t just be water – experiment with almond or rice milk, chilled green or herbal tea, coconut water, or even juice!
• Next time you feel like dessert, why not go for a smoothie instead? If you can think of a dessert, chances are you can concoct a smoothie with similar flavours. Use vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa powder, sweeten any combo of fruits and veggies with medjool dates or a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

Incorporating smoothies, juices, or both, to your everyday diet can be a delicious, nutritious way to get many of the vitamins and minerals the body needs to stay energized. So whether you want to lose weight, detox, have the a real food multivitamin, or just enjoy an absolutely delicious meal or snack, blending and juicing can be your answer. Get creative in the kitchen with a recipe or improvise, and be sure to let us know if you come up with a winning combination. Let your culinary creativity go bananas (maybe literally), and have fun juicing and blending!