Juicer vs. Blender (Vitamix): Benefits of Juice & Smoothies

In today’s world of health trends, juicing seems to be at the forefront of the conversation. The theory? We can’t, or don’t have the time, to physically eat enough fruits and vegetables in a day to get all the wonderful, amazing nutrients that we need (or even more than need/want) for us to achieve optimal health. So, instead, we throw all the fruits and vegetables from which we want nutrients into a machine that “juices” or smashes them into a smoothie. This, of course, gives us a wildly colorful, slightly less-than-pleasant concoction chocked full of nutrients to drink!

So, when deciding what to use to pulverize your foods, what should you choose?

Juicing With A Juicer

Juicing separates out the water, nutrients, and natural sugars from the fruit and vegetables. However, it removes the fiber from the food that you juice. While this allows you to get a ton of fruits and veggies in, it also takes out the fiber, which can be very important for your health and blood sugar. This is especially true when using fruits in your juice. Taking in the fruit nutrients and sugars without fiber can very quickly spike your blood sugar.

Making Smoothies With A Blender (Like VitaMix)

Making smoothies (like in a Vitamix blender) smashes and combines ALL parts of the fruits, including skins (if you leave them on there when you put the juice in the blender), fibers, water, sugars, and nutrients. The way that making smoothies leaves in the fiber, also makes the smoothie more filling than juice drinks. However, since the fiber is left in there, you can’t put as many fruit and veggies into one smoothie as you can into one juicing drink.

Honestly, I had never heard of a Vitamix blender until I was researching a bit for this blog post, but they sound AWESOME. Expensive, but really cool. In addition to making smoothies, the VitaMix offers the ability to make healthy soups!

I'm pretty excited about this feature as I would rather use this machine to make soup then to get other pots dirty. Plus, one of their big pluses is that to clean it out, all you do is put in some soap and water and run it. Then, it's clean. I may be buying one of these in the near future.

Conclusion

So, it really depends on what your diet needs are: juice (sans fiber) or smoothies (all the stuff — including fiber — from the fruits and veggies). Juicing may be the best option if you need to just add solid nutrients to an existing meal. And, The Vitamix would be a great option for meal replacements or even as a small healthy snack to hold you over until you get ready for your next meal.