What’s Better: Juicing or Blending?
Jake Newby
| 3 min read
If your goal is to boost your daily fruit and vegetable intake, juicing and blending can help.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises most adults to consume about two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day. If taste is an issue for you, juicing and blending are great ways to hit those benchmarks without enduring the full-on flavors and textures of fruits and veggies.
Wondering which option is better? And more specifically, which option is better for you? We’ll try to help you answer that here.
Benefits of Juicing
When you juice, you get a light, refreshing drink chockful of vitamins and minerals.
The main functional difference between juicing and blending is that juicing separates the pulp in the fruits and veggies from the liquid, so the texture is very thin. The pulp – which contains the fiber – as well as the peel and seeds are lifted out of the equation.
As a result of this process, here are the physical and nutritional benefits:
Easy digestion: The easily absorbable liquid doesn’t leave much for your digestive system to break down.
Light on calories: You don’t consume 100% of the fruits and veggies you juice, so juiced drinks are lighter on sugar and calories than blended beverages. Juicing may be more conducive to a weight-loss diet than blending.
Good for low-fiber diets: Certain medical issues may cause your doctor to recommend reducing the amount of fiber in your diet to put less pressure on your bowels or intestines.
There are four major types of juicers to choose from – centrifugal force juicers, masticating juicers, twin gear juicers or juice presses.
Benefits of Blending
When you blend, you get a thick, creamy smoothie that can serve as a meal replacement when supplemented with other ingredients.
Every sliver of the fruit and veggie is preserved when you blend, so you get all the fibrous content that is extracted during the juicing process. Fiber helps us maintain bowel health, lower cholesterol levels and regulate blood sugar levels.
Here are other benefits of blending:
Complements a muscle-building diet: Blended liquids can become a full meal if you add protein sources like protein powder, yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts, etc. This can make blended drinks more filling than juices.
Rich in antioxidants: Fiber isn’t the only thing you lose when you juice. The membranes of citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits are packed full of phytonutrients, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that support good overall health. Fruit peels contain antioxidants, as well.
Less time-consuming: Juicing takes a little more work and elbow grease than blending, which just requires you to dump all the ingredients into the blender and push a button. Both blending and juicing come with their fair share of daily cleanup, though.
To summarize, juicing is a great way to get your fruit and veggie intake between meals, in the form of a refreshing drink that is low on calories. Blended smoothies can help you reach that intake in the form of full meal replacements when you add other ingredients.
Either way, you should still eat fruits and vegetables a couple of times a day. These options are great if you have a hard time reaching your serving size threshold either because of a busy schedule or because you dislike the taste of most fruits and veggies.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
