Which is Better – Juicing or Smoothies?
Neither one is better, they both provide an array of benefits and can serve you in a number of ways.
Juicing
Juicing is a process which extracts water and nutrients from produce and discards the indigestible fiber. It is said juicing does contain soluble fiber. If more fiber is desired, add back into juice some of the excreted pulp and mix with juice.
Juicing provides concentrated nutrients and readily available to the body.
Juicing feeds the body on a cellular level faster than any other food.
Juicing is one of the best ways to cleanse, detoxify, and rejuvenate the body. Juices are nutrient rich, and nourish and restore the body at a cellular level.
Many people today are under excessive stress. Stress from outside sources, as well as nutritionally stressed, due to poor diets and lack of proper digestion. Juicing provides concentrated, highly bio-available nutrients that are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream with little stress placed on the body.
Juicing allows a person to receive nutrition from a wider variety of vegetables, such as dark greens and wheat grass.
Juicing supplies quick energy.
When we speak of juicing we are referring to fresh juice, not bottled, pasteurized juice found in markets. These often were bottled days or months earlier. Nutrient value of these juices is very little.
Fresh green juice is best for cleansing and rejuvenating the body, and loaded with concentrated nutrients, supplying an array of vitamins and phyto-nutrients.
Fruit juices are a great cleanser, but can spike blood sugar due to higher amount of sugar and little fiber.
Where fruit targets more cleansing in the small intestine, greens target more in the colon.
Juicing is more expensive because it takes more produce to make juice than it does to make a smoothie.
Juicing is a great way to begin the day, and be a break-fast from your nightly sleep. It will hydrate, cleanse, and give you your morning pick me up, without having to reach for a cup of caffeine.
When time is limited, or you are on the go or traveling, you can still enjoy and receive the nutritional value of a green drink, by mixing green powders in water – easy, simple, and quick. I often will add green powders to my smoothies for additional ‘green’ nutrition.
If a person wants to maximize cleansing, support the cleaning of the blood, speed up the removal of stored waste, undigested proteins, carbs, and fats, take a high quality enzyme supplement with your juice.
Smoothies
Green smoothies are delicious and provide nutrient dense nutrition.
Smoothies supply fiber, because you are using and consuming the whole food, and not extracting the pulp as juicing does.
Smoothies can be a complete meal, and can contain any fruit or vegetable, whereas not any fruit or vegetable can be juiced (such as avocados, bananas, etc).
They are more filling and keep you satisfied longer, providing a steady source of energy.
Smoothies are more cost efficient than juicing.
The nice thing about the blending process is that breaks the fiber apart, making it easier on the digestive process, and creates a slow, even release of nutrients into the blood stream, avoiding blood sugar spikes.
Just a quick note on fiber: We tend to think of fiber as indigestible, but once in the gut it is broken down by gut bacteria. A major fuel for cells that line our colon is butyrate, which friendly bacteria make from fiber.
Polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants, attach themselves. or lock onto fiber. These make their way down to the colon where they are liberated by the friendly flora, allowing them to then be absorbed into our system. Polyphenols have an ability to control gene expression, specifically the genes that control inflammation. Polyphenols are found in numerous types of produce: apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, grapes, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries, broccoli, celery, and parsley. All of which can be used in making smoothies.
Smoothies allow you to consume a larger percentage of veggies and fruits than most people could eat in one day.
They also allow you to consume nutrition from veggies that you may not enjoy in a salad, yet you can easily hide in a smoothie and still benefit from its nutrition. This works well when introducing smoothies to children.
Making smoothies, or juices, entirely from greens can be a bit strong and often not a taste that is widely acceptable. The solution is to use different combinations of fruit and veggies in your smoothie, as well as in a juice.
Smoothies are the best and easiest way for a person to increase their daily amount of fresh, raw fruit and vegetables. It’s a wonderful addition to living a healthy lifestyle.
To minimize the downside of blending, is to blend quickly and not for a long period. Longer blending time is said to destroy phyto-nutrients and cause more oxidative damage.
Personally, I juice several times a week, and there hardly a day goes by that I don’t have a green smoothie.
Beautiful, Glowing Skin
When a person juices and makes smoothies on a consistent basis, they often find they lose excess weight, experience more natural energy, and their skin improves, and their complexion begins to glow.
I invite you to get a personal copy of my book, You Can Look 10 Years Younger and discover specific foods and nutrients that target healthier, more youthful looking, and glowing skin.
Experience the Best of Both Worlds
So which is better, juicing or smoothies – the answer is both. You don’t have to pick one over the other, but enjoy the benefits from both worlds.
Many people make it a habit to drink 16-32 ounces a day of fresh juice, and consume a green smoothie. This is the best of both worlds.
Chew Your Juices and Your Smoothies
Many of us live fast-paced lives. We also eat and drink fast. We are told we need to slow down and chew each bite thoroughly before swallowing. The same applies to drinking juices and smoothies.
Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth, as food is mixed with saliva and enzymes are released to help breakdown the food. Take the time to enjoy and savory each gulp of juice by swishing it around in the mouth before swallowing. The same applies to smoothies, take time to chew each mouth full.
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David Cooley
Certified Health Consultant
LifeWave Independent Distributor
David spent 27 years in the mortgage/real estate business, and currently holds a financial life license, but for over 31 years one of his passions has been natural health and prevention of disease. For 31 years he has lived a natural food lifestyle. He is an author, and certified as a health and transformational coach, and plant-based chef. Today his main focus is to bring hope into a person’s life through various resources, proven to reverse aging, elevate health, maximize thought life and emotions, and live with unparalleled, fully persuaded faith!
“It breaks my heart to see people suffering, or aging faster and living in pain and limitation. Or to see someone who has fallen into the rut of living, unable to reach their full potential. God has designed us to live amazing lives, and sometimes it just helps to find someone who will come along side and provide the hope and direction needed at that moment.”
To learn more about David, go to Image What Could Be.
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