Juicing versus Blending

I always run into people confused by the differences between juicing versus blending. All the time I hear people mention that their blenders make fabulous juices and that their juicers make awesome green smoothies. Let's get the basic differences between the two established.

Juicers

• Produce a liquid that lacks fiber in most cases (mastication juicers retain some fiber).
• Separates the juice from the produce and leaves a pulpy leftover, this pulp is the fiber.
• Juice will never really be in a smoothie consistency, it will always be a pure liquid beverage to drink just like water or tea.
• Juices tend to be more nutrient dense than smoothies. More produce is required to make an equal size of beverage versus a smoothie due to the lack of fiber. This is made up for by having more of the juice from the produce, which means more nutrient density. 
• Juicing offers health benefits related to deficiencies of certain food groups. It is easy to consume a large amount of greens and receive the diversity of nutrients within them through juicing.
• Smaller amounts of juices should be drunk at a time due to a lack of fiber. Your blood sugar levels can spike if you consume too much juice at one time.
• Juicers come as either centrifugal juicers or mastication juicers. 
• See a list of juicer reviews on this website by clicking here.

Blenders

• All fiber is retained in blended drinks.
• Nutrients and fiber are blended together as a whole and drank as a whole.
• You make smoothies with blenders. Green smoothies and fruit smoothies are both products of blending. Use of ice, frozen bananas, and frozen fruit make for the thick smoothie consistency.
• Smoothies are not as nutrient dense as juices. However, fiber is an important part of the diet.
• Health benefits of drinking blended drinks are meant for the long haul. It is much easier to drink blended drinks day in and day out due to lower produce costs, higher calorie amounts, and it being a longer lasting fuel source due to fiber content.
• It is possible to drink large amounts of a smoothie at one time. From the single servings of the NutriBullet 900 S to the large 48 oz helpings of a Vitamix smoothie. 
• Blenders come only in one style. The difference is based upon the power of the motor and the size of the blending container.
• See a list of blender reviews on this website by clicking here.

Conclusions

Neither blending nor juicing is superior over the other.  Both offer unique health benefits that the other can not quite match. Even within the respective categories, the differences between individual juicers and individual blenders can be absolutely huge. 

Identify your goals for living a healthy life. Do you want to replace unhealthy meals with clean green vegan food? Do you want to go on a detox journey? Are you wanting to experiment with juice fasting? Do you have a lot of garden produce you do not know what to do with?

All of these questions should run through your mind as you go out looking for any kitchen appliance. Impulse purchases will lead to having some expensive electronic gadget sitting under your counter top for years on end.

Make informed decisions. Buy quality products. Read reviews of what others have said. VeganKitchenAppliances.com is all about empowering you as a consumer to choose which appliance will fit best to meet your vegan needs.

By Mat McNeile