Juicing vs Blending which is better for a healthy lifestyle?

Juicing and blending fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to get your recommended daily intake of these nutrient-rich foods.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for you, we know this, no shocking revelations there.

Here in the Uk, it is recommended that you eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg per day that is around 400g but it is now being suggested that we should eat 10 portions of fruit and veg per day and double our daily intake to 800g.

Some adults struggle to eat just a few portions per day likewise with children who struggle to eat enough fruit and veg.

One portion is typically 80g so to hit the magical 800g you would need to consume the equivalent of:

• 1 Banana
•    A glass of fresh orange juice (not concentrate)
• 2 Spears of broccoli
• 8 Cauliflower florets
• 1 Apple
• 1 Pear
• 3 Tablespoons of peas
• 1/2 A Grapefruit
• 1 Tomato
• 2 Kiwi fruits

Fresh fruits and vegetables are important in your diet because they help prevent many health issues.

Citrus fruits, leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage really are our friends when it comes to preventing heart disease and stroke.

While yellow and orange vegetables such as peppers and carrot, and cruciferous vegetables along with green vegetables, such as green beans are great at cutting the risk of cancer.

Research also shows us that fruit and veg also help controls blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

So it is really important to eat as many of your 5 a day as you can if not more but as I’m sure we all know this can be very difficult do. 

So what is the answer to improving our daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables?

Well blending and juicing could be the way forward.

In modern day life, time seems to always be against us.

We work, we get home late and try to make up lost time and make bad food choices reaching for ready meals for convenience or ordering in a takeaway.

When we are at work we may well grab a sandwich or if we are on the move something quick from a store.

Blending and juicing could be the answer to increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables.

Juicing vs Blending which is better for a healthy lifestyle?

Juicing and blending are two methods that allow you to work more fruit and veg into your diet.

But what are the differences between juicing and blending?

For a long time, I thought juicers and blenders were the same things.

But they are really quite different.

With juicing you are just extracting just the juice from fruit and vegetables and that is all.

Blending, on the other hand, keeps everything.

If you blend an apple then you drink a whole apple and not just the juice.

Is juicing better than blending or is blending better than juicing?

The bulk of the vitamins and minerals found within fruits and vegetables is found in the juice and not the fibrous material you keep with blending.

So the more juice you have the more vitamins, minerals and nutrients you consume.

But fibre is very important for digestion and there is huge nutritional value there. 

I look at juicing as being more creating a healthy drink because all there is is juice and blending as more creating a healthy meal or smoothie because nothing is taken away during blending.

I personally prefer blending and when I have blended some fruit and veg if I find it is a bit thick to drink easily I simply add some juice or water and give it another blitz to loosen up the consistency and further break it down.

I’m interested in getting 100% of the nutritional value and benefits of the ingredients and that is what blenders give you.

With blenders, you can also use them to mix supplement powders like Whey Powder or a pre/post workout supplement powders. If you mix these by hand you often get a lumpy consistency but if you give them a quick blitz in a blender they are much easier to drink.

Pros and cons of Juicing vs Blending

So let’s break down the pros and cons of Juicing and Blending

 Advantages of using a Juicer

• Vitamins and minerals are easier to absorb into the body
• You can get more nutrients per fluid ounce compared to using a blender
• Consumption of larger qualities of fruits and vegetables per drink
• It is easier to digest juices
• Time efficient way to consume more fruit and veg

The downside of using a Juicer

• Fibre and some of the antioxidant content gets excluded from the finished drink
• Some fruits and vegetables cannot be juiced like bananas.
• Juiced drinks are not as filling as blended/smoothie type drinks.
• Leafy greens and wheatgrass are difficult to extract juice from.
• It takes longer to juice than to blend with a long clean up time
• Juicing tends to be more expensive.

 Advantages of using a blender

• More fibre
• Ability to add more types of ingredients for more balanced nutrition.
• Clean-up is much easier than juicing
• Much more filling 
• Better absorption of nutrients
• More cost-effective than juicing
• Blenders tend to be more space saving
• Multi-functional

The downside of using a blender

• Fewer nutrients than juicing.

Juicing vs Blending which is better for weight loss?

It can be argued that juicing is better than blending if you are on a calorie controlled diet because the fibrous content is removed meaning you’re consuming fewer calories.

On the other hand, if you blend then you have a more balanced smoothie drink that is more filling and that keeps your cravings a bay meaning you eat less.

I am not a fan of diets unless you have been instructed to follow a specific diet by a qualified health practitioner.

Diets tend to be fads, something that is not permanent and if you are looking to just be healthier and eat better then that is all about adopting permanent lifestyle choice.

Juicing is great to give you a superfood shot of vitamins and minerals in addition to your daily diet.

But you can’t live solely on a juice diet but you could live on a blended fruit and veg diet as your not removing anything.

Blenders have another advantage over juicers and that is that they are multi-functional.

You are not restricted to just making juices. 

They can also be used to make soups and workout drinks, smoothies and desserts(healthy ones of course)

The best blender brand

Nutribullet now probably the best-known blender brand that you can buy.

You can now connect their latest NutriBullet Balance Blender to your mobile device via Bluetooth and use their Smart Nutrition Sensor that allows you to calculate the nutritional value of smoothies.

I often use my NutriBullet to create breakfast drinks.

I grab a portion of porridge/oatmeal add a scoop of chocolate whey powder add in a few pumpkin seeds and sunflowers seeds and perhaps some almonds then add in some water, soya milk or oat milk and blitz and you have a breakfast drink that will take you to lunch time.

That is breakfast DONE!

If you have a sweeter tooth then you can add in some strawberries or any fruits to create your flavour of choice. 

Or flavour with a sugar alternative like Stevia.

Juicing vs Blending price comparisons

A good quality blender is going to set you back between $80 to $170 though you can pay anything up to $400+

The NutriBullet NBR-1201 12-Piece High-Speed Blender shown below is a very good affordable option and looks great in the kitchen but there are other blender brands that are more affordable and do a good job as well.

When it comes to Juicers they are really at around the same price point.

Like blenders, you can pay as little as $40 and anything up to $400 if not more.

The big question when considering to buy a juicer or a blender is “What exactly is it that you want it to do?”

Do you want something that just provides you juice or do you want something more like a smoothie?

Other considerations are how big is the appliance?

How easy is it to clean your Juicer/Blender?

Can it be stored away or is it more of a counter appliance?

Juicing vs Blending which is better for a healthy lifestyle? – Takeaways

So who wins the Juicing vs Blending battle? Well, it comes down to what you want.

Do you want something that just extracts juice or do you want something more smoothie based but has more uses?

Only you can decide this.

I love my Nutribullet and fall firmly on the side of blenders as they are just more versatile.

Good quality blenders do tend to be cheaper to buy the Nutribullet range is a great example of this.

And there is far less clean up after using them.

It is always good to save on the washing up.

And then there is the space consideration.

Blenders take up less space on your kitchen counter.

On the other hand, using a juicer can really give you a juice drink that is easier to digest and can have a cleansing effect on your digestive system.

Sometimes you just want a drink and a simple juice is perfect.

There is an argument for having both if you can afford both and have space but if you can’t then I would always pump for a good quality blender to get the job done.

That’s all for now.

Do you own a juicer or a blender?

Which one did you go for?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Make sure that you subscribe to the comments so that you are notified of my reply.

Regards Dexter

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Juicing vs Blending - Is juicing better than blending or is blending better than juicing.

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Juicing vs Blending Is juicing better than blending or is blending better than juicing. Which is better for wight-loss? Here are the pros and cons.

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Dexter Roona

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Infobunny

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