Which are Better, Smoothies or Juices?

I’ve been a huge fan of juicing since I first discovered it in back my early twenties. That feeling of making a fresh juice and flooding your body with nutrients is just such a lovely thing. But lately (as I’m sure you are aware if like me you are on Instagram or a regular reader of health websites) there is a bit of a craze for smoothies.

I have resisted following the NutriBullet / Smoothie crowd, thinking ‘nope I’m quite happy with my Juicer thanks’ for my daily nutrition hit and presumed a smoothie maker would be no different to the blender I already have sat on my worktop.

How wrong I was…

A few weeks ago my brother Mike, purchased himself a Nutribullet smoothie maker. Before I knew it, he was consuming handfuls of spinach, hemp, apples and berries each morning, which was quite a turn around from his usual breakfast of a slice of toast or a couple of weetabix. Whats more, he was sticking to his new healthy breakfast routine and said he felt so much better for it. When I went round to see him at the weekend I curiously had a little peep at his new Gadget proudly sitting on the worktop. I liked the look of it, but mostly, it looked so easy to use.

None of the hassle of taking it apart into loads of pieces to wash it (like my juicer) or having to scrub the juice extractor part clean with a little brush each time you use it (like my juicer). You literally put your fruit and veg into a cup, add some liquid, screw the top on attach it to the machine and whizz it up. Then all you wash is ONE part. It takes literally 3 minutes to make a smoothie and wash the device afterwards.

Now, I love my juicer, still, but I must admit, especially on days where I am feeling not so good, the last thing I feel like doing is standing washing it. This results in days where I end up not having a Juice at all because of the effort it takes.

The more I thought about it, the more I was warming to the idea of getting one of these little machines. My only concern, was that I wondered if it actually did anything different to the food processor/blender that I already had. To try it out, I made a Smoothie in my blender, and although it was okay, it was a bit gloopy and lumpy and the spinach I put in it didn’t properly liquidise.

So, last week, I treated myself to a Nutribullet, and I am so glad I did.

Every day this week I have made a smoothie at breakfast time. Ive enjoyed this little easy morning healthy choice and my tummy and body feel better already.

If you have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, you can feel it can’t you? Same goes when you have had a lovely fresh Juice or Smoothie, it feels energising and cleansing for your body.

Its an amazing way to promote healing because you are consuming a vast amount of nutritionally dense foods that would otherwise be hard to get through. Imagine munching your way through a pile of spinach, a few sticks of celery, and apple and half a cucumber first thing in the morning? Its not a realistic expectation!

So, my conclusion is, I love my NutriBullet and would highly recommend Smoothie makers like this to any of you who haven’t yet discovered them and want to do something to support yourself nutritionally. I have popped a few FAQ’s below for any of you thinking about going down the smoothie maker route, including what the difference is between a smoothie maker and a juicer. Also, a little note here, I happen to have got a NutriBullet, but there are loads of other brands out there. Shop around and see which one takes your fancy 🙂

FAQ’s Smoothies vs Juicing

“What’s the difference between a smoothie maker and a juice extractor?

Smoothie Maker

A Smoothie maker (such as the NutriBullet) liquidises and blends together the whole fruit or vegetable. The end product being thicker than a Juice would be. There is no waste when making a smoothie and it is full of fibre because the whole fruit or vegetable is used. However, with a Smoothie maker, you must always add water or some form of liquid.

Juicer

A Juicer literally extracts nutrients and water from the fruit and vegetables and discards the fibre. Imagine squeezing an orange in your hands. You can squeeze the juice out and are left with the fleshy part aren’t you? This is pretty much what a Juicer does, so there is waste, unlike with a smoothie maker.  The Juice you are left with to drink at the end is a smoother and thinner consistency than a smoothie.

 “Which is better for you, Smoothies or Juices?

The Jury is still out on this one. Some say that Smoothies are better because they include fibre which is good for your digestive system and removing toxins, some say that Juicing is better because Juices don’t include fibre and therefore your body can absorb the nutrients more easily. I think its important to listen to your own body and what feels right for you. If you have an extremely sensitive digestive system, Juicing may be better for you (more on this below) but I personally, think Juices and Smoothies are both wonderful in their own ways.

 “A Note on Digestion with Smoothies (from experience!)

When I first started making my smoothies earlier this week I was throwing all sorts in, but being careful to avoid high sugar fruits/too many fruits. So think, frozen berries, cucumber, spinach, hemp protein, almond milk, a few walnuts! Yeah…a real funny mix! And I was finding that afterwards my tummy was a bit upset in that I had tummy cramps and bloating (something I don’t usually get) I was confused as to why, when I had been filling my body with natural healthy foods that don’t usually bother me. After some research I found this…..

• If your tummy is sensitive, it is best to avoid mixing fruits and vegetables (however a green apple is okay)
• Avoid adding yogurt/milk/protein to your smoothie with fruits and vegetables. Try using water or coconut water as the liquid in your smoothie.
• Chew your smoothie a bit (I know this sounds strange, but there are whole foods going into your tummy and if you gulp it down, no saliva has been produced which means, no digestive enzymes)
• Avoid using frozen berries if you have a sensitive tummy, icy cold berries are harsher on your digestive system than room temperature fruit and vegetables.

So there you go! My little Smoothie adventure. I hope this has helped and please pop over to my Instagram page and Facebook Page where I will share some of my smoothie recipes in the coming weeks (Instagram and Facebook)

Enjoy your Smoothies!

Love

Emma

***A note to regular readers and subscribers***

Hi Guys, Just to let you know Part II of my last post is on its way.  Just a few little finishing tweaks and it will be with you.

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Hope you are all having a good week and have a lovely weekend

Emma x