Juicing or Blending: 5 Reasons Why I (Mostly) Prefer Green Smoothies

Farnoosh’s note: this blog post is courtesy of our wonderful friend Brigid Cappello, from Gorgeous Green Smoothies!

I love fresh juices. Especially the green ones!

My favorite juice combination would have to be apple, cucumber, spinach and lemon. It’s refreshing, delicious, and includes some great ingredients for detoxing.

In a café, I’ll choose a lovely fresh juice, if it’s available, over a hot drink, almost every time, no matter the season.

But at home… I’m definitely a blender girl. Not a ‘juicer’!

Given the choice of making my healthy breakfast green drink in either the blender that sits on my kitchen bench or the juicer (that’s also close at hand, just not quite so close!) I’ll choose the blender. Almost every time.

Green smoothies have so many of the same benefits of fresh juices. A daily green smoothie will give you increased energy, reduced cravings for sugar and junk foods, increased alertness and – if you stick with the habit for long enough – weight loss and better health.

But there are a few benefits of blending that, for me, mostly outweigh the benefits of juicing.

5 Reasons I Prefer to Blend Than Juice:

1.  The blender is SO much quicker and easier to clean

It’s not that I’m lazy. Honest! But like most women I know, I am super-busy. The less washing up I need to do, the better… And the sooner I can get back to working on making my biz dreams happen!

My trusty Vitamix blender has just one plastic jug and a small rubber lid that are both so easy to clean (particularly when you half-fill the blender with water and give it a whizz on high for ten seconds or so).

The juicer though, has at least five different parts that need to be cleaned, including some hard-to-reach bits that are really tricky to get to. Admittedly, there are other juicers that will be easier to clean than mine. Maybe yours is one of those?

For me, this reason alone is probably the main reason I drink my juice at the local cafe, and enjoy my gorgeous green smoothies at home.

2.  A green smoothie keeps me satisfied for much longer than a juice does

Because my smoothies are made using the entire fruit (with no pulp and no waste from either the fruit or the greens), they include not just all of the nutrients, but also all of the fibre. It’s the fibre that makes a smoothie much more filling than a juice, and means a green smoothie is a great replacement for buttered toast or weetbix for brekkie!

For me, as much as it’s a lovely, refreshing way to start the day, a glass of juice just doesn’t satisfy me. Starting the day with juice, I know I’ll still need a ‘real’ breakfast – or a couple more pieces of fruit – to keep me going for the next few hours. But my green smoothie… will completely satisfy me, often right up until lunch time.

3.  Blending uses less fruit, so can be less expensive

Making a delicious green smoothie in the blender uses considerably less fruit and leafy greens than what you’ll need for just one glass of fresh green juice. I’d probably use around half the quantity of fruit and veg for a gorgeous green smoothie as I would when making a juice.

So when I’m trying hard to stick to a budget, but also wanting to eat in a way that nourishes and fuels my body, blending is definitely the more affordable option.

4.  Slow absorption into the blood stream allows sugar to enter the body without the ‘spikes’

One of the benefits of juicing is that without the fiber present, the nutrients are able to be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream. But this is true also of the fruit sugars, which can result in a ‘spike’ in blood sugar levels that may not be an issue for many, but for others can be.

Smoothies (and particularly green smoothies, with a higher fiber content from those leafy green vegetables) provide a slower release of those natural sugars and other nutrients into the blood stream, allowing the blood sugar to remain steady without those spikes.

Knowing that at times my body can be extremely sensitive to the effects of sugar, I not only avoid refined sugars and sweet processed foods, but am also conscious of this difference in the way my body responds to juice than to green smoothies. This is another big reason why I drink juices only occasionally but enjoy my smoothies regularly.

 5. Making a smoothie is just so quick and easy!

This is not just about the blender being easier to clean than the juicer. It’s also easier to set up, with less parts. There’s a smaller quantity of fresh produce needed, so minimal preparation time…

And it’s just so very quick and easy to throw all the ingredients in and whiz up a delicious and healthy, satisfying smoothie in only a few minutes.

And so worth it!!

So is there ever a time I juice at home? And which should you choose?

Despite all of these reasons for me preferring to blend than juice, I must admit that I did experience a few days recently when all I wanted was a delicious, fresh juice.

For those few days, my body seemed to be calling out for some gentleness and a cleansing detox. Even the idea of a lovely smoothie seemed too heavy at the time for my exhausted, overworked digestive system.

And so I listened! And pulled out that juicer.

As with everything to do with our bodies and our health, the most important thing is to really listen to your body to know what’s right for you. And be prepared for that to change, often even from day to day or week to week. And you can read Farnoosh’s suggestions on when to blend and when to juice.

Whether you decide you prefer juicing or blending yourself (or a lovely combination of both!) is something that you’ll only know by trying both and testing the results of each.

Either way, you can’t go wrong, nourishing your body with the vitamins, minerals and other healthy nutrients that a gorgeous green smoothie or delicious fresh juice will provide.

And that favorite juice combination of mine?

It’s also just as delicious (with added pear for a smooth consistency) as a gorgeous green smoothie!

Here’s the recipe:

1 1/2 pears
1 apple
½ cucumber
1-2 handfuls baby spinach
1 wedge (1/8th) lemon, unpeeled
¾ cup water

Want more green smoothie recipes? See 10 Easy Green Smoothie Recipes for Beginners