Juicing raw fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to up the nutrition in your diet. But what is best, juicing or smoothies?

There are two types of juicing machines, centrifugal and the extractor. The centrifugal juicing machine spins at high speed forcing the pulp and the juice to separate. There is heat produced by the high speed in this method that can cause slight degradation of the nutrients. The higher speed the machine can reach equates to the faster the juice is produced. The theory  is that the less time required the less heat produced.

These machines produce instant juice and easy to clean.

The extractor machine uses a slower grinding method which doesn’t produce any heat so the nutrient value is retained. This method is much, much slower and the food must be cut up quite small to go into the shoot, as well as manually pushed into the machine.

These machines are quite substantially more expensive, slower and require a more extensive clean up job.

Both methods can produce good raw nutrient rich juice, which is great way to get a natural daily vitamin and mineral dose.

A smoothie is produced in a Blender. You just cut up the raw fruits or vegetables and put in the blender, add water and blend until smooth. Depending on the power of the blending machine, the time taken to make this will vary. Heat can also be produced it the blending process is to long.

Blending hard root type vegetables like carrots and beetroot will require a powerful blender like the Vita Mix which rotates at up to  37,000 RPM or a machine of similar power. These machines can be rather costly in New Zealand. But well worth the cost.

The difference between the juicing method and the smoothie method is the fibre.

Juicing  separates juice from fibre, and the fibre is thrown away, we consume the nutrient rich juice.

Smoothie retains the fibre, the whole raw fruit or vegetable are used.

Fibre is a very important part of the vegetable and fruit; it keeps it together. It is a very important part of our diet as well; fibre is what gathers up and sweeps out the waste and toxic substances in the bowel that is not absorbed by the body during the digestion process.

Fibre helps the body to balance the blood sugars and keep the body’s insulin levels stable. It stops the blood sugar spiking and is very helpful in hypoglycemia and diabetes.

Many people with health issues  like hypoglycemia and diabetes are advised not to eat fruits as they are high in sugar, but in fact a green fruit smoothie is actually going to be much better for them than the cookie or any other snack food.

Removing the fibre from your food can lead to the malfunction of the bowel. Natural plant fibre is often both water and fat soluble, and the best fibre for the bowel.

Nutrients can be either water or fat soluble so the fibre plays a role in the absorption of some nutrients as well.

Back to the question of whether it is better to be Juicing or making Smoothies. I think that the smoothie has more merit due to the retention of the fibre. However, both are great sources of nutrition.

I suggest that if you are juicing that you add some of the pulp fibre back into the juice before you drink it. Or you can add psyllium hulls as a substitute fibre.

Basic Green Smoothie (for one)

1 apple

1 kiwifruit

200 ml of water

1 ½ cups of fresh well washed spinach ( or any other dark leafy green vegetable)

2 pitted dates (optional)

Peel and chop kiwifruit and apple, place with the rest of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy.

Berry Fruity Smoothie

2 persimmons peeled and chopped

1 cup fresh orange juice or water

1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries or cranberries

1 heaped tbsp Yoghurt (Optional)

Instructions:

Place all ingredients into the Blender and Blend until smooth and serve.