Juicing V/s Blending- Know What’s Beneficial

The standard recommended servings of fruits and vegetables is around 5 each day. While many of us may meet this requirement, a lot of us fail to do so and therefore juicing might seem a better option to fulfill the daily requirement and give your body a daily dose of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants these wonderful fruits and vegetables provide. It is important to firstly understand the difference between juicing and blending. With juicing, be it of fruit or vegetable– the fibrous pulp is filtered out keeping only the strained liquid for consumption. In this process, all the important nutrients are lost with the pulp. Blended fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, retain the pulp and all the fibre along with the essential micronutrients.

Apart from knowing when and what to juice or blend, it is equally important to know how to clean your fruits and vegetables prior to blending. Fruits and vegetables go through multiple hands in the entire supply chain system and may also be treated with various chemicals and pesticides for early ripening or waxes to make them look fresher for longer. Just rinsing fruits & vegetables with running water may not effectively remove the germs and contaminants present on the surface. Marico’s Veggie Clean is 100% safe and scientific vegetable & fruit cleanser that removes 99.9% germs, viruses, pesticides, waxes from the surfaces of fresh produce. It contains no harmful preservatives, no soap, no sulphates, no parabens, no alcohol, no chlorine. A little goes a long way/Very affordable – Gives 40 washes in just Rs 69

Knowing the difference between blending and juicing is essential and may help you plan your daily dose of fruits and vegetables:

• Fibre

Juicing extracts almost all of the gut-friendly fibre. Adequate fiber intake may benefit your digestion and reduce your risk of chronic disease. Fruits and vegetables contain both soluble and insoluble fibre that aid gut microbiota, promote digestion, manage blood sugar levels, and help in regulating cholesterol levels. The blending process does not extract pulp and fibre the same way juicing does. Instead, it grinds up entire fruits and vegetables, which includes fiber and all other nutrients.

• Ease of Digestion

Juicing might come handy for those facing digestive issues, especially diarrhoea as the extracted pulp gives the body a break from breaking down the fibre. However, it should only be made a transient solution as juicing is not recommended in the long run because of high concentration of sugar and less percentage of nutrients.

• Sugar content

A rapid rise in blood sugar is seen more dramatically with juicing when compared to blending. With blended fruits and vegetables, the pulp, skin, and fiber helps increase the volume of the drink which fills you up and limits your total calorie consumption. But with juice, you can consume the same amount of fruits and vegetables and still not feel satisfied. Your brain doesn’t register the liquid calories as effectively, you don’t feel the satiety value and may end up consuming more or binge eating. Infact, some commercial packaged juices contain as much, or even more, sugar than sodas or soft drinks.

Footnote
It is advisable to go for whole fruit or vegetables as a part of your daily healthy diet, but if you are on the run or may not be able to meet the standard recommendations, blending is a better option than juicing. You can make lip-smacking healthy smoothies by blending your favorite fruits or vegetables in yogurt or almond milk topped with nuts and seeds.