Juice Or Smoothie? Here Is The Difference.

I love to see new juice bars popping up and more restaurants adding juice and smoothie menu. If you sometimes feel confused by this trend and find it difficult to choose a juice vs. smoothie, you are on the right place.

So what is the difference between a juice and a smoothie?

The main difference between a juice and a smoothie is the fiber. 

In a juicing process, the fiber is separated from the juice of the fruit or veggie and thrown away. As a result you get a pure nectar of vitamins that passes the digestion tract very quickly (as no need to digest the fiber) and goes straight to your bloodstream.

This all sounds good, but if the juice contains fruit, the sugar shoots into your bloodstream too.

So if you are trying to reduce your sugar intake, avoid fruit juices of any kind and stay with mainly green veggies….

Although there is another solution, which I´ll talk about later..

If you choose to have a smoothie, you will get chunks of whole fruits and veggies blended with liquid (water, milk, plant based milk). 

As it contains the fiber, it takes a while to digest and the sugar reaction is much softer. Fiber contains digestive enzymes and it is good for your gut.

Smoothies in general are quite filling so it is a great replacement of a solid breakfast.

But if your digestion is very slow and sensitive, or you are in the process of healing your gut, then a smoothie in the morning might take a load of energy to digest and you might feel tired like going to bed again..

So as I mentioned, there is another option I started to use years ago and works great.

As juice is my preference in the morning, because the instant vitamin shot wakes me up and gives me the energy I need, I pass all my veggies through the juicer first. The only fruits I juice are lemons and grapefruit.

Then I throw a banana, or apple or pineapple into a blender, pour my veggie juice over and blend till smooth. At this point I like to add also some collagen powder supplement or L-glutamine.

And that´s it. As I brake the fruit fiber in a blender it is easier to digest, but still slows down the sugar absorption.

But as I´m not having the huge amount of veggie fiber that overwhelms my digestion, I feel energized.

For a juice preparation you need to have a juicer (centrifuged or slow juicer). 

Do some research if you are planning to get one, I prefer the slow juicer as it is not so rough with nutrients, it just squeezes them out, but you will have to get used to the cleaning process 😬😬😤.

If you are planning to get a blender, try to choose a powerful one, it makes a huge difference. Nobody wants to chew his smoothie..🤦🏼‍♀️ 

Nutribullet for example is a good choice, very practical and powerful and if you throw a handful of almonds in your smoothie you won´t even notice them.

Share your juicing / blending wins with us, I would love to know how are you doing.

Happy juicing & blending!