Smoothies vs. Juices – Which Is Better?

Smoothies and juices each have a unique role to play in your healthy lifestyle.

Which one is better? It really depends on YOUR individual health goals.

Let’s compare smoothies vs. juices.

Fiber

Smoothies are packed with fiber. Whatever ingredients you add into the blender become part of the final product – including all the fiber. Fiber helps lower cholesterol, helps prevent constipation and helps regulate blood sugar.

On the other hand, fruit and vegetables juices have no fiber – this is removed by the juicer and you are left with a mountain of pulp. Without the fiber, juices are quickly absorbed by the body. Even though fiber is beneficial for your body it can be obtained through other means – a healthy, whole food diet.

There are many things you can do with the juice pulp so it doesn’t go to waste. You can use it to make dehydrated crackers, use it in soups or add it to smoothies. If you don’t want to use the pulp in the kitchen, you can sprinkle it over your garden or compost it.

Superfoods

Along with fruits and vegetables, smoothies often contain superfoods – these are usually in powdered or liquid form. Some examples include chia seeds, E3Live (algae), aloe vera, bee pollen etc. The addition of superfoods can really ramp up the nutrition of your smoothie and add some unique health benefits.

Juices are typically more simple and pure. They are usually made from vegetables, fruits and sprouts. I find the best combination for the base of a juice is celery and cucumber. If you are adventurous you can add in some superfoods such as spirulina and chlorella at the very end – there are no rules 🙂

Satiety

Smoothies are a healthy meal replacement – commonly people will have a smoothie for breakfast. If I drink a litre and a half of smoothie it will keep me energized for at least 2 hours. Ingredients such as coconut oil, protein powder and chia seeds provide greater satiation.

I treat juices as more of a supplement to my diet. They are a great way to get a ridiculous amount of fruits and vegetables into your body. I find green juice is one of the few “foods” out there that actually makes me feel more energized naturally. Juices are able to sustain you without weighing your digestive system down.

Clean up

Anyone who’s juiced before knows that cleaning up the juicer afterward can be time consuming. You need to take the juicer apart, clean the individual pieces and leave them out to dry before you can reassemble the machine and put away. Even though this process does take some time I still think it’s TOTALLY worth the effort!

Blending up a smoothie is quick and easy. Most of the time I will just rinse out the blender with water and flip it upside down to dry by the sink. This makes smoothies a great option in the morning for a quick meal before work – just make sure your family is awake before you start blending.

So you can see by this breakdown that both fresh juice and smoothies serve different purposes. Your goals at the time of consumption will determine what drink is best for YOU. The ultimate goal would be to get both a fresh juice and a smoothie into your daily routine!

Do you prefer smoothies or juices?

To your health!
Jesse