Should I juice or should I blend? The case for whole fruits and vegetables

To juice or not to juice…

I’ve been down the juice trail. Load up the juicer and squeeze out what appears to be quite a bit of juice for the amount of fruit you had used. Then one day I was looking at all the pulp that was left and it hit me! That pulp is full of vitamins and fiber, and I’m throwing it away! Well that stopped my juice days and started my smoothie days. Fruits are almost entirely sugar (fructose), but a whole fruit also packs a lot of fiber and vitamins that are lost when it’s just used for juice.

Once I stopped juicing and started blending, I realized I could mix and match fruits and vegetables into fantastic smoothies that could meet my nutritional needs in one great drink. Spinach works especially well in a fruit blender drink. Its delicate flavor blends perfectly and you really don’t know it’s there. Mixed with berries, carrots, and banana, spinach adds a healthy dose of the greens you really need but don’t always take the time to eat. If you buy spinach in large packages, it’s less expensive and you can put it right in the freezer and use as needed in your blender drinks. It freezes perfectly into little spinach chips and is so easy to toss right into your drinks. You can also use broccoli, tomato paste, squash, sweet peppers, parsley, cabbage, and beets. Almost any fruit or vegetable is worth trying. Opt for a wide variety and get the most nutritional value for your money.

Juice is one of those drinks that many people perceive as healthy, especially when it is labeled natural or organic and says it is made with all-natural ingredients. Let’s be clear about this right now, juicing is NOT part of a healthy eating plan. It is a much better idea to use the whole fruit or vegetable. Aren’t we all trying to get enough fiber in our diets? Why throw away those vitamins?

So this is how you do it. Choose your fruit. Blueberries are fantastic, and you won’t have the seeds found in raspberries or blackberries. Bananas give the smoothie a creamy texture. Peaches, strawberries, melons, they’re all good. Which fruit you use is a personal choice. I recommend buying fruit that is in season and chopping it up and freezing it for your drinks. Start with spinach and then experiment with other vegetables. Decide what you like, you can add as much or as little as you like. Put it all in the blender and use the liquid of your choice to mix it up. This is where you might want to enjoy some grape juice. Some people like it mixed with just water. Others enjoy using soy or rice milk and adding cinnamon. Yogurt is also a great addition. Use enough liquid to mix and enjoy! Using frozen ingredients creates a delicious frozen drink like a fruit smoothie. What a great way to get all the fruits and vegetables you need, and your kids will love it too!