Both juicing and blending have the ability to provide users with a whole world of health benefits, not to mention weight loss (if followed correctly). What most people have a problem with is figuring out whether they should follow blending or juicing. Some people are even under the impression that juicing and blending are the same exact plan and don’t have any differences between them!
Don’t worry if you are someone that falls into either one of these categories, it can get really confusing rather quickly when you do a bit of research into either plan because not a lot of food or health blogs make it very clear what the differences are between these two health plans are and what the different benefits that they offer are. Today, we’re going to give you a clear explanation of the difference between blending and juicing, as well as an understanding of the different benefits that both plans offer!
Topic Contents
What’s the difference between juicing vs blending for weight loss?
The biggest difference between blending and juicing is what isn’t included in the process. In the process of blending, you are keeping the pulp and fibrous materials that come in the fruits and the veggies that you are using in your blend. However, with juicing, you are juicing up all of the pulp and fibrous materials that come with the veggies and fruits that are using.
Juicing follows the process of removing water and other nutrients that are found in veggies and fruits while getting rid of indigestible fiber. On the other hand, blending takes the entire fruit and/or veggie and changes the fiber and skin into a liquid form, which makes it a thicker consistency that’s comparable to a smoothie. In other words, the process of blending will allow you to consume more fibrous materials than juicing does, since in the process of juicing you’re mashing everything together and end up losing that fiber.
What are the pros of juicing?
Through the process of juicing, you will be able to consume higher levels of nutrients from the foods that you juice. Since there aren’t large amounts of fiber in your juice, your digestive system will have an easier time digesting the nutrients that you are consuming since it doesn’t have to work on digesting fiber. This means that your body is going to absorb more nutrients in comparison to blending.
If you are someone who has problems with your digestive system, juicing can be a great way to help your body absorb extra nutrients without having to fight against processing fiber. Juicing can be a great way to encourage your body’s intake of micro-nutrients but is also encouraged to consume if you are following a low-calorie diet so that you can consume important nutrients without having to worry about feeling too full of too much fiber.
Here are some other pros of juicing:
- It is an easy way to increase your fruit and/or veggie intake
- You can consume a larger amount of fruit and/or veggies per a drink than you can with blending
- Your digestive system will have an easier time breaking what you’re consuming, since juicing your fruit/vegetables doesn’t result in a high fiber content
- Makes minerals and vitamins easier for your body to absorb
What are the cons of juicing?
- Can be expensive
- It takes longer to make juice (in comparison to blending)
- Messier clean up
- Depending on the brand of juicer you get, your juicer may not extract juice well from wheatgrass and leafy greens
- You can’t juice some fruits and vegetables that are important to your diet, such as avocados
- Doesn’t allow you to consume high amounts of fiber
- Isn’t very filling
What are the pros of blending?
Blending is a little bit more complex than juicing is, but once you get a general idea of how things work with blending, you will have a better understanding of what the benefits are that blending can offer you. The process of blending includes the fiber that is found in the fruit or vegetable that you are using.
Depending on the type of blender that you are using to blend your drink, the power of the blender will really change up the consistency of your blend. The faster the speed of the blender is, the smoother the consistency of your blend will be. Due to the higher fiber content found in blending, you may find that you feel fuller for a longer period of time than you would with juicing. This increase in fiber may also help your body release vitamins and minerals into your body more steadily, which will help to stabilize your energy levels.
Blending can also help you to consume less sugar than you would if you chose juicing. If you have metabolic syndrome or have blood sugar related health problems, blending may be a healthier option for you to go with. When you blend up your fruits and vegetables, you are including the skin, fiber, and any pulp into your drink. Since the volume of your smoothie is much greater than that of a juice that contains the same exact ingredients, your stomach is going to fill up much faster.
Due to this extra volume in smoothies (in comparison to juices), not only will your calorie consumption be limited, but so will your sugar intake. You can create a smoothie and a juice that contain the same exact thing, but may not feel very satiated after consuming your juice, which makes you more susceptible to giving into your junk food cravings or even making a second juice, which means you’re consuming more sugar.
Additional benefits of blending:
- Much more filling than juicing
- Provides your body with a steady and even rate of absorption for your body
- You can add additional ingredients to your blend, helping to balance out your nutrition
- Easy to prepare for and easy to clean up
- Blending doesn’t spike your glucose levels since your body steadily absorbs your blend
- Provides your body with more fiber, since you’re consuming whole fruits and/or vegetables
What are the cons of blending?
- Your body won’t absorb as many nutrients as it will with juicing since your body has to digest the fiber from the fruits and vegetables, in addition, the nutrients you’re consuming
- If you use a blender that is poor in quality, it will take longer for you to make your blend and you may not enjoy the clumpy consistency that the low-quality blender yields
Which is better for weight loss?
As a result of blending whole fruits and veggies into a smoothie, your body is going to take longer to digest the smoothie than it would for your body to digest a juice. Not only will this help to keep you fuller for a longer period of time, it will also help to provide you with more energy for a longer period of time, and help to push aside your unhealthy food cravings since you won’t be feeling so tired!
Many people have reported rapid weight loss while replacing their meals with juices, but you may find this difficult to keep up with after a while since juices don’t really help keep you feeling satiated. Juices will give you an energy boost, but you may find that you feel hungry shortly after drinking your juice since juices don’t have a large amount of fiber in them, unlike smoothies. Juicing would be a wonderful lifestyle change to add into your health plan if you are someone who is sensitive to fiber, but are looking for a way to add more vitamins and minerals into your diet.
Both juicing and blending allow you to add more vegetables and fruits into your diet, which is something that most of us need. In terms of weight loss, juicing is great to follow with if you are looking for a weight loss flush, but aren’t super worried about maintaining that weight loss. Blending is better if you are looking for long-term weight loss without having to feel like you’re starving yourself.
Different blenders and juicers
If by the end of this article, you have figured out which drink mix is the better option for you, your next step is probably going to be shopping around for the best juices and/or blenders on the market. Just so you have a better understanding of what you’re shopping for, here is a summary of the different types of juices and blenders.
As a side note, we have seen several other health blogs claim that slow juicers are much better for nutritional purposes than fast juicers are. While this may be a claim that some people believe, there hasn’t been any scientific research completed that has definitive results for this claim.
Blenders
There are countless different brands and models of blenders on the market. You should look for a blender that runs fast, as this will help to provide your smoothie with a smooth and even texture. All blenders work the same way, by blending and pulverizing the food to create a thick liquid.
Juicers
There are two main different types of juicers, which are centrifugal juicers and masticating juicers. Centrifugal juicers (AKA ‘fast juicers’) are easy to clean, don’t cost a whole lot. This type of juice work by having a sharp blade that spins around and slices the food at high speeds in order to withdraw the juice. Many users claim that this type of juicer works extremely well with most vegetables and fruits, but doesn’t work super great with leafy greens.
Masticating juicers (AKA ‘slow juicers) work with an Auger blade that slowly mashes juices from the food. This works well with all fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens. This is the more expensive juicer and takes a lot more work to clean than Centrifugal juices.
Quick warning
If you are interested in either blending or juicing but don’t plan on making your beverage at home, you need to pay attention to this next part. For both smoothies and juices that are sold in grocery stores and in supermarkets, brands typically end up adding extra sugar to the drinks to make them taste better.
Depending on the brand of the smoothie or juice that you end up choosing, one serving of your drink may contain the same amount of sugar as a serving of soda! It’s very easy for people to think that they’re drinking healthy just because something advertises itself to be a health food, but actually ends up being almost as bad (or worse) for you than junk food.
This isn’t to say that you can’t consume pre-made juices or smoothies. However, if you are shopping around for pre-made smoothies or juices, take some time to read the labels. There shouldn’t be any extra sugar added into anything, so make sure that you keep an eye out in the ingredient list and on the nutritional label.
Juicing vs blending for weight loss – Final Thoughts
Blending is a great choice to make if you are interested in replacing your meals or if you are looking to consume whole pieces of vegetables and/or fruit. Consuming a smoothie will help your body to get a better balance of nutrition, which can also help to encourage long-term weight loss. Using blenders also don’t create as much of a mess that juicers do, which is important to know if you are someone who is short on time often or you just hate cleaning up.
On the other hand, juicing has the ability to provide you with a larger amount of nutrients per glass than consuming a smoothie would. This is because juicing doesn’t retain much fiber from fruits/vegetables, so your body won’t have to work as hard to digest your juice. If you’re looking to lose weight fast, replacing your meals with some juice will help you to lose weight, but you may struggle to keep up with this for long-term weight loss.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to make the best possible decision for your health and you should reap the benefits of whatever plan you end going with. Depending upon what your real goals are and what the rest of your diet plan is, you may want to consider juicing or blending as an addition to your healthy lifestyle game plan rather than as an actual diet plan itself.
Recommended Reads:
- DietBet vs HealthyWage –This Is How to Get Paid for Losing Weight
- The Ultimate Slow Juicer Review: The Huron HU-100
Medical Review Comments from Dr. Robin Walsh, BASc, ND
I agree with this author that blending is a much better option when it comes to weight loss. Many times while juicing can provide a lot of easily absorbable nutrients, with the fiber being stripped it causes a massive glucose hit which raises insulin levels. Many people, especially with sluggish weight loss have trouble regulating insulin levels at the best of times. When you give them this massive glucose hit, it causes their insulin levels to rise and their body to go into fat storage mode. This often happens regardless of the calories in the juice. While I think juicing works for some, most people with hormone imbalances will benefit from the added fiber in a blended drink. I also like these juices to have more vegetables and be easy on the fruit! Sadly, from an evolutionary perspective fruit is there to fatten us up for the winter. Large consumption of fruit can pack a punch to those who struggle with sluggish weight loss.
Note: Dr. Robin Walsh is not associated with any products, will never recommend a specific product, nor give specific medical advice here in her contributions. She comes as a representative of herself alone and always recommends consulting with your primary care physician before making any health-related decisions.
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Last updated: December 16, 2019
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Alt Protein Team is a team of professionals and enthusiasts committed to bringing you the most up-to-date information on alternative protein, health and wellness, workouts, and all things health-related. We’ve reviewed a lot of products and services so you don’t have to guess when you spend your hard-earned money on them. Whether you want to shed some pounds, build lean muscle or bulk, we can help you figure out what you need to do and what you need to have to achieve your goals.
While having a holistic naturopathic approach with patients, she has taken a strong interest and puts emphasis on nutrition and lifestyle coaching. The primary focus of her practice is weight loss, or more importantly optimizing body composition. Optimal body composition plays a central role in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity.
Part of her approach includes identifying and treating hormonal imbalances that plague patients with stubborn weight loss. These include inflammatory hormones, insulin, estrogen, cortisol, and thyroid to name a few. Her goal is to catch people in the early stages of ill health and use lifestyle measures to help prevent chronic disease. She continually strives to encourage, coach and support every patient with an individualized program that is easy to implement and helps them achieve their personal goals.
She also has a keen interest in women’s health and from a lifestyle and nutrition perspective helps conditions such as fertility concerns, PCOS, PMS, and other menstrual complaints and menopause.
Robin has completed the necessary requirements and is licensed to prescribe Bio-identical hormones and Desiccated Thyroid in Ontario. She uses these in line with Lifestyle Medicine and other Naturopathic principles to restore balance to hormones.
Robin speaks professionally on how lifestyle medicine influences conditions such as diabetes, glucose toxicity, and chronic inflammation.
She has completed her certification in Environmental Medicine from one of the leading experts in this field Dr. Walter Crinnion. Environmental Medicine is the study of how toxicity impacts health, and she is excited to start implementing this very important field of medicine into her practice. She takes a particular interest in how environmental medicine impacts conditions like fertility and also healthy pregnancy preparation for all women.
Robin holds professional memberships with the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OAND) and the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND). She is licensed in Ontario through the College of Naturopaths of Ontario. Robin is certified in First Line Therapy (FLT), which is an advanced certification program in recognizing the barriers to weight loss and helping patients achieve optimal body composition. Robin is also a member of the Association of Perinatal Naturopathic Doctors, a group that has a special interest in issues surrounding pregnancy and fertility. In her spare time, Robin enjoys staying fit and healthy by cycling and horseback riding.
Dr. Robin Walsh is not associated with any products, will never recommend a specific product, nor give specific medical advice here in her contributions. She comes as a representative of herself alone and always recommends consulting with your primary care physician before making any health-related decisions.