Juicing vs Blending? #FitnessFriday

So everybody and they mama---including me!---are on this crazy juice/smoothie bandwagon. I love my smoothies and I love my juice. I was blessed enough to get both as gifts last year and I use them both constantly! If you are anything like me, you probably wondered, which one is better? While debating the health benefits is waaaayyyyy above my pay grade, I can tell you from experience which one required less time, was cheaper, easier to clean, and has a better taste. Then you can decide for yourself if you should juice or blend!

Clean up:
The Jack LeLanne juicer isn't difficult to clean, but it's not super easy or super fast either. You must clean it thoroughly as soon as you use it because the pulp and fibers will get hard making it even harder to clean (trust me---I know from experience). The pusher, the pulp collector, the filter, the blade, the lid, the receptacle plus the juice catching container all have to be washed by hand with warm soapy water. It doesn't take long---but its tedious. Whereas with your Nutribullet, you wash the cup and the blade then you're done.

The Nutribullet definitely wins the clean up race.

Time:
Juicing takes time so I'd make my juices in bulk twice a week. I had to make time to prep the veggies, make/store the juices, and then time to clean up. It's not hard, just a bit tedious especially if  you're already pressed for time, like me. The Nutribullet on the other hand, has been much easier for me to handle. I don't have to make my smoothies in bulk because the machine takes less than 2 minutes to clean up. My kids eat fresh veggies and fruits at each meal, so whatever is left over, I throw into the Nutribullet cup, add some spinach or kale, then store it overnight in the fridge. In the morning, I add the blade, I little water or ice, blitz, rinse the blade then take my smoothie to go. I most certainly can't image making the time to juice daily.

Nutribullet for the win.

This only made enough juice for 3 days...

Price:
No explanation needed: Quality juicers like the Jack LeLanne Power juicer are crazy expensive. I received mine as a gift but it retails for something like $100 without the accessories. And honestly, I can't really imagine using my juicer without the overflow platform, filter brush, juicer platform and measuring cup. The Nutribullet was $80. Nutribullet +1.


A weeks worth of produce when I was juicing daily, was about $40 (during the summer months). A weeks worth of produce for my smoothies is about $8/week. Why the crazy difference? Well it takes probably 4 or 5 times the amount of produce to make a cup of juice from the juicer than with a smoothie.

Nutribullet hands down wins the price race.


Taste:
This is tricky. The taste of both your juices and smoothies will certainly depend on how you balance the sweetness of your fruits to the bitterness of your veggies, the freshness of your produce, and of course it's ripeness. I love the taste of juices because they are incredibly light, clean, refreshing and pure on the palate. If you've never had a fresh juice before, then you probably have no clue what I'm trying to say but trust me there is a HUGE difference between the apple juice that you buy in the store and juicing a real apple! With smoothies, you have to be very careful with your proportions of veggie to fruit. Too much dark leafy super fibrous veggie (Think: kale) will leave your smoothie tasting like you pulled it from the lawn mower. I find that my smoothies taste muddled because of all of the extra fiber. The good thing is that smoothies leave you feeling fuller longer.

The best taste award definitely goes to the Jack LeLanne Power Juicer.

The final verdict: During the winter---I'll be all about that green smoothie life. Once the spring and summer hits---I'll throw some fresh juice back into the mix. If you have to choose between one or the other, go for the Nutribullet and I bet that you won't regret it!

Which one would you chose?

Besitos!
KLP

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