To JUICE or to SMOOTHIE?

Human nature always seeks a firm and definitive answer to any question. We look for the "yes" or the "no", the “good” or the “bad”, the "must do" and the "do not do". This then brings us to the dilemma: to juice or to smoothie? Which is better? As usual, there is no straightforward answer, because it depends on what you are looking for...

If you want to replace a meal: SMOOTHIE

Making a smoothie means putting whole fruits and vegetables in a blender, you therefore consume the whole product with the fibre still present. This allows us to stay full longer, and can therefore replace a meal. If you want to turn your smoothie into a complete meal, I recommend adding protein and fat to make it a well-balanced meal or snack.

Tip: 1 piece of fruit of your choice + 1-2 vegetables of your choice + source of fat (a spoonful of coconut oil, avocado, nuts or chia seeds) + source of protein (protein powder, nut butter or yoghurt).

If you are looking to fill up on vitamins: JUICE

When you make a juice, you separate the dietary fibre, so you get a concentrated liquid of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Of course dietary fibre is not bad, on the contrary, but when it comes to juice, the absence of dietary fibre facilitates the assimilation of vitamins. Without fibre, the body can absorb nutrients almost instantaneously, the digestion process being "short-circuited". Since juices are a concentrated version of the fruit/vegetable, it takes much more fresh produce to get the same amount of liquid as a smoothie. This of course means that you can consume even more vegetables in a juice. For example, who could eat a cucumber, 4 stalks of celery, a lemon and 3 handfuls of spinach in a salad for breakfast? On the other hand, in the form of a 300ml juice, it goes down easy.

If you are more of a "fruit" person than a "veggie" person : SMOOTHIE

As previously explained, smoothies contain dietary fibre which causes the body to absorb nutrients more slowly and evenly compared to juice, where the nutrients pass directly into the bloodstream. This is the case for the vitamins in the juice, but also for the natural fruit sugar. When you drink a fruit juice, the natural sugar of the fruit passes very easily and quickly into the bloodstream. This leads to a spike of sugar in the system and ultimately unstable blood sugar which is associated with health problems such as diabetes and obesity.

If you're more into fruit than veggies, opt for smoothies instead, as the dietary fibre in the beverage slows down the digestion of the natural sugars in the fruit and therefore avoids sugar spikes.

If you easily get bloated: JUICE

Fibre is part of a balanced and healthy diet, but too much fibre at one time can cause bloating. If you often get bloated after drinking smoothies, try a juice. There are many reasons why you could get bloated after drinking smoothies, including drinking them too fast. Since smoothies are liquid we can easily swing them back in a few seconds as though we were gulping down cold water on a hot day. Since smoothies do have fibre and energy that needs to be digested, gulping your smoothie down in a few seconds in the equivalent of gobbling down your lunch on the go. Juices on the other hand are free of fibre and do not require much work from your digestive system.

If you're on a tight budget: SMOOTHIE

Since juice is a more concentrated version, making a serving of juice requires a lot more vegetables than a smoothie, making it more expensive. In addition, cheap juicers crush fruits and vegetables at high speed and the heat kills the vitamins. To extract juice from fruits and vegetables while retaining vitamins, you would need a juice extractor that spins gently without heat. These machines are often much more expensive than a blender to make a smoothie.

If you’re looking for a good quality juicer which keeps the vitamins in tact while extracting the most good stuff possible, I personally use and love the Vita Juicer by Novis. When you use the code: VICTORIA2020 you get a free knife set worth CHF 99.- with your juicer for the ultimate morning juicing experience.

This code also works for their ProBlender which I haven’t bought yet but it’s on my summer wish-list. Think of all the fresh summer smoothies & nice creams…

Keen to get started with juices and smoothies but don’t know where to start?

Find my favourite Anti-Inflammatory Juice recipe here.

Find my favourite Cleansing Green Juice recipe here.

Find my favourite Energizing Orange Juice recipe here.

If you already have a juicer and don’t know what to do with the leftover juice pulp, here’s the recipe for my celery juice pulp fritters and my carrot pulp muffins.