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Health & Fitness

Juicing and Blending Fruits and Vegetables: Misconceptions Revealed

With conflicting nutrition information represented by mass media toward the general public, it is overwhelming deciding how to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet everyday. Should you eat or drink your produce?

Ample consumption of fruits and vegetables is correlated with a decreased risk for a host of chronic diseases. Jeremy Lampel, MS, RD, and an employee of Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Santa Cruz County, explains the main differences between juicing and blending; all juices or blended smoothies are not equally nutritious and some health conditions can be exacerbated if juicing or blending is not done correctly.

Juicing extracts the fiber (solid roughage) from the plant source leaving only its liquid, the most concentrated form of nutrition. This is a simulation of your small intestine, which works to absorb liquid forms of the food we eat. When fiber is removed prior to ingestion, less energy is expended in absorption and the percentage of nutrients absorbed may increase.

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“Juicing is not needed for a healthy diet, but it can be a great accompaniment to a high-fiber diet,” Lampel says. “When you extract the fiber, your small intestine is able to absorb the nutrients readily into the bloodstream, so we feel nourished quicker. The benefit of juicing is that you can achieve a high dosage of antioxidants and phytochemicals from more produce than you could ever eat.”

According to Lampel, juicing is particularly healthful when it is done with low carbohydrate fruits and vegetables, such as leafy greens, cabbage, celery, zucchini, cucumber, lemons, and limes. When you form a habit of making fruit juices, such as apple juice, this poses possible risk for complications such as elevated blood triglycerides (fat) due to the presence of isolated fructose (fruit sugar). “Fructose doesn't directly raise blood sugar levels, however, there are some other detrimental effects when it is consumed unbound to fiber. Juicing may be most suitable for dysphagia patients who need to be on a full liquid diet through tube feeding, or those with compromised gastrointestinal function from years of undesirable food choices,” Lampel says.

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Blending does not discard the fiber, but it is pulverized into microscopic pieces, so the whole food is in pureed form. It is difficult to ingest the volume of produce you would put into a juice when you are creating a blended smoothie. “Smoothies are great because you can address nutrient deficiencies by adding isolated nutrients. Blending is better suited for increasing caloric intake for weight gain with items you cannot juice, such as avocados, bananas, and nuts,” Lampel explains.

Juicing and blending each come with its pluses and minuses. Depending on the physiological conditions of the patient or person, one may be more appropriate than the other. Lampel advises patients that they should introduce a new dietary regimen gradually.

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