Which is better for you, a home-made smoothie or fresh squeezed juice?

Ask anyone who knows me well, and they will tell you that I am not a juicer.

Yes, I would have my little glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, but that was the extent of it. I would then make a fruit smoothie in my Vita-Mixer adding flaxseed and protein powder.

Then I saw the film “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead!”

What an inspiring story…

How I Became a “Juicer”

The movie takes us on the journey of two men who are extremely overweight inundated with health problems.

What happens?

They both go on a sixty day juice fast. They become different people, literally.

Food becomes their savior instead of responsible for their demise. They lose all of the weight they need to lose and regain their health at the same time.

I had debated about juicing for a long time because I was convinced fiber is crucial to good health (which it is).

Juicing removes the fiber leaving you with a concentrated form of nutrients.

The benefit to juicing is the amazing amount of nutrition you can get into one glass. I am still leery of juicing a lot of fruit and high sugar veggies, e.g. carrots and sugar beets. The rapid rise in blood sugar, especially for diabetics, can be compromising to your health.

My mother-in-law has been a juicer for a long time and attended the movie with me. She knew how motivated I was to begin juicing so she bought me my first real juicer.

We made a few glasses together and it was quite exciting.

There was a lot of experimentation and some funny faces!

I had been having some digestive problems and doing a three day fast helped me heal considerably. A short juice fast can be very beneficial. It will cleanse you, give your immune system a rest, and provide a great starting point for a healthier diet.

There are a lot of “recipes” out there you can find.

But for me, the novice juicer, I grab all my veggies out of the fridge and go at it. I have juiced cucumbers, red peppers, parsley, baby spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, collard greens and celery.

Juice or Smoothie?

So, what is the answer to my question, smoothie or juice?

Well, how about both!

Smoothies contain the whole food (including the fiber) for pushing things along while keeping your blood sugar stable.

Juice provides a lot of nutrition in a concentrated form which will get into your bloodstream faster.

My conclusion is juice veggies and blend fruit. It’s a win-win!