Cold pressed juices and smoothies are not something new to the health scene. While cold pressed juice may have only gained popularity and traction in the last several years, people have been “juicing” for years. That said, as juicing and cold pressed juices have gained popularity, more and more debates have been started over which one is “better” for you, juices, or smoothies.
Well, as you know, I’m not a “one size fits all” kind of girl when it comes to health. I believe that what works for me, may not work for you, and that you need to find the path that works best for your health goals. That being said, I’m not here today to tell you which route to choose, I’m just here to give you some of the facts, and let you make the decisions for yourself.
To start, let’s talk juice! There are several options when it comes to juicing, but the two easiest ones are to make it yourself, or find your local cold pressed juice bar and have someone do it for you. Making it yourself allows you the flexibility of creating your own flavour combinations, but it takes a lot of fruit to make a small portion of juice. I’m partial to a juice bar because I need that convenience. I know that if I had to make it myself, I’d be more likely to just eat the fruit!
If you’re interesting in exploring the world of cold pressed juices, here are some of the benefits you can expect:
- Since juice is the liquid extracted from fruits and vegetables, it contains all the best of the plant stuff- like nutrients and enzymes.
- Juice contains high amounts of soluble fiber which is found in the juice of some of the produce most commonly used in juicing (kale, apple, spinach, pineapple and carrots for example). Soluble fiber is more easily digested and passed into the bloodstream. This allows your digestive system to focus it’s energy on ridding the body of built up waste and toxins.
- Dietary fiber is removed during the juicing process which makes it easier on the body to process the nutrients from the fruits and veggies in a juice. The body has to work really hard to extract the nutrients from plants, but in the juicing process, this has already been started by extracting the liquid from the fibrous plant cells allowing the nutrients to enter the bloodstream in the fastest way possible, using the least amount of energy.
Buyer beware though- read the ingredients on any premade juices. Try to find ones that are primarily vegetable based, with only a small amount of fruit used as a natural sweetener. Cold pressed fruit juices are still fruit juice, and can be packed with sugar. While these are better for you than juices from concentrate, your body still only needs so much sugar in a day, and you may be getting more than you should with certain juice blends.
Stay tuned! Part 2 is coming soon- providing all the info you need on the health benefits of smoothies!
