Smoothies v. Juices v. Whole Food (Fruit, Greens, & Veggies)

Anyone that has been a raw foodists or vegan for long-term, begins to accumulate all sorts of food prep equipment throughout the years (juicers, blenders, food processors, and the like).

The holidays are approaching, and if you celebrate Christmas with your family, these devices are some things you could ask for as gifts, if you also want to avoid buying food prep equipment for yourself. Or even better, you could buy someone a blender or juicer in order to encourage them to eat healthier.

I remember my Dad bought me a blender back in 2005 when I went vegan, and have bought several since then. My partner bought me a juicer in 2009 or '10 --which I am still using-- he got it from Walmart for $30 (GM brand). I think the 'Ninja bullet' food processors are $15 (good for blended small portions).

I am currently using a blender that I bought from Goodwill for $2.50. I am not ashamed to use a second-hand blender instead of the Vitamix! Usually thrift stores have well-priced junk to repurpose.

 

With that being said, I find that eating WHOLE, FRESH, RIPE, RAW FRUITS, VEGETABLES & GREENS are the key to natural healing. Whole foods keep fiber and enzymes intact unlike juicing your food. Smoothies (blended fruits/greens) tend to oxidize your food (which ages your body). Overall, it is best to eat foods in their raw, natural state. For example, instead of juicing or blending several apples with other fruit, it is better to eat an apple, one after the other. This method fills you up quicker without eating too much fruit.

Although eating your food, whole, fills you on less food-- I am not a woman that calorie restricts. I tend to eat 2500-3500 calories a day (and still losing weight).

 

Furthermore, smoothies are better than juices (in my opinion) because you still obtain the fiber from the food (unlike juicing), and smoothies allow us to obtain large amounts of calories (vitamins/minerals) when we're on-the-go. Also, juicing is expensive because it requires a lot more of the fruit and veg to obtain several servings of juice. For instance, it requires 3 lb of carrots to produce .50 L (approximately).

 

Juices are beneficial if you're eating a food you would not normally eat whole, but could tolerate in the form of juice. For example, I dislike beets and carrots whole, but prefer to eat them juiced. I will repeat myself: by juicing your fruits and veggies, you are taking away the fiber from the food. You are instead taking in the sugar from the food.

Plus, what animal would juice or blend their food? Instead, they would eat large quantities of the food, raw & whole, until they were full. It's funny to think that we're the only species that cooks their food...

 

As I have mentioned in Garden Harvest & Grocery Hauls (Raw Vegan budget): to an outsider, or to calorie-restricting diet programs, the abundance of fruit I eat seems extreme; but this is not extreme to wild animals. For instance, if fruit and greens are available, elephants will eat 300-500 lb of food a day while rhinos, hippos, giraffes, and gorillas as well as other large vegetarian animals eat 100 lb of food in a day. It is typical for cows to spend six to eight hours a day eating, while many other vegetarian animals spend much longer.

 



Juice of (3) clementine's + (5) grapefruit + (5) oranges + (2) mangoes



 

My point being: blending and juicing is not our natural method of eating fresh, raw, ripe, whole fruits & vegetables, yet it is enjoyable and convenient for us.  So, do not assume I am demeaning blending or juicing your food, because it helps you obtain the vitamins, nutrients and calories (and clear-mindedness) to sustain in this world of constant stimuli and commercial bombardment.

 

Garden lettuce + wild onions blended into a raw soup with tomatoes, celery, lime juice, avocado

 The best fruits to juice is oranges and grapefruit; Veggies that juice well are celery and romaine lettuce due to the high water content of these foods. As far as smoothies, bananas blend the best with almost any other fruit and greens (besides citrus). For the past two years I have eaten up to 10 bananas blended with 2-3 cups of water (for breakfast alone).

 

I have many recipes to the left of this page, so feel free to explore, or add me on Facebook to check out more of food pictures, harvest and gardening photos.