I want to start eating more greens. In your opinion, which is better, a green smoothie (greens with fruit) or juicing the veggies?

green smoothies, for sure! I just bought a Vitamix blender and I love blending my greens with some fruit now. When you juice, I think you lose all the fiber, and there is just so much "waste". I hated throwing away all those veggie scraps. Actually, we didn't throw them away, we used them for our compost. But still, it seemed like a big waste to me.

Neither is better than the other, they are both the best food ever! Do both every day.

Hah! Mike, good Answer! I like your style!

Thanks Rawrrr!

I do green smoothies in the morning, sometimes for lunch and dinner.

I like to make my green juice before dinner. The recipe I use is on page two of Gabriel Cousen's article.

Plus, there are some vegetables that make a good juice but they don't work well in a smoothie, such as carrots, cabbage, beets, bok choy, etc...

[www.treeoflife.nu]

Green Juice – Phase 1
Preferably use a Green Star Juicer

Base 80%
Celery
Cucumber

Leafy Greens
Spinach, Kale, Collards, Swiss Chard, Watercress, Parsley, Beet Green, Cabbage, Herbs (bitter, use sparingly), Dandelion, Grass, Any Leafy Greens

Other
Tomato, Bell Pepper (red yellow orange), Burdock, Radish, Any Green Sprouts

Sweetner ( AS Condiments: 1/4 C mixed with green juice)
Parsnip, Carrot, Beet, Apple, Sweet Potato

Condiments
Lemon Juice, Cayenne, Ginger Juice, Salt, Turmeric (powder or juice)

I do both.

Typically, except on weekends, I do smoothies in the morning because they are faster. I juice in the afternoons.

khale

Mike Wrote:
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>
> Plus, there are some vegetables that make a good
> juice but they don't work well in a smoothie, such
> as carrots, cabbage, beets, bok choy, etc...
>

I got a new Blendtec 3hp blender on Sept. 20. It will blend anything you put in it to pure liquid consistency... I now get all my carrots and all greens through a straw. I don't know why anyone would want to use a juicer when there are blenders that will convert your groceries to a straw-suckable juice with pulp and all.

Green smoothies have opened a whole new world up to me. The last month has told me how bad I felt for a long time.

Buy yourself a 3hp Blendtec or Waring or Vita-Mix blender and forget about juicing.

Juicing may be useful in some situations but one key advantage of smoothies over juicing is that juicing forces the body to absorb the nutrients too fast while in smoothies the body will slowly and naturally digest the food and absorb the nutrients at a normal pace.

Ok! Now you all have me craving a green smoothie!

I like the smoothies much better than juice. I only drink juice on the road now, when I can't get my smoothies.

And the smoothies are much easier to make and clean up.

Is it better/ok to eat veggies whole? As in a huge spring mix salad with kale, chard, lettuces, etc..?

All 3 ways are best, I think! Raw greens salad (arugula, romaine, and other greens), with raw black olives, tomatoes, tahini salad dressing (tahini, lemon juice, garlic and virgin olive oil, blended),purple onion, avocado, sprinkle a few sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds on top, and what ever else suits your fancy = heavenly delicous!

I think they taste loads better when chopped instead of blended in a smoothie or juiced. I want to *eat* my veggies rather than drink them.

Some people think we don't absorb anthing much from eating them in salads but a recent study did verify that significant increases in plasma levels of key nutrients does occur after salad eating.

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

But one probably has even greater uptake with blending.

I am not a juice fan, it doesn't agree with me. But it won't do any harm to juice your veggies if your fiber intake is at least adequate before juicing.

Pantryraider - I just got a new Vitamix belnder and then sold my juicer. My blender is the best thing ever! It blends all of my greens right into a liquid! Last night, after we got home form working out, I made us a smoothie with a young coconut (plus the coconut water), an entire half of a pineapple (core and all) and some bananas. It was SO good! Especially after a realy tough workout.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2006 02:46PM by Yogamama.

Hey Yogamamma! I've been wondering how you were getting along with your new Vitamix! I'm still working on the hubby! It's just a matter of time!

I make a lot of aggrivated noises whenever I'm blending something - which is often! (making sure that he hears all the drama) I have to stop it and stir.....stop it and stir.... and it sometimes takes forever to get a smoothie made... which brings me to the question posted-

I vote smoothie. Whole foods with all the components just seems more logically healthy.

This question comes up around here quite regularly. Many people feel that juice is superior when you are healing from an illness - less work for the degestive system - more energy for healing.


Life Is Good!

alive!

Hi Alive!

My husband has been making comments like "You mean to tell me that a $30 blender from WalMart won't belnd up our greens like this?" He is full of doubt! LOL. So I told him to go buy a blender from WalMart and give it a try. I am just waiting for him to come home with one now!

Alive, hahaaa!

Speaking of eating more greens: I wash a whole big bunch of greens in the morning and throw a few leaves into the blender and coerce it into making a fruit and greens smoothie. Then I put the rest of the greens into the food processor and spin them around a few times. I use half in a salad at noon and then the rest in a soup in the evening. This way I'm making sure that I eat at least a whole bunch of greens on a daily basis. I realize that the greens will start breaking down since they've been chopped up, but the way I see it, I'm more likely to eat them this way. If I get too hungry and then have to do a bunch of washing and chopping - I'll eat less healthy choices. Works for me.

Life Is Good!

alive!