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| May 3, 2014 Juicing Versus Smoothies
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| BENEFITS OF JUICING VERSUS BLENDED DRINKS (SMOOTHIES) This is a question that we get asked all the time. Which is better: juicing or blending? Does one offer more health benefits than the other? Juices and blended drinks (smoothies) both play an important role in any wellness program and we discuss the benefits of each with patients, at our workshops and in our retreats. Here is a short comparison that explains the differences between the two as well as some of the specific benefits of each. One is not necessarily better than the other. It is simply a matter of what you are attempting to achieve. And remember, whether you juice or make smoothies, choose heirloom, sunripened, organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible. The closer to nature, the better the food is for you. The more the food is altered (to include GMO/hybridized foods and pesticide laden foods) the more damage the food will do to you, your body, your mental health and spirit over time. We are seeing the cumulative effect on people in the clinic daily. The sad truth is most of the problems we see, like diabetes, leaky gut, cholesterol, cancer, high blood pressure, allergies and more are lifestyle diseases that are negatively impacted by chemically altered and processed foods. Think about it, if workers in the factories wear protective gear when handling pesticides and other chemicals used in foods, why would you want to eat foods that have been sprayed with pesticides, chemically altered or genetically modified? You can't poison yourself back to health, plain and simple. And Mother of Mercy, please, take me now if you still can't figure that one out. In the end, those few pennies you thought you saved in cost will come back to bite you BIG TIME in medical bills....and unfortunately sometimes one's life. So please, think twice. Eat fresh, organic, non-gmo food whenever possible. Now let's get back to juicing versus smoothies.
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| WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
JUICING Juicing is a process that extracts water and nutrients from fruits and vegetables to include the minerals, vitamins and enzymes and discards the fiber. As a side note, the discarded fiber is great for composting or creating nutrient rich water for plants in your garden. Without all the fiber, your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard to break down the food and absorb the nutrients. In fact, it makes the nutrients more readily available to the body in much larger quantities than if you were to eat the fruits and vegetables whole. This is especially helpful if you have a sensitive digestive system or illness that inhibits your body from processing fiber. The fiber in produce helps slow down the digestive process and provides a steady release of nutrients into the blood stream. As Dr. Tony would say, “Without fiber, you get an instant Main Line Infusion of nutrients, minerals and enzymes into the body.” And it is very cleansing and alkalizing to the body too. Since most people are acidic, this is extremely important as disease processes and symptoms tend to develop when we are acidic. Further, freshly squeezed organic vegetable juices form part of most healing and detoxification programs because they are so nutrient rich and nourish and restore the body at a cellular level. This is critical. We hold toxins at a cellular level and therefore must cleanse, detoxify, feed our cells and restore health at a cellular level. A word of caution: When you remove the fiber from the produce, the liquid juice is absorbed into your blood stream quickly. If you are only juicing fruits, this would cause a rapid spike in blood sugar and unstable blood sugar levels can lead to mood swings, energy loss, memory problems and more! If you make a juice with organic fruit only we recommend diluting the juice with 50% purified water to prevent a rapid spike in blood sugar. Fiber is also filling and without fiber in the juice, some people tend to get hungry again quickly. The benefit is you can pack more servings of fruits and veggies into a single serving of juice than you can into a blended drink.
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| JUICING ALTERNATIVE Often juicing isn’t possible as we have busy schedules or we are at work, school or traveling. We have created a great alternative for those situations. Green Synergy is our nutrient rich green food that includes the super green sea foods spirulina and chlorella plus alkalizing leafy greens and cinnamon, cloves and goat whey minerals. And it is easy to use too! Combine one scoope of Green Synergy with one half filtered water and one half organic, unsweetened pineapple, apple or white grape juice to make a phenomenal alternative.
Green Synergy is a highly concentrated FDA approved food equivalent in nutrients to more than 3 freshly made green juices per one full scoop or 1-1/2 freshly made green juices per 1/2 scoop. And it is very alkalizing. Retail brands typically come with only 300 grams or less (versus 600 grams in Green Synergy) and DO NOT contain the super antioxidant sea foods like chlorella or spirulina contained in Green Synergy. Further they DO NOT contain the benefit of Goat Whey Minerals. Green Synergy is a far superior product and it tastes better too!
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| BLENDING (SMOOTHIES)
Unlike juices, blended drinks, known as smoothies or what we call “Nutrient Dense Drinks” consist of the entire fruit or vegetable, skin and all, and contain all of the fiber from the vegetables.
The blending process breaks the fiber apart (which makes the fruit and vegetables easier to digest), helps create a slow, even release of nutrients into the blood stream which in turn helps avoids blood sugar spikes. Dense Nutrient Drinks (DND) tend to be more filling, because of the fiber, and are generally faster to make than a juice. They are great to drink first thing in the morning as your breakfast, for snacks throughout the day or as a meal replacement.
By including the fiber in your Dense Nutrient Drink, the volume will increase. We recommend trying Dr. Tony’s Dense Nutrient Drink (DND) full of high quality fats and sugars that feed the body, feed your cells and DO NOT contribute to obesity because the fats are unaltered from nature (like coconut butter) and the sugars are unaltered from nature and come from the banana and/or blueberries, maple syrup Grade B or Coconut Syrup. For recipe click on Dr. Tony's Dense Nutrient Drink.
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| JUICING AND BLENDING RULES 1. It’s best not to combine fruits and vegetables (unless the fruit is apple or pineapple). This can affect how well your digestive enzymes function. Apple and pineapple are different as they help with the enzymatic activity when combined with leafy greens and other vegetables. For example, if you want a watermelon juice, you should juice watermelon by itself, without vegetables. This doesn’t seem to matter as much in green juices and Nutrient Dense Drinks, but vegetables like carrots, beetroots, broccoli and zucchini don’t combine well with fruit due to their high starch content. In particular, starchy foods have to be eaten alone because starches are digested with enzymes different from those used for any other food group. Combining starchy foods with fruit may cause fermentation and gas. 2. When juicing or making Nutrient Dense Drinks it is't necearry to peel the vegetables or fruits. Further you can use the whole fruit or vegetable including the leaves and/or stalks. For exampe, juice the carrot and carrot tops or juice the beet and beet leaves. Many people throw out the carrot tops or beet leaves, losing some of the nutritional benefits these foods from nature offer. 3. Try to drink your juice or Nutrient Dense Drink straight away. After 15 minutes light and air will oxidize and destroy much of the nutrients. If you can’t drink it straight away, transfer your drink to a dark airtight container and refrigerate or put it on ice until you’re ready. This will minimize the loss of nutrients, but is not ideal or recommended. The Green Synergy option would be better in this case.
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| USING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT To get the most benefit from your juices and Nutrient Dense Drinks, it’s important to use the right equipment. Invest in a good-quality juicer. Cheaper, centrifugal juicers introduce heat and oxygen and may destroy some of the enzymes and nutrients in your fruits and vegetables. While it may cost you a bit more initially, a premium cold-press juicer will produce a superior-quality juice and allow you to extract more from your fruit and vegetables, saving expense in the long-term.
The machines themselves will also generally last longer. In contrast to the rough extraction of centrifugal juicers, mastication or cold-press juicers compress fruit and vegetables to ‘squeeze’ out their juice without heat. If you can’t afford it, don’t despair, as you will still benefit greatly from juicing, far more than buying commercially packaged juices, which are often pastuerized using high heat and nutrient depleted since the juice was not consumed immediately after making. These juices are basically “dead foods”. The same goes for a blender. You want a blender that is gentle on your produce and doesn’t heat up the enzymes as it’s pulling apart the fibers. We spend money on gadgets, clothes, Starbucks café lattes, Jamba Juices, restaurant foods and other luxuries so investing in your health by buying a quality juicer or blender is totally worth it. Drink a Juice or Smoothie - A Toast to Better Health! *****************
Anthony M. Antonacci, NMD, CSCS, DC, FASBE, Professor of Kinesiology Lisa Fiore, MIM, MBA, Live Blood Cell & Bio-Terrain Certified
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