Juice vs Smoothie... a video comparison!
I was really curious to see what a juice vs a smoothie would look like when using the exact same ingredients.
This simply stemmed from simple curiosity on my part, I'm typically a smoothie girl but I do appreciate that juices have great nutritional benefits as you get a lot of nutrition in very small volume, which can be very beneficial if you're trying to assist your body in getting back on track after an indulgent period such as Christmas!
I have made a little video for you comparing them and giving my thoughts, it also gives some top tips and ideas on how I go about my juice and smoothie prep. I've blogged about my favourite smoothie recipe before I think, but have noted it again below for quick reference. The exact same ingredients are used in the juice.
Recipe: My favourite green smoothie (or juice)
Ingredients:
Makes approx 1 litre
- 2 cups packed spinach
- 1/2 cucumber
- 2 cm fresh ginger
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 apple- cored not peeled
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups water (or more/less to reach desired thickness)
- pinch of xanthan gum (optional but makes the consistency beautifully creamy)
Method:
For smoothie: Blend everything together until as smooth as possible. I find it easiest to add half the water first, blend well and then add the remainder and re-blend to get the smoothest consistency.
For Juice: Juice everything and do not add the water or xanthan gum.
this wasn't the photo of the smoothie I made in the video (as I didn't take one!) but it looks the same :-)
Genius Ginger Juicing!
You've probably heard me mention on plenty of occasions before how much of a smoothie girl I am... juices typically don't do it for me in quite the same way! I love my thick green smoothies!
That said, I do totally appreciate that juicing can have some amazing benefits for digestive health and to pack in nutrients is a more condensed fashion than a smoothie would. I'm not against them (green ones that is!) by any means.
A few weeks ago I found a particularly good use for my juicer and have been in love with this little trick ever since!
This reason alone would probably have been enough to convince me to buy a juicer!
As you should also know by now, I love my mugs of warm lemon water in the morning. Previously I'd thinly slice some ginger to add to the mug to add a immunity boosting wake up call! But, I wasn't such a fan of of it bobbing around in the mug hitting my mouth as I was sipping, and also I felt I wasn't maximising its benefits that way...
...Enter the juicer!
I bought a big bag of ginger root and a little turmeric root too (for extra super powers!) and juiced it all to freeze in mini ice cube trays.
You get a surprisingly good ratio of juice to fibre!
I made about 4 trays worth (approx 48 cubes). Now all I need to do is pop a cube out each morning and allow it to dissolve into my hot lemon. Amazing and so easy!
It's a much stronger flavour than before and would make an awesome ginger shot. It is also bright yellow from the turmeric- so will stain if you are not careful- you have been warned!
The other bonus go this is that I only had to clean the juicer once! Yay.... not my favourite job in the world and not something I would want to be doing every day if I'm honest! I do love that juicer for it's quality (twin gear cold pressed) BUT not it's ease for cleaning!
So, for those of you with juicers... please give this a tray and let me know what you think!
I always use a huge mug and hand squeeze my lemons... this glass and slice was just for photo prettiness :-)
Almost dissolved! (it only takes a few seconds)
Perfect with a pretty yellow hue!
Note: The juicer in these photos is the Tribest Green Star Elite juicer, it is one of try best out there but all other juicers would also work.... just think, even with the most basic juicer, you'll still get loads more extracted nutrition compared to simply adding a slice of ginger to your mug!
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