“Should I get a high-speed blender or a slow juicer?” This is a question that I was asked quite often from people who starting to consider adopting a healthy lifestyle by taking fresh juices regularly. My advice is, if there is only one equipment that you want to invest in, then get a high-speed blender. Here is my rationale:
Higher dietary fibre contents
A glass of blended smoothie has higher nutritional values compared to a glass of clear juice from the same ingredients. With blending, nothing is wasted, all parts of fruits and vegetables are consumed. This includes all the dietary fibres, skin, and seeds, which are discarded with the juicing method. Dietary fibre is deemed to be a very important component in healthy eating as it can help to decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and colon cancer. Emerging research is also starting to show that dietary fibre may play a role in modulating the immune system, which can possibly help to prevent infection and improve mood and memory [1]. Therefore, it makes no sense to discard all the fibres from fruits and vegetables when we know they can do so much good for the body.
Phytochemical contents and antioxidants
Proponents of slow-juicing often claim that the blending process tends to heat up the juice and thus destroying the heat-sensitive nutrients and phytochemicals; in addition, the use of steel blades at very high speed also tends to cause oxidation and reduce the antioxidant content of the juice. As such, they advise against the use of a high-speed blender. Is there any truth in this?
A study published in 2014 by a group of Korean scientist helps to refute such claims [2]. This study investigated the phytochemical contents and antioxidant capacity of juices, processed using blending and juicing. The study found that the variation in phytochemical content and antioxidant capacity depends more on the type of fruits, rather than the processing methods. Blended apple has lower phytochemical content and antioxidant capacity compared to juiced apple; but blended persimmon has much higher phytochemical content and antioxidant capacity compared to juiced persimmon. Hence, juicing and blending simply affect different fruits differently and it cannot be generalized to claim that one processing method is superior than the other for all fruits.
Beyond fruits and vegetables
You can go beyond fruits and vegetables when preparing smoothies with a high-speed blender. Ingredients such as nuts, seeds, dried fruits, legumes, protein powder, yogurt, seaweed, ice, etc. You can add experiment with many different healthy ingredients to make your blended smoothies, delivering all the major nutrients the body needs. Therefore, with the right ingredients, a glass of blended smoothie can be a complete and balanced meal. This is what a juicer cannot do.
Easy to clean
This is a very important plus point for a blender. The basic design of a blender is simply a large jar with a rotating blade. For normal cleaning, there is no need to take anything apart. A bottlebrush can do the job of thorough cleaning under a minute. For busy working people, a blender is an ideal tool for making a breakfast smoothie. Cut, blend, and clean – all can be done within 5 minutes.
Every juicer, regardless of the design, has a lot more parts than any blender. With the need to extract only liquid from fruits and vegetables, the design of a juicer inherently requires a container and a filter in addition to the parts to perform mechanical extraction. After each use, these parts need to be taken apart for a thorough cleaning to remove all the food residues. Additional time is also needed to reassemble them back.
Ease of cleaning is a very important determinant for many people on whether they will maintain their juicing habit daily. I know many people who gave up juicing and let their expensive slow juicer gather dust after an initial excitement period. It is can be a chore to clean up the mess. Unless you have a domestic helper to do it for you, you won’t want to do it daily.
More versatile
A blender is a very versatile kitchen appliances. You can use it to prepare soup, sauces, beverages, jams, spreads, desserts, etc. If you need to your ingredients to be evenly mixed and smooth, a blender can do the job, hot or cold. There are so many recipes online that you can find these days. I have shared a few myself using the Optimum 9200A High-speed Vortex Blender recently.
Try that with a juicer? Don’t even think about it.
Summary
In a nutshell, I pick a high-speed blender over a slow juicer anytime. Blended smoothie can be a balanced meal packed with phytochemicals, antioxidants, dietary fibres, and more. A high-speed blender is also much more versatile and easier to clean than a juicer. The use of a high-speed blender in food preparation is limited only by one’s imagination.
References
[1] G.G. Kaczmarczyk, Melissa M., Miller, Michael J., Freund, The health benefits of dietary fiber: beyond the usual suspects of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and colon cancer, Metabolism. 61 (2013) 1058–1066. doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2012.01.017.The.
[2] Y.H. Pyo, Y.J. Jin, J.Y. Hwang, Comparison of the effects of blending and juicing on the phytochemicals contents and antioxidant capacity of typical Korean kernel fruit juices, Prev. Nutr. Food Sci. 19 (2014) 108–114. doi:10.3746/pnf.2014.19.2.108.