Green Smoothies and Green Juice

After a week I am so full of phytonutrients that I am beginning to get worried. When I was a kid we got a juicer and I fell in love with carrot juice. Before long I started to turn a delicate shade of orange. Now I am worried I will turn green – ugh!

The side by side comparison has been fun and informative. I can not say that I prefer either one. Except that cleaning up after making a smoothie is infinitely easier than cleaning up the juicer!

Juice is a mainline of nutrients into the blood stream. About 15 minutes after it hits your stomach you start to feel it all over your body. Great for greens and horrible if you have too much fruit (sugar) in the mix. I find that I have to be excruciatingly careful not to add too much fruit, otherwise I end up with a major sugar crash an hour later. The sugar crash makes me ravenous, which more or less undoes the advantage of drinking the juice. The smoothies last longer and do not give me the spike. I like the fact that you can add chia seeds, flax, nuts and avocado for a little fat and protein. My digestive tract approves of the fiber in the smoothies.

Neither one is exactly cheap. It takes a lot of veggies to make either smoothies or juice. Juice, however, takes about twice as many veggies.

There are literally thousands of recipes on the internet for both smoothies and juices. For juices I like the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead site. If you haven’t seen the movie be sure to rent it from Netflix. It is inspirational to say the least. For smoothies check out Victoria Boutenko’s site. Many consider her the “mother of smoothies.” It is actually kind of fun to poke around and see what you come up with. Just be prepared for some very strange concoctions.

No matter what you method you choose, juicing or blending, adding all those phytonutrients are the perfect antidote to the winter doldrums.

About Genene Cote

Genene Coté -- Nutrition Advocate, Counselor and Coach who is also a Whole Food Plant Based Eater (vegetarian/vegan), cook and gardener.
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