OT - Juicers vs Blenders

[DaddyChoc]

is there a huge difference, which do you prefer and why?

 

[MilfordHusky]

If you are looking to splurge, the Vitamix professional series is beyond awesome. Smoothies, soup, etc. Amazing power, great recipes, etc. Cleans up fairly easily. But it costs around $400 (it was a gift).

 

[GoUconn7961]

I use both. I have a large masticating juicer which makes fabulous juices of all types and even mixes and extrudes pasta dough. I use the blender for smoothies (The Bullet). Sometimes though I'll take a green juice that I've made transfer it to the blender and add a ripe avocado to make a delicious green smoothie.
Yum!

 

[VAMike23]

is there a huge difference, which do you prefer and why?

DC they're completely different....!

Some people like juicing but in most cases you're missing out on much of the foods' nutrients. Usually you're concentrating the extracted sugars and putting them on a fast track to your bloodstream, since there is no longer any fiber or complex carb left to get in the way as there is with the whole food in its usual state.

Go with a high quality blender and it opens up a lot more possibilities than a juicer, and more of these possibilities will be healthier. Juicers can also yield healthy results but juicing is not a silver bullet.

 

[Rayvin56]

Juicers are for extracting juice from the pulp, and blenders, like the Vitamix, are for blending. When I juice fast, I don't want the fiber--this way peristalsis will come gradually come to a stop and my body can enter the cleansing and healing phase. I use a cold press, single auger juicer (a Sampson) for leafy greens, wheat grass, sprouts, etc, and a masticating juicer (a Champion) when I want a quick carrot or apple juice. If you want all the benefits of a Vitamix, eat whatever you would've put into it--you will also have the added benefit of not having had that overpriced blender oxidize your food's enzymes.
Of course, the Vitamix probably makes mean frozen drinks

 

[VAMike23]

I'll also have the added benefit of actually consuming a fairly large amount of leafy greens instead of thinking about it and then deciding against chewing on a mixing-bowl sized serving for 20 minutes. . Add to that the added benefits of time saved per serving (I can drink a smoothie in a minute or two) and the significantly increased bioavailability of the nutrients once the cell walls are broken down by the blender. I like the trade off

 

[Rayvin56]

It's the oxidizing damage done by the high speed blades that is the most negative thing about the blenders to me, Mike. High speed centrifugal juicers do almost the same thing. I'm sure your smoothies are awesome, and I like smoothies myself. It's just that DaddyChoc's original post was about the differences between juicers and blenders and I was trying to point out that a Vitamix is not a juicer and not appropriate for fasting. For quick, on the go smoothies, when you don't care about retaining the live factors of your food, blenders are wonderful devices. I know you can also make hot soup with the Vitamix due to the high heat generated by the blade speed and instant reversing action...