Quick...What I Did This Weekend:
Last night I went out to Patsy's Irish Pub (my favorite local bar), and ironically started talking to someone at the bar who juiced for 40 days. She said she lost 35 pounds! It was nice to run into someone randomly at a bar who juiced too! I sipped a soda water with lime all night and had fun dancing as usual. I did get some hunger cravings for a late night snack on my way home. Of course on the way home, I drove passed good ol' Del Taco and imagined the taste of a hot salty french fry in my mouth.
Today my boyfriend and I spent the day at Disneyland. The weather was phenomenal and it felt nice to wear shorts and a t-shirt. I packed my backpack with my juice and some coconut water. Spending the day there got my mind off of the desire to eat a little bit. I did have a little bit of fun going to each restaurant to see if they served any new vegetarian/vegan options. I forced my boyfriend to get a vegetarian chili bread bowl, because that's probably my favorite thing to get there. We also found out that the Asian bowl restaurant at California Adventure has tofu!
I am quite impressed with myself to share with everyone around me that I've made it to Day 19. It's pretty crazy! I get excited to hear that people are reading my posts and are encouraged by my challenge. I definitely will be continuing to juice on a daily basis after I finish my cleanse. Although, I've been thinking that the juicer I have is somewhat wasteful. I have a Jack LaLanne juicer. It's a great product and it does a great job at just juicing. BUT... isn't it wasteful to just toss the pulp? Doesn't it have nutritional value to it? What is the health difference between juicing and blending? I have been purchasing mostly all organic produce. I want as much bang for my buck and the most for my health!
To Juice or To Blend? That is my question.
I read up on this online and found my answer. Juicing and blending are both beneficial, but they serve different purposes.
Juicing is a great way to get nutrition from fruits and vegetables without activating the digestive system. You're digestive system gets to rest leaving your body feeling more energized. Juicing makes it easy to consume large quanities of fruits and vegetables, because it seperates the pulp (fiber) from the juice. All of the nutrients get assimilated into the bloodstream immediately. Juice is also a very clean drink, containing only juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. No frozen fruit or sorbet allowed! Juicing can be expensive comparitively. Since there is no fiber or pulp there is direct absorption of concentrated fruit sugars in to the blood. It is important to juice a mixture of fruits and vegetables together. Keep the fruit to veg ratio lower.
Blending drinks made with a blender can be made more nutritious than juicing by adding ingredients such as non-dairy milks, flax seeds, avocado, protein powder, maca etc. A blended drink contains the whole fruit, including healthy fiber which creates a slower absoprtion of sugars. Blended juices can be stored up until 3 days in the fridge without losing nutrients. Blending is not a very easy way to get lots of fruits and vegetables like juicing. Blending has a lower bio-availability of nutrients than juice, but higher than whole foods.
So what's right for me? I think I'm going to stay clear from the Vitamix and stick with my Jack LaLanne. Once I finish my cleanse, juicing will be taking my already healthy lifestyle to a new level. It's such an easy way to consume a high concentration of fruits and vegetables.
Cheers to juicing from me and Jack LaLanne!
Resources:
http://some-like-it-raw.com/2011/02/08/juicing-vs-blending-a-showdown/
http://www.choosingraw.com/question-of-the-week-to-blend-or-to-juice/
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