Let’s be honest, when was the last time you cooked yourself a vegetable-rich meal or remembered to add an apple or a handful of grapes to your breakfast? You can’t remember, right?

You can argue that you treat yourself every now and then to a delicious smoothie from your favorite smoothie bar. However, that doesn’t mean you consume enough vegetables and fruits to hit your required vitamin intake.

A juicer or a blender in your kitchen is your cheapest and easiest way to keep yourself healthy in the long run. While some stress that blenders produce healthier juices, others argue back that juicers extract more nutrients and minerals for your body. 

Want to know which of them will up your nutritional game? Well, walk right this way.

Juicers 101 – What Are They?

A juicer is an electric appliance that squeezes your veggies and fruits, separating their liquid from the skin, pulp, seeds, and fiber. The result is a pure juice that you can pour into a glass and drink immediately while all the solid waste is discarded.

Types 

Generally, there are two types of juicers: centrifugal juicers and masticating juicers.

In the former, fruits or vegetables are shredded by sharp blades then transferred to a spinning beaker that rotates at high speed to separate the juice from the pulp and flesh. Right after that, they are pushed through a sharp screen into your cup in the form of clear liquid. 

Centrifugal juicers are cheaper and more compact, so they take less place on your kitchen counter. Since they take lots of veggies at one go, they’re faster than masticating ones. 

On the other hand, masticating juicers use a slow auger to crush fruits against a sharp screen, which filters out the solids and allows the juice only to pass. 

Although they produce a higher yield and their juices tend to last longer, they’re more expensive, and cleaning them is a bit of a hassle.

Pros and Cons of Juicers

To make one cup of apple juice in a juicer, you’ll need far more apples than you’ll use to make an apple smoothie in a blender.

That means the produced juice will be more concentrated with vitamins and antioxidants that help cleanse your system from toxins and boost your immunity against fever and flu. 

They’re an excellent solution to quench your thirst, but they won’t satisfy your hunger. Since they’re devoid of fibers which demand more time to be digested, juices are absorbed faster. 

However, these fibers are meant to ease your digestion and keep you regular, so you’ll be giving up on these essential components for your body if you decide to go for a juicer. 

Moreover, juicers are a pain to clean since there will be multiple parts to wash and rinse, not to mention getting rid of the waste pulp and fiber. That’s just not something you want to do early in the morning when your schedule is tight. 

On top of that, they can be much heftier in price than blenders.

Blenders 101 – What Are They?

Coming to blenders, they’re tall jars with stationary blades that operate on powerful motors. These motors’ violent spins create a vortex in the middle that helps collect heavier unchopped veggies to the bottom for the blades to cut through them.  

They mix and emulsify fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients. They also produce thicker liquids than that of juicers.

Types 

Blenders have three main types. The first and most popular one is the standard kitchen blender that comes with a large-capacity jar and sharp blades. It operates on several high speeds to chop, mix, or make liquid purees.

Another type is the single-serve blender, which is the strongest and most compact one. It’s powerful enough to crush ice and frozen fruits and doesn’t take a big place in the kitchen.

Lastly, immersion blenders, also known as hand blenders, don’t come with their own bowls like the other types. Hence, they require the least cleaning and are the fastest to use when you’re in a hurry.

Pros and Cons of Blenders

The best part about blenders is that they’re not only limited to smoothies. They can whip through different jobs like making your favorite soup or puree and chopping vegetables for your salad or dressing.

While smoothies are less concentrated than juices, they are more filling and energy-packed. They may not satisfy your thirst, but they’ll surely keep you satiated for a long while. And the fact that fibers are retained will make your smoothie healthier, as fibers control your blood cholesterol level and lower your risk of heart diseases. 

Blenders allow you to add other ingredients to your blend like yogurt, milk, or nuts, which is something you can’t do with juicers. 

As for the other advantages, blenders are cheaper, easier to clean, and can be tucked away in your cupboard easily since they’re compact and small. The one thing that may stop you from choosing them over juicers immediately is whether you like your drinks thick and creamy or not.

Juicer vs. Blender – Wrap-up

We think we all agree that both blenders and juicers help us take our daily requirement of vegetables and fruits in fun and tasty drinks that don’t take minutes to prepare. However, the question is: juices or smoothies?

Well, if you’re looking for a way to ingest more vitamins and minerals in one portion, a juicer is your best choice.

Generally, juices get absorbed rapidly and are safer for people suffering from mal-absorption. Fibers tend to interfere with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, which means people suffering with this should go on fiber-free diets. Hence, juicers are better for their health.

However, if you’re looking for a more fun appliance in your kitchen, a blender is your way to go. Apart from its health benefits, it will allow you to make sauces, prepare dressings, and enjoy various blender-based recipes.