The Juice Vs. Smoothie Argument Is Redundant*Let's Put It to Bed

I'm sitting at Tao Natural Foods in Minneapolis, enjoying one of their Bibimbap Bowls with plenty of sriracha, and I hear the age-old (& personally cringe-worthy) Juice Vs. Smoothie argument erupt a few tables over. Teresa, hold my earrings... 

Behold the beauty of a beet/carrot/collard/lemon/turmeric juice I concocted just this morning. Now, let me shine some light on this all-too-common "argument." A juicer removes all the fiber from your vegetables and fruits, leaving you with a light, and easy to drink juice, which can also be incredibly filling. When you blend a smoothie, you're keeping all your fiber; everything you put into your machine, you consume. Check out the ingredients that went into my juice this morning...

That's 1 beet w/greens, 7 carrots, 4 giant collard leaves, 1 lemon, and 1 lil' nubbin of turmeric. From the beet alone, you're receiving calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, vitamins A, C, & B6, magnesium, potassium, copper, and manganese. The entire combination lowers inflammation, balances your pH, boosts your immune system, protects your skin (from the inside, whaaat), and gets your digestive system moving, among other things! It's basically a big F-U to cancer, a shield for your health, and a jump-start for your busy day. After enjoying this juice, I did eat an avocado w/black pepper and pink Himalayan salt before getting on with my bad self, because I was hungry, and I know I need to eat two hours before a Bikram class.

If it sounds like I'm pro-juice, that's because I am! I am NOT, however, anti-smoothie. Again, there's nothing to "believe" or argue over here. If you understand the difference between juice and a smoothie, it's easy to say that a smoothie cannot always pack the same nutritional punch as a juice, simply because it's more difficult to consume all the accompanying fiber. Unless you're fasting, which I won't touch on here, you need fiber in your diet. So, when juicing, you're receiving enormous nutritional benefit, and will need to eat food besides. Smoothies can be a whole food. The only difference is the fiber, and of course, the ingredients you use. What I do dislike about the smoothie "market," are all of the crap mixes people are substituting for real food. Personally, I like to rely on whole foods I can clean and manipulate with my own two hands. Anything in powder form, frankly, just feels wrong, and can be a bunch of junk and fillers in disguise. There are plenty of protein-packed nuts and legumes I've used in my smoothies when I was concerned about protein intake. Tip: soak plain, raw cashews in water overnight, and add them to your morning smoothie.

Put those gloves away now! Please let me know what else you'd like to know about juicing/smoothies/nutrition/wellness, and I'll try my best to deliver.

Also, here's that bomb Bibimbap Bowl, before I smothered it in Sky Valley Sriracha. I normally would leave the egg, but I trust Tao to use the best sources, and I need all the protein I can get after working it out at Bikram's Yoga College of India--come suffer and be reborn w/me there. 

Xx, Mo! :)