This is a question that so many people are confused about. There are so many images of both! People pushing their green juicing cleanses online, showing off their power smoothies, acai bowls – #healthyeating #cleansing – if you get your information strictly from the beauty bloggers online and follow what is the prettiest posts I can understand your confusion. They would suggest that we all need to cleanse on a regular basis (wow – we must all have super unhealthy lives that need that regular extreme – my advice – if you need to do an extreme 5 day cleanse on a regular basis, maybe take a look at your daily routine and try to just clean that up a bit…).
This article isn’t going to tackle the question of ‘to cleanse or not to cleanse’ – I’m just going to give a bit of information about both juices and smoothies.
Juices –
First off – when you go for a juice, remember that all the fibre has been removed from your drink – meaning that there isn’t anything to offset the sugar intake and slow down your insulin production. A good rule of thumb for juices is for them to be about 80% vegetable with only 20% fruit. A juice of watermelon, mint, and pineapple may be delicious, but you are going to get a whopping sugar rush!
I choose my fruits and veggies wisely – try to choose the vegetables that have great nutritional benefits and aren’t a pungent (requiring too much fruit to cover up the taste). If you love the cruciferous taste of Kale – go for it – fill up your drink with it – I personally find it too strong a flavour and will substitute for a milder tasting spinach.
Another issue with juices – I highly recommend when you want to supplement your diet with a green juice – you are probably best to purchase it. I know this sounds extravagant, but a juice is best organic and fresh (the enzymes are still active within about a day of making the juice) – variety is also a factor – so by the time you go and purchase your organic veggies, not to mention the slow juicer – you probably would be ahead of the game by just buying the organic juice from a reputable vendor.