Morning energy - Juicing vs Blending

Morning best starter :)

Sunday. I woke up earlier yesterday morning and made a cup of green juice before I headed for yoga.

It's a known fact that there are many health benefits from juices & smoothies. Just watch Fat, sick and nearly dead and you'll see why. Not only they are nourishing, they are also delicious (most of the time at least! I know how some people hate raw veggies taste), keeps us energized and ensure that we take in our daily recommended 2 servings of fruits & vegetables each.

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 2 Celery sticks
• Half of a big cucumber
• Handful of Kale
• 1 Green Apple

Juice it!

Juicing extracts only the liquid component and removes all the fiber and hence, the liquid juice would be absorbed into our blood stream very quickly. Therefore, I added only 1 apple to make the veggies taste a little sweeter. Anyway, I didn't wanted to have something extremely sweet at 730am too

After the cup of green goddess and 2 morning classes. I was all zonked out. I woke up feeling a little hungry after lunch & a short evening nap and decided to make a cup of smoothie before dinner! I couldn't wait. 

This recipe is inspired by Tara Stiles.I've been meaning to blend this quite some time and regretted not starting earlier because it was extremely yummy and creamy!!! I didn't had almond milk at home so I substituted with unsweetened soymilk, tastes as great as well.

Ingredients:
Serves 1

• 1 Banana
•  A handful of blueberries
• 1 scoop of homemade almond butter
• 1 cup of milk of your choice
• A couple of ice

Blend, and enjoy!

and now a common question we are always confused with.

"What's the difference between Juicing & Blending?"

Like I mentioned earlier, juicing removes all the fiber in the process and so our body doesn't have to work as hard to break down the food and we can absorb the vitamins and minerals without having to chow down the food (i.e. celery, broccoli). However, it may actually cause a rapid spike in our blood sugar especially if our juice is too sweet and this could leads to more cravings, mood swings, etc. My suggestion is to juice 80% vegetables and 20% fruits. Freshly squeezed vegetable juices can be most healing as they can restore the body at a cellular level.

Blending, on the other hand, consists of the entire fruit/veggie and would make a great choice as snacks as it satisfies hunger because the fiber fills us up. Smoothie also helps keep our blood sugar stable as it creates a slow, even release of nutrients. I personally like this as it keeps me fuller and more importantly, my drink is creamy & I love it!

I adapted the below useful & simple guide from Kris Carr, she's a cancer thriver, go read her amazing story!

I had another cup of juice, this time with carrot before my bowl of yummy oatmeal to kick start the day. I hope I can keep up with this at least 2 times a week :) Start blending and juice away now.