To Mix or Vitamix?

Blending, juicing, and more but what is the best way to optimize your nutrition? There are a lot of options available and there are a lot of misconceptions as well and I’d like to got through some of them.

Pros and cons of juicing

Let’s start with juicing. Juicing is a method of extracting the water soluble nutrients from fruits and vegetables which can be a great source of those nutrients, however, a lot of people tend to put way more fruit than vegetable.

This is a basic mistake as it is recommended that we all get at least twice as many vegetable than fruit and some sources say we should actually be getting 5-7 times the amount of vegetable than fruit.

One reason juicing in general can be detrimental mistake is because juicing inherently removes the fiber from foods, thereby removing a major limiting factor in the metabolism of sugar. When you make or buy that fresh juice you may be spiking your blood sugar, and what goes up must come down. When blood sugar drops it can effect energy, focus and mood.

the best way to blend

Blending whole foods, in my opinion, is a better option. This way you can keep the fiber in the foods and you can actually open up other food options for the beverage. But, what is the best way to blend?

I have been on the search for the optimal unit for blending options. The Magic Bullet, the NutriBullet, and Ninja are all quality machines that can make a smoothy of your choice, but what if you want more?

Through this experimentation of several kinds and brands of blenders I came across the Vitamix. This is no ordinary blender, my friends. This has made a difference in our daily lives at my house. A big reason for that is my little darling daughter.

We made the decision to make our own baby food and the other blending options didn’t come close to the power and versatility. This device gives you the ability to design and make your own baby foods and so much more. We decided to make our own baby foods because we could make whole, organic foods for a fraction of the price of store bought foods.

While we were making this decision a study came out from the company Healthy Babies Bright Futures that showed of the 168 baby foods from major manufacturers tested that 95 percent contained lead, 73 percent contained arsenic, 75 percent contained cadmium and 32 percent contained mercury.

Even in trace amounts these chemicals are linked to impaired brain development in children and the negative impacts of these chemicals on the brain worsen with repeated exposure. The worst offenders were baby foods made with rice, sweet potatoes and fruit juices.

This also means that these chemicals are in the adult versions of these foods. Many green vegetable used to make some healthy green drinks and juices have also been found to contain high levels of a metal called Thallium. This is a serious poison that has been outlawed in the U.S., but is still in use for several different industrial purposes. Making your foods organic can greatly reduce the risk of exposure the these toxins.

The Vitamix allows us to make quality foods for our child, but we use it almost obsessively to make all different types of foods. Homemade dressings, marinades, sauces, soups and desserts are often on our menu.

On low settings it can also be used for food processing. It can still be used for making one heck of a smoothie, but I will tell you the truth. If smoothies are your only desire then I wouldn’t suggest the Vitamix.

The price point is a little steep for the occasional or even regular smoothie. Although, if you want to expand your repertoire in the kitchen, make healthy baby foods and homemade whatever, then I would highly suggest looking into getting one of these impressive machines.