What is the best blender for juicing, and how can you use juicing for gut healing?

If you want my honest opinion, I think juicing for gut healing and smoothies for gut health. 

Can you have a juice whenever? Yes. Should you consume a lot of smoothies while gut healing? Maybe.

Let’s first discuss juices and smoothies.

Juices vs. Smoothies

While both juices and smoothies are beverages you consume, the difference lies in the way they are prepared.

A juice uses a juicer; a smoothie a blender.

When fruits and vegetables are placed through a juicer, the water and nutrients are kept, but the indigestible fiber is removed. This is mostly the skins of fruits and vegetables.

On the contrary, a smoothie simply blends and grinds everything placed in the blender into liquid form. No piece or part is removed. In other words, if you don’t remove the skin of an apple prior to places pieces of it in a blender, the skins will be part of your final smoothie beverage.

Juicing for Gut Healing

Click HERE to save this post on the best blender for juicing for later.

Today we are focusing on juicing vs. the smoothie. 

Juicing is truly a great way to get more vegetable nutrients into your diet while healing your gut. 

The act of juicing helps remove most the fiber and roughage that could be contributing to current gut misery. 

In “Is Fiber Helping or Hurting Me,” I mentioned,

But for those of us with compromised guts, who are still on our gut healing journey, we must be aware that fiber is one of the natural habitats for bacteria in the gut. In fact, they feed on it. Thus, the fiber we are getting can ultimately provide a good habitat for the bad bacteria, aggravating the inflammation in the gut wall.

Because of this, eating large quantities of fresh fruit, raw vegetables and maybe even just vegetables in general, could pose many problems.

Am I Still Getting Nutrients by Juicing?

By now you know how much I studied the GAPS Diet back in 2009, yes? On page 205 of the book, Dr. Natasha Campbell states,

Juicing removes the fiber which impairs absorption of many nutrients in fruit and vegetables and aggravates the condition in the already sensitive digestive system. The digestive system has virtually no work to do in digesting juices, they get absorbed in 20-25 minutes, providing the body with a concentrated amount of nutrients.

In other words, yes, yes you will still be getting nutrients and if you’re in a gut-healing phase, you might even be absorbing them better via blender juices.

Juicing Caveat

Editor’s note: While juicing has become all the “health rage,” let’s make it very clear that many of the packaged juices contain an insane amount of sugar.

Truthfully, all that sugar negates the benefits.

When thinking of creating your own juices, consider using ingredients like:

• leafy greens
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• celery
• carrots
• oranges
• fresh berries

With only the small addition of things like:

• beets
• apples
• pears
• peaches

While making your juices fresh, from scratch, at home is far better than the packaged options, we still want to be aware of how many higher-sugar ingredients we’re using.

A juice, in and of itself, is not “healthier” than many other beverages. No matter what marketing tries to tell you.

Best Blender for Juicing

Let’s say you’re sold on juicing for gut healing. I already know your next question,

What is the best choice for a juicer?

There are so many out there, and truth be told, I have not used that many of them. Obviously – because they are expensive and I don’t need 17 different juicers nor do I desire to spend all that extra money to keep on the latest trends.

In fact, currently I don’t own a single juicer. (After researching and writing this post, though, I want one again.)

However, I have purchased and used some in the past and I have done my research into the best options.

Two juicers I’ve owned and enjoyed in the past:

Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juice Extractor

​I enjoyed using this high-speed blender, and it was the very first one I purchased a long time ago while in the thick of my healing because at that time I wasn’t drinking any smoothies; just fresh juice, homemade.

Features

• Contains a titanium reinforced disc and micro mesh filter basket which are made out of stainless steel and together are designed for optimum juice and nutrient extraction
• 3 inch extra wide chute feed allows you to juice whole fruit and vegetables without pre-cutting
• Two speed controls: Use the low speed for softer fruits and leafy vegetables, and the high speeds for denser fruits and harder vegetables

Positives

• My goal was to make high-quality vegetable juices with some fruits added; got the job done with their powerful motor
• Simple blender attachments

​Negatives

• Cleaning wasn’t super easy
• It’s a fairly large, full-size blender

Price: $179.95 (+ Prime) on Amazon

BELLA NutriPro

​I have also used the BELLA NutriPro.

Features

• A 1000-watt 2-speed motor to deliver fresh juice fast, even from tough ingredients like carrots & beets
• Removable pulp container and micro mesh filter make it ideal for lemons, limes, oranges and other citrus as well as hard fruits and veggies 
• Detachable, dishwasher safe parts & splash free lid, pouring spout & non-skid feet prevent messes

Positives

• This blender allows you to make smaller portioned items with less mess and clean up
• I love how small the containers are, and that, if need be, can be portable
• Great if you are on a tight budget, but still want to get started juicing

Negatives

• Cleaning wasn’t super easy
• Though it says it is idea for really hard fruits and vegetables, I didn’t have that same experience

Price: On Amazon as low as $49.99

p.s. This is the one I used to use when my children were babies to make my own baby food. 

And here are some juicer brands I’ve researched to be “the best and/or” best value.

Some are brands in general; others are specific models. 

Thus, these are the ones I’m considering for my next purchase.

High Performance Blender Juicer Considerations

Ninja NEVERCLOG™ Cold Press Juicer

I’m obsessed with the sleek design of this one. It’s modern, simple, and engineered to power through tough ingredients for non-stop juicing.

Features

• NON-STOP JUICING: Powers through tough ingredients for powerful, non-stop juicing.
• CONTROL PULP: Total Pulp Control allows for customized juice with two interchangeable pulp filters: Less Pulp and Lots of Pulp.
• PROGRAMS: 2 one-touch programs for simple use: Start/Stop and Reverse.
• POWER: Powerful high-torque motor base rotates auger at low speeds, versatile speed settings.
• EASY SETUP: Simple assembly makes for no-hassle setup and cleaning.
• NO MORE MESSES: Anti-drip lever keeps surfaces clean and prevents waste.
• COMPACT SIZE: Easy to store or fit under cabinets.
• EASY CLEAN: With all parts that touch juice dishwasher safe, the Ninja NeverClog™ Cold Press Juicer is easier to clean than leading centrifugal juicers.

Price: $129.99 [when you order it HERE]

Omega Juicer

Omega has many different high speed blenders.

Different uses and featured options include:

1. Slow Masticating Cold Press Vegetable and Fruit Juice Extractor Effortless Series for Batch Juicing with Extra Large Hopper for No-Prep, 68-Ounce Capacity
2. Vertical Masticating Juicer, 43 RPM Compact Cold Press Juicer Machine with Automatic Pulp Ejection, 150 W
3. Slow Masticating Cold Press Vegetable and Fruit Juice Extractor Effortless Series for Batch Juicing with Extra Large Hopper for No-Prep, 68-Ounce Capacity, 150-Watts

Depending on the type of high-powered blender you’re looking for and/or if you’re looking for full-size models or something simpler, there is a price point and juicer for you.

Hurom Juicer

Of all the options on this list, the Hurom Juicer is one of the most modern (matte black) and minimalist.

Traditional juicers require a strainer which collects minerals over time, requiring extensive scrubbing. 

The H400 utilizes a revolutionary mechanism that minimizes pulp – even without a strainer. 

The strainer-like function is practically embedded within the chamber and the two-part auger meshes together to strain out pulp-free juice – which means bare minimum cleaning for high-quality juice!

With this one you won’t have to take the extra step of separating, cleaning, stocking, and storing.

The only downside is that it might be cost prohibitive for many at $599.

Breville Juice Fountain SL Cold Plus

​Since Breville is known for their juicers and they do a great job at creating them, I have featured two on this list.

What I love about this one is that it contains a unique 3.5 inch extra wide chute feed allowing you to juice whole fruits and vegetables without pre-cutting. Whenever someone is considering juicing, one of the biggest challenges is getting over all the prep work that comes with pre-cutting.

This is a great choice if you fall in this camp.

Smeg Juicer

While in LA recently, I stayed in a hotel that had a Smeg coffee maker. I’m literally obsessed with all things Smeg. Their style and branding is on point and classy. 

The Smeg juicer is for citrus, though, so it’s really not an all-in-one. But this is the best way to make fresh juices and homemade orange juice. 

I love making a creamy OJ by filling a cup up halfway with freshly-squeezed orange juice and the other half with full-fat coconut milk (or the like).

If you have used any of the above and have a strong recommendation – either for or against any of them, could you please leave your thoughts in the comments below?!

A Juice Recipe

I used to juice all the time. When I was healing, I was obsessed. There are a lot of different juice recipes throughout this website. Search and you’ll find.

But there is a great option for something simple and healing.

Ingredients

• broccoli
• carrots
• apple
• celery

If you have a powerful blender from any of the best juicer blender combo options on this list, you can make this nutritious drink in no time. 

Now, if you’d rather enjoy a smoothie after reading through all this information, then you’ll simply just need a smoothie blender and the Vitamix blenders seem to produce the best final product plus are used as both personal blenders and by the professional chef alike. 

Here are 3 favorite smoothie recipes to consider:

1. ​5-Ingredient Strawberry Pina Colada Smoothie Recipe
2. How to Make a Raspberry Smoothie {gluten and dairy free}
3. Blueberry Smoothie Recipe {Low FODMAP Berry-licious Hemp}

Make note that with both smoothies and juices, I don’t think they are great as saved for later use. I have had better success, however, freezing smoothies vs. juices for later.

However, you could use any leftover contents and pour into an ice cube holder (as “fruit/veggie ice cubes”) to use in other recipes later.

Did you like this post on juicing for gut healing? Here are more things you might enjoy:

1. Gut Health vs. Gut Healing
2. Nut Butters (namely, my Honey Roasted Peanut Butter recipe!)
3. Green Smoothie recipe

Disclosure: All opinions started here are 100% my own. I appreciate your support, as this compensation helps with expenses to keep this website up and running, and for me to continue sharing all that I can with you. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Xox,
SKH