Freshly made fruit and vegetable juice is delicious and wonderfully energizing. It gives one a great “kick” without the unhealthy caffeine or sugar content that most energy drinks contain.

There are two methods that you can use to prepare your juice: juicing in the usual sense of the word, whereby liquid is separated from the pulp, and the so-called “whole juice”, which is really a blended drink – or what most people call a smoothie – that contains all the pulp from the plant. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.

To make clear juice, without a pulp, you will need a juicer.  A blender can be used too, but you will need to strain the resulting drink through a cloth to separate solids from the liquid, so it’s a longer process, that is also messier, and requires more cleanup.

Drinking clear juice delivers the nutrients instantly to the cells, without the body needing to do the work of digesting and eliminating the fiber. This type of juice is ideal for someone who is looking for a quick boost in nutrition, for example for people who are sick, whose bodies are unable to do the work of digestion effectively.  However, one has to be careful not to make these juices too sweet, as too much sugar entering the bloodstream quickly can be dangerous, for example, for people with diabetes. The healthiest juice in this case may be to learn to prepare green juice recipes, i.e. juice made from a combination of vegetables, greens and fruits.

Although drinking clear juice gives a great boost of nutrients to your body, it’s important to keep in mind that the rest of what you eat during the day needs to provide your body with sufficient amounts of dietary fiber for healthy digestion and elimination. This means that should be eating whole fruits and vegetables in addition to the clear juice that you drink. Or you can be drinking whole juice.

The whole juice is made with a blender by blending the ingredients – fruits, vegetables, and greens – with a cup of water. Nothing is discarded, so it contains all the fiber, and is therefore much more filling. If you drink a big glass, it can replace an entire meal, because you will not feel hungry for a couple of hours afterwards. The sugars will be entering the bloodstream much more slowly, because of the fiber content. The whole juice – aka smoothies – is ideal for anyone who wants to increase the consumption of raw foods, lose weight, improve digestion, prevent constipation, get clear skin, and improve their overall health.