Kale Juice or Kale Smoothie?

It seems like everyone is drinking kale. Either they are making kale smoothies, or they are making green drinks with kale. Kale is the cool new superfood. It doesn’t taste great, but the good thing is that it does not have a super powerful flavor. Because of this, you can mask the taste.

Kale doesn’t have a big flavor. It does have a super amount of nutrients. It’s the best of the leafy greens. It’s packed with more nutrients than spinach, and it doesn’t taste as nasty as wheatgrass.

The question is, juice kale or blend it? Well, that’s a good question. It comes down to a few issues. First, what are you trying to do?

Why Are You Juicing or Blending?

People make kale smoothies or drink green drinks for many reasons. If you’re looking for the anti-oxidant properties that kale has to offer, then you should look to juicing it. That’s because you extract the green juice which contains the antioxidants and remove all of the fiber.

You can juice more kale than you can blend into a smoothie. For example, it’s very easy to juice several cups of kale into one drink. You cannot blend that much into a smoothie.

So, why drink a kale smoothie at all?

Well, you want the fiber. The green drink is best for you on a cellular level. The smoothie is great for losing weight, a fasting diet, or a general detox. Fiber is important, and good fiber is really important. The fiber you get from kale, especially organic kale, is fantastic.

Losing Weight With Green Smoothies

If you’re trying to lose weight, then you should drink smoothies.  This is because they have the fiber. The fiber will fill you up. If you drink a kale smoothie, you won’t want to eat later. You get the nutrients and you feel full.

Improve Your Health?

Well, both smoothies and juicing is good for your health. Smoothies are especially good for blood pressure because they have fiber. They are also good for cholesterol.

If you’re looking to get meganutrients, then juicing is the way to go. You get the essential antioxidants without the fiber. People who are trying to treat cancers, eye disorders, and inflammation like juicing for this reason.

The Solution: Juice and Smoothie

The best solution would be to make a green drink and also a smoothie. You don’t have to make a smoothie every day, or make a juice every day. However, it is good to have the best of both worlds.

A smoothie is great because it lets you include things that you cannot juice. Blueberries, for instance. You can juice blueberries, but you won’t get much yield. Berries are best blended.

A great kale smoothie recipe would be:

1 cup organic almond milk

1/2 cup blue berries (fresh of frozen thawed)

1/3 cup kale (copped).

Water to help with the blending.

optional ingredients to help with the taste (maple syrup, organic lemon juice, raw honey)

The Blend: This is where first time smoothie makers come into the most trouble. If you’re using a regular blender, you are not going to get a smooth smoothie. You will get bits of kale floating around. It’s not a plesant thing to drink. Things like blueberries and bananass are easy to blend, but blending leafy greens like kale is more difficult.

If you’re planning on making Kale smoothies, then you will need a decent blender. They are not cheap.

The most popular blender for making smoothies is the Vitamix. Its better at blending leafy greens than other models.

The reason that people tend to like using the Vitamix as opposed to other blenders is that you don’t end up with chunky buts of kale floating around in your smoothie.

Video Showing You How To Make A Kale Smoothie

Here is a longer video which shows woman making a green smoothie (spinach, romaine, celery) plus fruit. She makes her smoothie a bit thicker than the first video. I prefer very “thin” and blended smoothies, but some people want a thicker smoothie.

Studies have shown the benefits of a vegetable based diet.

If you’re looking to start making kale based juices, or any juicewith leafy greens, then check out my comprehensive guide to juicing leafy greens.