What's the difference between smoothie fasting and juice fasting?

[WestVirginiaRaw]

I would like to go a short 5 day fast, just to get my feet wet. I prefer smoothies over juicing plus I just got a new Vitamix for Christmas so I want to use that sucker as much as possible. Right now, I generally have a smoothie in the morning for breakfast, sometimes a second one during the day either as lunch or maybe as a snack later in the day. Everyone seems to talk about juice fasting but not so much about smoothie fasting. Can I still get some or most of the benefits of juicing if I drink smoothies instead? Negatives of smoothies vs. juicing?

[Aleesha Sattva]

There are no negatives at all. There are differences though.

When you juice fast you give your digestion a rest.
When you juice fast or smoothie feast you are giving your body a huge boost of nutrients.
When you smoothie feast you give your bowels a big PUSH with all the fibre!

Which ever one is yummier and more doable for you is the best one for YOU!

[Cookie Monster Gone Raw]

I accidentally repeated my post, so this is a delete.

[Cookie Monster Gone Raw]

West Virginia Raw,

I think you will love your Vitamix, I know I love mine! Since I got mine I am eating way more fruits and veggies because I can just simply pack more in the blender than ever before. I think you can combine juice and smoothie while fasting. You can definitely slowly work your way up to juicing or even just stick to smoothies. Smoothies are a highly nutritious meal drink with your juice and fiber mixed together. They are easy on your system and the Vitamix breaks up the cellular walls of the produce making nutrients easier to absorb. I am no expert but from everything that I have read the benefits to juice is not only do you give your digestion a break but because most of the fiber is removed you are getting a higher concentration of vitamins and phytonutrients. Often times during juice feasting a person may ingest thirteen 8 ounce glasses of juices daily. This tremendous amount of liquid can be the nutritional equivalent of almost seventeen pounds of food a day which would be nearly impossible to consume if the fiber was there. Also, fresh juice from raw foods provides the easiest and most effective way of providing a high quality nutrition and without the fiber is almost immediately absorbed and can go right to work helping the body to detox and heal itself.

Aleesha,

I just wanted to thank you for the clarification between a smoothie and juice fast and I also wanted to thank you for the support you lent me when I did my first juice/smoothie fast a few months ago. Now that I arrived in Brazil and it is summer time, there are lots of fruits and veggies in season so I am seriously contemplating doing another fast. Now that I have the discipline and the past experience I think my second fast will be easier than the first time around.

[Galaxy]

Aleesha is totally right, go for what works for you best. Both smoothies and juices make nutrients easier to absorb so it's a win win situation!
Juices are more ''potent'' since they are prefiltered by the machine, so it basically does the stomach's job by giving it a finished product that your body can use right away (which is why juicing works for fasting, the stomach gets a break).
However smoothies are more balanced and offer the perfect fiber/sugar ratio, (which is by the way why juices tend to be less sweet, to avoid that sugar ''crash'') and that fiber is essential for a good digestive tract, personally unless I'm fasting, I'd have a juice in the morning (since you fast when you sleep so your stomach is empty and ready to absorb all the nutrients) and smoothies the afternoon to make you feel fuller. Hope that helps :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

second fasts are always easier than first ones. trust me... the more you fast the easier it gets (to a point of course).

enjoy Brazil. We were there during the summer they have super yummy fruits!!!

[Cookie Monster Gone Raw]

Thanks Aleesha,

I am enjoying Brazil. At the moment I am sipping on a cashew apple (fruit of the cashew tree) smoothie. Where did you visit in Brazil?