Many people use a blender to make healthy smoothies or protein shakes, but do blenders destroy nutrients?
Most believe that blenders are just as effective as juicers in getting all of the nutrients out of fruits and vegetables.
While some nutrients can be destroyed by the blades, the majority are kept inside the blade-free pitcher, where they can be stored for later use.
What makes a great blender? Is it one that can blend a smoothie in ten seconds flat? Or one that can puree soups without taking up too much counter space?
For some, it’s about getting the cheapest model they can find, while others might prioritize a model with more power or more bells and whistles.
But there’s one question that often gets overlooked when it comes to picking a new blender: does it destroy nutrients?
The first thing to say is that blenders do not “destroy” nutrients. If anything, they help you get more of them into your diet by making smoothies, soups, and sauces that you can enjoy every day.
However, some types of blender do cause a degree of nutrient loss, and it is important to know which ones before you buy.
All blenders are capable of turning food into a liquid, and the liquid can then be strained if desired.
There are three main types of blenders—food processors, liquidizers and blenders. Food processors are the strongest, and liquidizers are the weakest.
The blending process
The blending process is when a blender turns a liquid or a semi-solid into a completely blended substance.
The blending process is fairly simple, the blender opens up the top and the bottom, and the liquid or semi-solid is inserted into the opening.
Then the blender closes the top and the bottom and rotates the object at a high speed to blend the substance. Then the blender opens up the top and the bottom, and the blended substance is removed from the top.
Nutrient loss due to heat
It is clear to see that blenders have mostly been used to improve the performance of our kitchens, but what about the nutrients? While most blenders are labeled as “Nutrition Centers,” there has been no research proving that blenders have the ability to retain the nutrients for our bodies to absorb.
In fact, there is one study that showed that blenders do not perform any better than food processors or ordinary kitchen knives when it comes to retaining the nutrients.
Therefore, it is recommended that you try to avoid using blenders when consistent temperature is a factor.
Oxidation of Nutrients In Fruit And Vegetables
How often do you see a bunch of fruits and vegetables sitting on a plate and think of how healthy they look? But have you ever considered of how much nutrients they have lost?
Blenders are a great way to prepare smoothies and shakes and it takes only a matter of minutes. But do blenders destroy nutrients?
The process of oxidation is natural, but it can lead to some serious health issues. The good news is there are a number of ways you can prevent oxidation of nutrients in fruit and vegetables.
The Solutions – How to Minimalize the Nutrients Loss While Blending
Do blenders destroy nutrients? Do they oxidize vitamins? The short answer is yes, they can. However, do you know that this process is not going to affect the taste and nutrients of your food? The nutrients of your food will get dissolved in the water present in your diet.
So, are you still unable to decide whether you should use the blender or not? Well, you should know that the blender is not going to destroy all the nutrients present in your food.
However, if you are not interested in consuming the nutrients then the best thing to do is to use the blender.
You might have noticed that the nutrients in your food are not the same as the labels read, and that is because we are constantly losing nutrients when we cook our food.
Although there are many factors that affect the nutrients loss, one of the main factors is the cooking method. thus, if you want to minimize the nutrients loss in your food, the best thing to do would be using a blender.
Use the Shortest Time Possible While Blending
You want to get the most out of your fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods as possible. So, you invest in a blender, juicer, or food processor. You end up spending more time chopping than you do actually using the appliance.
The result? A lot of nutrients lost in the process! The more time you spend on preparing your meal, the less time you spend actually enjoying your meal.
Vegetables are especially packed with vitamins and minerals, but blending them for too long can reduce their nutritional content.
Blended foods that are left in the machine for more than ten seconds risk oxidizing and losing their beneficial nutrients.
How to Minimize Nutrients Loss While Blending:
1. Use frozen vegetables instead of fresh. Because frozen vegetables are already partially processed, they will be blended much more quickly than fresh.
2. Always cut your vegetables into small chunks before putting them in the blender. Vegetables cut into small pieces will blend much quicker than those cut bigger.
Drink Your Juice/Smoothie Right Away
Blending your own juice or smoothie is considered healthier than buying pre-made juice or smoothies. It can help you make your favorite juice or smoothie from scratch, at home, which is much more economical.
However, the nutrients in your juice or smoothie are easily lost if you don’t blend them right away after you put in the fruits, vegetables, or other ingredients.
If you’re drinking a fresh juice or smoothie every day, you need to drink it as soon as possible to make sure you get the full amount of nutrients and vitamins you’re trying to get from it.
The longer you let it sit, the more nutrients you’re going to lose, because there is a fine line between fresh and warm.
You can generally keep the drink in a refrigerator for about two hours, but after that it’s going to start going bad, and not giving you the same nutrients benefits as you’re trying to get.
Last Words
Blenders are a great tool for making healthy smoothies, but what you may not know is that they are not as great at preserving nutrients as you think. The high speeds used to chop up ingredients blend them so quickly that they can cause a chemical reaction that destroys heat-sensitive nutrients and irritates the stomach lining. The latest models do a better job at preserving nutrients, but even they should be used with caution.
