VitaMix: blades aren't sharp. Friction 'chops' everything to juice.

Time required varies on content: i.e. homemade almond milk and hemp milk blend for 2-3 minutes--no filtering required.

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/Howie Nordström

Bump

1) I can't speak to the amount of nutrients I absorb, but I believe that it is the same if I were to eat them whole.
2) Vitamix is my blender of choice, I have tried others but it is the most durable I have tried.
3) I make 2 weeks of smoothies at a time and freeze them. If I lose nutrients do to freezing then so be it, I travel as much as 18 days a month and this is the best way to get real fruits and veggies in my diet.

Can you expand on how you do this? I make mine daily, but would love to batch them if it works well.

To the OP: Vitamix. I don't have science on nutrient retention but would assume its the same levels. And I run mine for more than 10 seconds (mostly due to the frozen banana and to ensure its smooth).

Can anybody throw out any numbers or citations regarding the alleged nutrient retention of this compared to regular blenders?

I can't. But if you are buying a new one you should consider a model with the wider/shorter container vs. a tall skinny one (7500 is my baby). Also you gotta charge your phone man.

I've got to admit--I see words written throughout the title and post, but I cannot, for the life of me, make heads or tails out of what you, or, well, anyone else here writes.

Then again, I'm not a juicer (unless it's just-picked oranges, in which case it's freaking delicious), nor privy to the juicer culture. Or, evidently, biochemistry.

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The question of who is right and who is wrong has seemed to me always too small to be worth a moment's thought, while the question of what is right and what is wrong has seemed all-important.

-Albert J. Nock

Argh, it's making me nervous that you have only 8% left on your phone. Thanks for considering STers worth the remaining battery power.

I also have a Vitamix at home. It's awesome.

I also have a Blend-Tec at work. It's awesome.

I've never heard anything about lost nutrition in the Smoothies. I'd love to hear anything.

I have some kind of malady that I only add stuff to my smoothies, and as a result they keep getting bigger and bigger. Somebody help me. When I make them at home, I eat 5 pint glasses of smoothie. At work, I keep it to 3 glasses.

Lately, I've been adding kale and arugula and beets. Without a smoothie, these are nearly uneatable (word?) for me. But, they are free in a smoothie.

Oh yeah, anybody know where I can get a good deal on a mophie?

Why are you thinking you lose nutrients in a smoothie vs eating it whole?

A smoothie is not juicing, a blender might make juice out of something if it is strong enough but it is completely different than an actual juicer.

Now if you leave it in a vitamin or similar long enough to the point it heats it up that is something else but I'm not versed enough in that to begin to comment. There are seriously people who will run a vitamix for ten second then put it in the fridge for 20min.. blend ten seconds.. repeat cycle.

The fiber and other nutrients are like to stick to the blade or disposal catch.... leaving more sugar left over. Some juicers create high heat destroying enzymes. Yes you do lose micro nutrients and fiber juicing, but gain more simple sugars. Juicing makes sense if you are making nutrition for a race, but any other time begs me to ask the question, whats wrong with your teeth?

I think you are over complicating this. Blending does nothing to nutrients at all.

That said, my vitamix is a beast. It makes amazing frozen margaritas

In a similar issue, I was reading an article saying you should blend up greens with a bit of water and then freeze it in ice cube trays for later use. Question is if nutrients remain intact thru freezing? Anyone know benefit differences of frozen veggies to fresh?

To the person doing 5 pints of smoothie, wow. I knock out a pitcher (48oz I think) and feel like I am being a bit ridiculous. I feel better now.

1) As long as you are blending, not juicing, no difference.
2) No idea.
3) Some vitamins are light sensitive, some oxidize easily when exposed to air, so I would assume quite a bit. Freezing is better than fridge. Freezing is standard practice in biochemistry labs to preserve stuff. <pink> Buy a -80C freezer if you're a serious triathlete <\pink>

Thought of this (from xkcd a while ago) for obvious reasons...

ilikepizza, what benefit does the shorter/wider container have?

I've been mulling over the choices of my next blender . This is information has been very helpful. I think will strongly consider a Vitamix

All quallitative reasons.
1. Peanut butter and other things you may need to scoop out with a spatula...less crap on hands digging in there. I make PB every week in it and love the wide container. Same goes for hummus.
2. Fits under counters. Never thought this was a big deal until I realized I use it 1-2x/day and its nice to have it there (+ the ego bumps from visitors noticing your blender)
3. backwards compatibility. The newer models will take either type of container, but the older models will not let the new wide containers fit on them. This is like Xbox360 being able to play regular Xbox games, but not the other way around. Future proof yourself a bit.
4. I dont know if there is a capacity difference, but I feel like I dont have to "add" ingredients much once its running...like ingredients just stuff in it nicely, hit the button, and ta-da.
5. newer ones with the wider containers have slightly more powerful motor (verify that). I also think all new models are all wide containers actually.

Don't think you can go wrong with any of their models, but knowing you might have it for 30yrs the dif between a $350 and $500 machine isn't that big of deal. Good luck, easily one of the best purchases I've made and I was skeptical going in.

Yes if you are juicing.. The OP specifically asked about smoothies not juicing and discussed using a blender not a juicer.

I have 3 Nutribullets (my work, wife's work, and home) - all for less $$ than 1 Vitamix. The 900 series is awesome: use the 20% Bed bath and beyond coupon to make it a bit cheaper. There are some negative reviews of it because the base can leak oil, but if that happens you can buy new bases for $15 or so. My first Nutribullet that I used daily for lunches at work lasted slightly under a year before the base started leaking, and it was prob. my fault for overfilling with frozen stuff.

If you don't want to deal with issues like this and leaking oil then pay up for the vitamix. If you are ok replacing annually and/or are just going to use it for some very simple smoothies/margaritas then I agree almost anything is cheaper and serviceable for awhile. All depends on your planned usage if something like the vitamix is a value or not. Yes it isn't the cheapest option, but it can be worth the price difference hands down.

In order to ensure my smooties maintain 100% of their nutrition and in fact INCREASE their nutrient avaialabilty is to store them in a magnetic container with a copper lining.

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Dave Stark
dreamcatcher@astound.net
USAC & USAT level 2 certified coach

If you give yourself a smoothie enema it enhances your nutrient absorption.

I knew that nutribullet shape was for something.