Vacuum Blenders Protect Against Nutrient Loss
Vacuum blending is the talk of the town, and for good reason: this innovative blending technique involves removing air from the blender container before the ingredients are mixed, which means oxidation of the ingredients is greatly reduced. As a result, nutrients that are easily destroyed by oxidation are protected, and the nutritional value of your blend will remain high. Read on to get the full scoop on the nutritional and other benefits of vacuum blending.
How Vacuum Blending Helps Preserve Nutrients
When cut fruits and vegetable are exposed to air, they become prone to a chemical reaction called oxidation, which usually has negative effects on the taste and nutritional value of the food [1]. Oxidation is also what turns foods like apples, avocados and bananas brown when they are bruised or cut and exposed to air (though, there are some apples that don't turn brown easily). In his book The New Optimum Nutrition Bible, leading nutrition expert Patrick Holford points out that vitamin C and the fat-soluble vitamins A and E are particularly prone to oxidation, and are lost over a relatively short period of time [2].
When fast-oxidizing foods like regular apples or avocados are kept in a vacuum during processing, oxygen (air) cannot cause damage to the nutrients the food contains. Vacuum blenders work by removing the air from the blender container before the food is processed, so there won't be any air left that could cause significant nutrient loss. That said, not all vacuum blenders are equally effective at getting the oxygen molecules out of the blender container. Therefore, before you buy a vacuum blender, it's a good idea to read some vacuum blender reviews to make sure you're getting one of the best vacuum blenders available on the market.
High-Speed Vacuum Blenders and Nutrient Loss
So, we've established that vacuum blending can help protect nutrients like vitamin C and the fat-soluble vitamins A and E. But the vacuum function is just one of the functions you should look for in a blender if your goal is to maximize the nutritional value of your smoothies. High-speed blenders like Vitamix are wildly popular because they are powerful and fast, but high-speed blending also generates some heat which may destroy nutrients and enzymes.
Now, that's where the Tribest Dynapro vacuum blender comes in. This high-speed vacuum blender has an integrated Raw Temperature Indicator which lets you know if the temperature in the blending container rises above 118°F (47.7°C), so you can slow things down. Thanks to this neat feature, the Dynapro is also a good choice for people following a raw food diet.
More Reasons to Get a Good Vacuum Blender
Nutritional benefits aside, vacuum blending also offers a number of other benefits, including:
- Bright colors and fresh flavor. The absence of air in the blender container helps keep the colors bright and protect the taste of the ingredients. This means smoothies created in a vacuum blender also look and taste good.
- Fresh flavor for longer. The best vacuum blenders not only blend your ingredients in a vacuum, but they also allow you to store your smoothies in a vacuum, which means your drinks will stay fresh for longer.
- Better texture. Vacuum blenders produce creamy smoothies, without creating much foam (the foam on top of smoothies made in a regular blender is simply mixed-in air).
- No separation. Vacuum blending emulsifies ingredients better than non-vacuum blending, and you won't have to worry about the water separating from the other components that make up your smoothie. By contrast, when you use a regular blender to create a smoothie, the water will start to settle towards the bottom of the container, while the remaining components float on the surface.
References
1. D. Holderbaum et al (2010). Enzymatic Browning, Polyphenol Oxidase Activity, and Polyphenols in Four Apple Cultivars: Dynamics during Fruit Development. HortScience, vol. 45 no. 8, 1150-1154.
2. P. Holford (2005). The New Optimum Nutrition Bible, Crossing Press.
