See more like thisVitamix your way to health! ambitions09It can blend that! I have been searching for an all in one blender, juicer, mixer for many years. In the past I have tried single use machines and found myself never using them because of the effort it...Read More about Vitamix your way to health!If you are one of those people who didn't get a blender for Christmas, then surely the world's obsession with smoothies and juicing has you pining after your own right now?In case you haven't heard, benefits of blenders include: FEMAIL writer Toni Jones puts the £100 Nutribullet (left) to the test against the £400 Vitamix (below) Toni's husband Dan Kennedy prefers the Vitamix blenderThe best blenders aren't cheap but you should think about it as an investment in your future body. And if you're ready to splash out how will you decide which one to go for?The two hottest brands on the market right now are undoubtedly the Nutribullet and the Vitamix, both designed to pulverise fruit and vegetables and create easy, health-filled drinks (among other things). 

There's a lot of chat about which is the best buy and while the Vitamix's £400 price tag will rule some of you out straight away, for those of you with the cash to spend I've pitted the two against each other in a Battle Of The Blenders to see what the big deal is. Toni put the blenders through their paces testing five different recipes to see which produced the best resultI use the £100 Selfridges Nutribullet (Nutrition Extraction System to be technical). My husband Dan Kennedy prefers his Total Nutrition Centre aka the Vitamix. I know, such gross DINKYs. Our flat is too small for a dining table but we have two super blenders fighting for space in the kitchen. At least this means we know our stuff when it comes to juicing.Like most people I know, we mostly use blenders to make smoothies and juices. They are generally a fuss-free way to get fruit and vegetables, and therefore lots of health, into your diet. But there are several tricky areas that can be deal breakers when it comes to a smoothie blender. 

I tested them both against some immense kitchen challenges like: kiwis (ooh), ginger (aah), celery (eeh), carrots (oh no you didn't) and even nuts (I can't even!). Here's how they got on... Juice wars: Results of the Simple Green Juice test for the Nutribullet (left) and the Vitamix (right)A green smoothie is the best way to get as much goodness as possible from your blender. I used a simple recipe - apple / kiwi / kale / cucumber /almonds / sunflower seeds /chia seeds - leaving all skin/stalks attached and adding seeds as recommended by both brands.The Vitamix bust up the nuts, seeds and skin within seconds and delivered a smooth and creamy drink (see picture above). Given the same time the Nutribullet couldn't quite pulverise everything, hence the darker colour and more bits on show, which makes for a more lumpy drinking experiece. After giving it another 10-15 seconds the consistency improved a lot. It still wasn't quite as smooth as the Vitamix version but both were totally delicious and very drinkable.

Although both the drinks looked virtually identical the Nutribullet was unable to blend the ingredients to the same extent as the Vitamix  These two ingredients are brimming with good stuff and are included in lots of healthy drinks recipes. blender / food processor attachment white model # cui afp-7-1They are both very fibrous though, creating lumpy, stringy drinks if not dealt with properly. oster blender model 6878 partsI added one carrot, several nubs of ginger and 100ml water to each blender to see what happened.vitamix hong kong tncIn the glass the 'drinks' look much the same but the Nutribullet wasn't able to liquify the carrot and ginger half as well as the Vitamix, as illustrated in the empty glasses. waring blender bb900g

There was lots of stringy stuff left behind. And nobody wants a mouthful of stringy stuff. Lots more water and further blitzing reduced the amount of stringy stuff, but not completely. What lies beneath: The empty Nutribullet glass, left, features lots of pulpA nice alternative to dairy and soy, nut milks like almond, cashew and hazelnut are a big deal to smoothie fiends. They offer protein, vitamins, good fats and a bit of calcium, plus they are low in calories. You can buy them ready made in most supermarkets now but most of them have added sugar, and it's a lot cheaper to make your own on demand. I added one cup of cashews and one cup of water to each blender and blitzed for 10 seconds. A light, frothy milk in seconds from both of them. Both the Nutribullet (left) and the Vitamix (right) produced an equally frothy milk in seconds Eating the skin of these furry little fruits might be a bit of a weird concept, but it actually triples the fruit's fibre content and adds extra Vitamin C to the drink. 

In a standard blender the skin is pretty hard to squish, but what happened when I added 100ml water and one kiwi to each of these bad boys? The fruit didn't even touch the sides in the Vitamix, it was pulverised into a green/brown liquid within 10 seconds. In the Nutribullet, one long blitz delivered a green, slightly furry sludge, but another 15-20 seconds and the result was almost a perfect match for the Vitamix's juice.A draw (assuming you have those extra 20 seconds to spare) Toni put the blenders through their paces when it came to breaking down kiwi skinBoth blenders claim to make dips as well as drinks, and being able to create an instant homemade hummus is a nice party trick. I added tinned chick peas, sesame seeds, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic (peeled) and salt to both.The Vitamix was NOT happy to start with, despite me following the recipe straight from the Vitamix site. I've learned that this hungry blender requires a bit more lubrication to get things going, but once I had added a splash more chickpea liquid from the tin it created a smooth, great-tasting dip in seconds.

This is where the Vitamix's multi-speed settings came into their own. NB don't run the motor for too long or the dip will become too thin. The Nutribullet created a dip with a nice texture but the ingredients didn't blend thoroughly enough and so it tasted very strongly of raw garlic. NOT great at parties. Before and after: No mess hummus in the Vitamix (top) and the Nutribullet (bottom)The overall winner in the five tests was easily the Vitamix, a super blender that takes no prisoners and could probably atomize a car engine if you were so inclined. The different settings mean that it can heat ingredients into a soup, or freeze them into ice cream so it's very versatile and the size of the jug means it's great for families or small businesses.BUT considering there is a £300 price difference, the Nutribullet didn't fair so badly. It's definitely leagues above your average kitchen blender.It's a bit like comparing a Porsche to an Audi - they'll both get you somewhere but the results are going to be a little different.