Juicing 101

If you are unfamiliar with juicing, you may be tempted to think that juicing is just another health and fitness trend, or some kind of fad diet. In reality, however, it is a method through which you can easily increase your daily intake of essential nutrients while also cleansing your body and boosting your weight-loss efforts.

What is Juicing? Simply put, juicing is the process of extracting juice from fruits and vegetables. Juicing can be done by hand or it can be done using an electric household appliance called a juicer, which I prefer.

Juicing Versus Eating Raw Fruits and Vegetables During juicing the juice (aka the resulting liquid) contains most of the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients found in the whole fruit. However, a significant portion of the insoluble fiber content of fruits and vegetables is lost during the juicing process. This type of fiber can also be found in whole grains so it’s unlikely you will miss out on insoluble fiber if you eat a well balanced diet.

Benefits of Juicing

Gets You Consuming More Fruits & Vegetables If you make juicing a part of your everyday life, you’ll consume far more fruits and vegetables than you would if you had to eat them in whole form. If you had to chew up a few stalks of celery and eat them with pile of kale and then eat an apple, it would be quite daunting. But a green smoothie made from juicing those same ingredients can be drunk in a few minutes.

Easier to Digest When you juice you’re getting the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables, but you’re getting them in liquid form. This makes it much easier to digest them, and absorb the nutrients they contain.

Provides Energy You’ll naturally have more energy from juicing because you’ll be juicing foods that are full of vitamins and minerals that give you real energy.

Detoxifies the Body Juicing provides essential nutrients that the body needs to help effectively get rid of toxins in the liver, colon, and other organs.

Strengths Immunity and Prevents Illnesses By drinking your fruits and vegetables, you’re giving your body all the amazing vitamins and minerals it needs to boost your immune system and prevent future illnesses.

Helps you Stay Hydrated A lot of fruits and vegetables naturally contain a good amount of water. Juicing them releases the water they contain, and therefore you’re getting plenty of hydration along with the vitamins and minerals contained in the fruits and vegetables.

May Aid with Weight Loss Juicing is also a way to help with weight loss. I recommend substituting one meal per day with a 16oz glass of juice to aid with meeting your caloric, nutrient, and weight loss goals. If you find that you need more calories, then you can always consume three meals per day and have your juice as a snack.

Storage Oxidation occurs the moment you start juicing. This is why it is important to drink the juice right after making it. If you have to store it, just remember that the longer it sits around the less benefits you are getting from it. Use glass or stainless steel containers to store your juice in a refrigerator for 24-48 hours.

Juicer I am not a juicer expert by any means. But my mom had a juicer in the 1980s, and I can testify that juicers have come a long way. I have a Breville Juicer and I have found it easy to use, put together and take apart, and to clean. In addition, it’s not super large or heavy. My mom’s juicer was gigantic, heavy, and a pain to clean.

There is still a debate whether or not juicing or eating whole fruits and vegetables are better for you, but I challenge you to just try juicing. Even if eating the whole fruits and vegetables are just as beneficial, I find it easier to consume more fruits and vegetables when juicing. Hence, my body gets more vital nutrients and minerals, works more efficiently, and gets sick less often.

Vegetable juices are the “builders” of the body, while fruit juices are the “cleansers”. – Dr. Norman W. Walker