Juicing for Health can maximize – and we mean really MAXIMIZE your nutrient intake.
Most experts say you need at least 6-8 servings of vegetables a day, preferably all different types and colors to make sure you don’t become deficient in a single nutrient.
Most of us can’t manage this.
Even if you’re the kind of person who has a salad for lunch, some carrot and celery sticks as a snack, and some broccoli for dinner- what makes you so sure you’re extracting the nutrients you need from all these foods?
There are three reasons why you might want to reconsider how you eat your vegetables.
- First of all, digestive enzymes and powerful phytonutrients are usually trapped in the fibers of whole fruit and vegetables. Even if you eat an entire heap of spinach, your body might not be able to get to the good stuff inside those leaves!
This is where juicing for health can help you. Juicing removes large portions of the fiber matrix of fruits and vegetables (1), and this releases all their nutrients, so they can be readily absorbed by your digestive system.
According to one study (2), soluble fiber thickens the covering on the insides of our digestive tract. This makes our intestines more resistant to the movement of nutrients going into the body. Although this means that fiber can prevent high blood sugar, it can also prevent other nutrients from being absorbed too. - Secondly – and this is something that not a lot of people know about – sensitive micronutrients like vitamins become damaged when you cook foods. This is because heat can alter their shape and chemical composition. Even just the simple act of steaming vegetables for few minutes can destroy a significant amount of vitamin C!
Thankfully, juicing (especially with low-speed masticating juicers) allows you to mix the nutrient-destroying heat and consume your vegetables with most of their vitamins intact. To ensure that you’re getting the most live vitamins and enzymes from your juice, make sure that you drink it fresh. - Thirdly – fruits and vegetables still contain most of the nutrients that you’d find in whole foods, maybe even more since you don’t have to cook them first. Vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients are all essential in preventing diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.(3)
Just don’t forget to prep your produce!
If you’re juicing for health, or any reason for that matter, one of the most important things to do is make sure your fruits and veggies are clean. Contaminated produce can be a source of food poisoning, so make sure you should wash your all of your produce thoroughly before putting it through your juicer.
Here’s another helpful tip: you don’t necessarily have to peel vegetables as long as they’re organic and can be handled by your juicer, but you can spray the veggies using a mix of white vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide (which you can get at a drug store) then rinse them to ensure they’re free from harmful bacteria.(4)
Although juicing at home requires some amount of investment in Blenders and Juicers and preparation, it’s the only way to make sure you’re getting the full benefits.
Buying juices from the store just isn’t the same.
Juicing is all about taking Mother Nature’s best sources of vitamins and minerals and putting them in a glass. It’s all about real food, fresh from the earth, no artificial colors, no preservatives, and no high-fructose corn syrup. You just can’t get the same benefits from store-bought juice! Most store-bought juices are too processed and full of sugar to provide you with any real health benefits.
But while juicing is a great way to optimize your diet, it still isn’t a substitute for whole foods.
No matter how nutrient-packed juices are, they should only be the supporting actors to your healthy diet. No beverage can replace a well-balanced meal with good portions of protein, fat, carbohydrates and fiber. Going on a short-term juice fast isn’t bad, but drinking nothing but juice for months on end can deplete your body of protein and fat, causing you to lose lean muscle mass. Drink as much juice as you want, but don’t skimp on lunch and dinner!
Source:
1.) http://www.gregorysbodywork.net/14.html
2.) http://www.konjacfoods.com/fiber.htm
3.) http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/healing-properties-juicing
4.) http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-to-clean-your-vegetables.html
