To Juice or Not to Juice, That is the Question

     There is a lot of mixed opinions about juicing, which is unfortunate because whenever I drink juice I feel healthy.  Recently, I came across an article on how juicing was bad for you.  This, of course, is juxtaposed with all of the articles saying that juicing is good for you.  Given my recent addiction to cucumber-lime-mint-honey juice I felt I needed to dig deeper into the problem so that I could continue getting my fix and share with you good readers the real deal on juicing.

     Fun fact...95% of the vitamins and enzymes our bodies need are found in the juice of raw fruits and vegetables. That means you would need to eat 2 lbs of carrots, 10-12 apples, or 8 lbs of spinach to get the same amount of nutrients that you could get from just 16 oz juice. Sheesh, right? Well that is because when you drink juice, the highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and enzymes rapidly enter your bloodstream, are absorbed easily, and you keep all the nutritional benefits of the fruits and vegetables, while giving your digestive organs a much-needed rest.

     There is tons of research showing the healing properties of juicing. You can just google it and find article after article from reputable sources like WebMD.WebMD.   Juicing will facilitate weight loss, increased energy levels, strengthened immunity, build and keep strong bones, give you a glowing complexion, and it may also reduce chances of heart disease, cancer and strokes, three of the leading causes of death. A growing body of research suggests that most vitamin supplements don’t help prevent chronic disease. A synthetic vitamin or mineral is a laboratory simulation of the real thing and is not processed or absorbed by your body in the same way. Natural, plant-based vitamins and minerals are more easily and completely absorbed by the body, especially when they enter in juiced form.

Sugar is bad, mmkay

     According to some very well known, fit (ie “skinny”) experts, we're all getting too much sugar in the juice coming out of our juicers and not enough of all the other good stuff in the fruits and vegetables that we need to get the maximum benefit from them.  If I say “duh” does that sound rude?  Okay, we all get that too much sugar is bad, and if we're honest we also get that when juicing fruits results in juice that tastes a lot better than juicing wheat grass.  However, there are workarounds to this. 

Broccoli, celery, gotta be...Healthy Right!

     Vegetables.  So, yeh, no getting around it, vegetables must go in your juicer.  I know, I know, you're thinking: Easy-peasy, I'll just throw in a tomato and a carrot. That's my first thought, too.  V-8 style juice with a hint of pepper makes a great juice.  It also makes a healthy drink if you add in broccoli, celery, collard greens, and other non-sweet items into the juice.  Now, certainly, this can be done and should be done.  The problem comes with the purchase of cheap juicer's where you can't really throw in high fiber vegetables en masse.  If you're gonna juice, juice it right, juice it right, you can juice it, baby... (I just drank 3 glasses of fruit juice, of course I'm going to sing).  If we're going to get the maximum value from juicing we need to invest in a good juicer, and put items in it that aren't the whole food equivalent of Gummy Bears.

     Find the perfect mix. Warning: Vegetable juice might not knock your socks off at first, or at least your tastebuds. It can take a little getting used to, so you’ve got to experiment with different fruit and veggie combos and have fun with it. The hardest part is that you'll have to keep your fridge stocked with a variety of fresh produce. I always start with two cups of greens, which can taste bitter, so I balance balanced it by adding some fruit. Then, I just play around with the ratio,  you can even cayenne pepper or cinnamon for some extra heat or a little zing. One of my favorite combos is  a grapefruit-orange-kale-cucumber smoothie or a carrot-apple-ginger one. 

Supplementing

     If you cannot buy a super-juicer(cuz duh, they are super expensive), then there are mega green powders that can be purchased and added to your drink as a supplement. I personally love the Perfect Food Raw Green Super Food. It's kinda pricey, but you can't beat the list of goodies packed into that powder.

 In fact, other items can be added like protein, bee pollen, and calcium to maximize what we're getting out of our juicers.

OR...I suppose you can could just eat a salad.

* Living andRaw Foods has a great article you can read to learn about the benefits of phytochemicals and research showing their connection to fighting cancer. 

Nutrition Evolution