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Most people know that juicing is highly beneficial for one’s health, but they’re often unclear as to how vegetable and fruit juices will boost their health.
The common understanding is that “vegetables and fruit are good for you” and this maxim has been parroted to them since they were young.
As a result, they’re aware of the message but are numb to it.
This probably explains why most don’t give juicing a try even when they’re aware that it’s great for their well-being.
In this article, we’ll look at 7 benefits of juicing and you’ll understand why this is a practice that you’ll want to incorporate into your life – as soon as today!
Benefits Of Juicing
1. Makes your body more alkaline
The processed foods we eat are highly acidic and create an acidic state in our body. This sets the stage for inflammation and many nasty diseases to take root. In fact, studies have shown that cancer cells cannot thrive in alkaline conditions.
Many vegetable juices help to neutralize the acidity in your blood and body. This will reduce inflammation and restore your body to an ideal alkaline state.
2. Provides the body a lot of micronutrients
Let’s face it. Two servings of fruit and vegetables is just not going to cut it. With modern day farming, the soil used to grow the produce is often nutrient deficient. This means that the fruit and veggies you eat just aren’t sufficient.
To remedy this problem, you’ll need to eat more fruits and vegetables and a wider variety of them too. Juicing helps you to consume much more varied fruit and vegetables easily.
You’re getting all the nutrients with a few gulps rather than having to nibble on celery sticks all day like a rabbit.
3. Easily absorbed
Your body craves the nutrients in the vegetable and fruit juices. Since the pulp and fiber has been removed, the body doesn’t need to deal with the cellulose. It can access the nutrients directly and shuttle them straight to the cells in the body.
4. Reduces your appetite
We live in times where people eat round the clock. They may have a large meal for lunch and feel hungry 2 hours later. Very often, this is due to the body not getting the nutrients it needs.
While you may have eaten quite a bit of food, these may be comprised of carbs, salt, sugar, starch and other ingredients that the body doesn’t really need.
So, it gets hungry again, hoping that it gets the nutrients it needs.
When you drink freshly made natural juices, the micronutrients will satisfy the body’s needs and it will feel more satiated and less hungry. This will aid in weight loss too.
5. Gives you mental clarity
You may notice that your vision seems to get clearer and you have increased mental clarity. Any mental fog may disappear too. The detoxing properties of the juices will help to eliminate the waste and toxins in your body.
6. Better skin and more energy
Your skin will start looking healthier and you’ll have a glow that can’t be explain but can only be felt. You’ll feel more energetic, ‘lighter’ and have a better outlook on life. The vegetable juices contain antioxidants and phytonutrients that will revitalize and rejuvenate your tired body.
7. Boosts your immune system
Probably the best benefit of all – these juices will strengthen your immune system and keep many nasty diseases at bay. You can’t put a price on this benefit. If there’s any one reason why you should embrace juicing, it should be this one.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Juicing
It’s common to have doubts and questions when you’re first trying out juicing. Very often, there is no right or wrong answer to most questions and a lot of it will depend on your own personal preferences and some of it will come down to common sense too.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common questions.
1. Will too much fruit juice make me fat?
Not necessarily. There’s a lot of misconception that fruit contains fructose which will elevate your blood sugar levels and lead to weight gain.
What most people fail to understand is that natural fruit juices are not loaded with processed sugar.
The sugar found in fruits do not have such a harsh impact on your body to cause blood sugar spikes.
Excessive carb consumption and eating processed foods are what cause weight gain. If you only drank natural fruit juices daily, it’s almost impossible to gain. You’d probably lose weight.
That said, since most people are on a normal diet, it’s best to consume your fruit juices in moderation while cutting out processed foods and reducing your intake of starchy carbs. This will allow for better weight management.
2. Can juices be used as meal replacements?
Yes, they can. Vegetable juices usually contain more micronutrients than most meals and so you’ll not end up nutrient deficient by skipping a meal and having a juice instead.
That said, juices are liquids that are easily absorbed by the body. So, you may feel hungry an hour or two later because your body is used to digesting solid foods. You can avoid this by drinking a smoothie.
That will mean blending fruits such as papaya, bananas, etc. and pouring your juice into the mix and gulping them all down. Now you’ll get the nutrients for your body and the consistency needed to leave you feeling satiated.
3. Can I juice daily?
Yes, you can… and you should. It’s safe. Just make sure all your ingredients are natural.
4. Do I really need a variety of juices or can I drink the same one daily?
While it’s easier to just drink the same juice daily, it’s not recommended that you do so. Your body needs a wider variety of nutrients. To get those, your juices need to be varied.
Some juices that are made of cucumber are hydrating. Others made with lemon help to make the body alkaline. Juices made with oranges and apples help to boost immunity and so on.
Different juices have different benefits. So, it’s best to have a variety of juices in your diet.
5. Can’t I just eat the fruit instead of juicing?
You can… but you’ll not get as much benefit. While you’ll get some fiber in your diet, a lot of the nutrients in the fruit and veggies are contained within the fiber.
Your body isn’t efficient at extracting the nutrients trapped within the cellulose of the vegetables and fruit. It will just excrete the pulp and nutrients.
Juicing helps to extract the nutrients and vitamins which you can drink easily. Your body will quickly assimilate these nutrients without much hassle.
6.Do You Need to Worry About the Sugar Content in Fruit Juices?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to juicing. People often wonder if they’ll gain weight by drinking too much fruit juice.
It’s often ironic because nary a thought is given to their carbs or processed foods… but they worry about the juices because they taste sweet.
* Understanding the difference between packaged and natural fruit juice
When we speak of juicing, we refer to pure and natural juice that you will make by juicing fruits and vegetables. Unlike the packaged fruit juices sold on supermarket shelves which are loaded with sugar and other sweeteners, you’ll NOT be adding any sugar into your juices.
This will ensure that your juices stay natural and healthy. Since no extra sugar is added, the effect of the fruit sugars on your insulin levels will be negligible. They’ll not spike your blood sugar levels to the extent where fat storage happens.
* Moderation is everything
Ideally, you should be drinking one or two glasses of juice a day. Even if you replace a few meals with juices and drink 4 glasses a day, you’ll probably still not gain weight.
Most weight gain is a result of consuming processed foods which contain hidden sugars such as high fructose corn syrup. Another culprit of weight gain is starchy carbs such as bread, white rice, pasta, etc.
It’s these foods that cause your body to release excessive amounts of insulin that lead to weight gain. Fruit and vegetable sugars are so mild that you really do not need to worry.
* Timing your juices
If you’re still worried about the sugar content of the fruits, you can just stick to vegetable juices which are just as beneficial. Another hack that will work is to consume your fruit juices early in the day.
By nightfall, your daily activity would have used up the glucose in your blood and you’ll not be gaining weight because of the juice, which is very unlikely.
* Replacing ingredients
There’s no denying that some fruits are sweeter. Mangos, grapes, lychees, figs, etc. have a higher sugar content than fruits like grapefruit, strawberries and watermelon. So, if you’re trying to limit your intake of fruit sugars, you can replace the sweeter fruits with the less sweet ones.
* Food combinations
One of the best ways to mitigate any possible blood sugar spike will be to consume some form of protein with your juice. For example, if you had eggs for breakfast followed by a glass of juice, the insulin levels in your body will be less likely to spike because it’s working to digest the eggs.
Combining a juice with a protein meal will prevent your body from overreacting to the sugars in the juice.
At the end of the day, weight loss and weight gain are mostly determined by the carbs and fats that you consume. Blaming the healthy fruit juices for weight gain is an exercise in futility.
Even if you stopped drinking them, you’d still gain weight. Only now, you’ll have less nutrients and antioxidants in your body and be worse off.
So, look at your diet closely and eliminate all the processed foods and excessive carb consumption. You’ll start losing weight and feeling better.
The juices will help you detox, reduce food craving and do wonders for your health. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
These are some of the most common questions asked about juicing. If you have a few and you don’t see them listed here, you can always search for answers online or speak to a nutritionist.
These 7 benefits are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more that range from hydration to balancing moods to improving gut health. Your key takeaway from this article should be this – juicing is too good a habit to ignore.
Make it a part of your lifestyle and reap the benefits.
