Is Juicing Healthy For You?
Every day there are changing opinions on whether juicing is healthy for you or not. Fads and trends come and go all the time. Lately, it has become very popular to start juicing for many different reasons. So is juicing healthy for you? Read on to find out.
People are juicing to cleanse their bodies, to try and lose weight or to get vitamins and minerals into their systems. So you need to examine the science behind these trends and find out just how healthy is juicing for your overall health. Marketing is behind a lot of the push to start juicing. There is a lot of money to be made selling juicers and blenders. The message is that if fruits and vegetables are good for you then getting the benefits from juicing them and drinking a concentrated dose must be beneficial to your body.
But forget about the marketing for a minute and look at the science behind it. In fact, there are good and bad reasons to consider before making juicing a part of your daily diet.
The Pros of Juicing
Should you be juicing fruit and vegetables daily without examining what is right and what is wrong with it? Forget about all the marketing hype being pushed continuously on you and have a look at the nutritional values of juicing and the science involved. Only then can you decide is juicing healthy for you and your lifestyle?
Some of the health benefits of juicing
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If your diet is not good then juicing from time to time will give much-needed nutrition to your body.
- You will have a higher dose of nutrients in your system as a result.
- Therefore your immune system and your overall health and well being will get a much-needed boost because of the intake of the nutrients.
- Enzymes are also released by the juicing process from fruit and vegetables, and you can digest and absorb them more quickly.
So by having a consistent juicing regime, you will benefit from a healthier diet with regards to these nutrients and enzymes. You will become more conscious of what you are putting into your body. You will be more aware of your health in general, and you will be better for it particularly if you were following a poor diet and bad eating habits. As you begin to feel better your life will change for the good in other ways too. You will have more energy from eating more nutritional foods, and you may even start exercising to keep in shape.
Most people do not eat enough fruit and vegetables daily. This is why drinking freshly juiced fruit and veg can benefit your system and make you feel better about yourself.
Another benefit of consuming fiber is that it makes you feel fuller and this helps you in maintaining a healthy weight level.
The Cons of Juicing
But in spite of all this juicing has some harmful elements to it as well. While much of the nutritional science is still being investigated there are problems in particular that are coming to the fore.
- When you juice fruit and vegetables you are actually stripping away much of the insoluble fiber which your body needs.
- To avoid digestive problems, you need to eat fiber on a regular basis.
- As well as getting a reduced intake of fiber, your body gets a lot of nutrition quickly as well as a high dose of natural sugar.
This is even worse if you are mostly juicing fruits with high natural sugar levels. What happens then is you get a massive spike in your sugar levels. So if you suffer from diabetes, this is going to be a problem for you as well as dealing with a possible gain in your weight. This will happen gradually due to the increase of fructose sugar levels which will convert to fat. Your body will store this fat leading to an increase in your weight. This is not a good situation at all.
Juice Your Fruit and Vegetables Correctly
Actually, regular juicing in this fashion will have an adverse impact on your overall health in general. Be aware though that this problem will only occur if fruit is the primary source of your juicing regimen. You need to mix in vegetables too, and a good ratio is 80% vegetables to 20% fruit. You could experiment to find the best result for your particular requirements.
There is also a monetary cost to juicing. You need a high-quality juicer and the best type of juicer to get is a masticating juicer. These can be quite expensive to buy not to mention that you will need a lot of vegetables to make just one glass of juice. So you will have considerable costs on an ongoing basis to continue with your juicing habit, but it can be very good for your health if done correctly.
Final thoughts on Health Benefits of Juicing
Juicing is very popular, and it is not going to go away anytime soon. But if you are juicing on a regular basis be aware of the pros and cons as discussed previously. If you a have a diet lacking in nutrients and enzymes then juicing now and again can definitely improve your overall health is you follow a sensible juicing plan. Is juicing healthy for you? You should now have a better understanding and will be able to come to your own conclusions.
What do you think? Is juicing healthy for you? Please share in the comments below.