Pros & Cons of Juicing
I can’t tell you how much I love green juice. During the summer before covid, I was going to nekter juice bar and getting a green juice everyday. It got to a point where I was craving it. Not to mention, I felt so healthy walking to my car with my green juice in hand. Most juices I got were kind of sweet with a mixture of green veggies and fruits. I had become such a green juice queen that my parents bought me a juicer for Christmas. Since then, I’ve learned so much about the pros & cons of juicing.
PROS:
-minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients are delivered straight to your bloodstream. This allows for quicker absorption and key nutrients absorbed at a higher and quicker rate.
-allows your digestive system to recover. This is why juice detoxes are so popular. Since the juice is mostly absorbed in your bloodstream, your digestive system can recover from high inflammatory foods you’ve taken in. With that being said, don’t do juice detoxes. Your body needs nutrient dense foods. Regardless of how off track you’ve gotten from a rather clean diet, juicing and starving yourself is NOT HEALTHY! More on this later.
-provides electrolytes and hydration. I have been drinking one glass of celery juice a day and my skin is so hydrated. Adding in a little salt helps replenish electrolytes right after a workout.
-higher vegetable and fruit intake rather than eating fruit or veggies in a single setting. Obviously when you juice, you have to use larger quantities to get a sufficient glass of juice. This means more servings of fruits and vegetables. With that said, by juicing, you’re still not receiving all of the benefits from fruits and veggies. Keep reading!
CONS:
-juicing removes the fiber from fruits and vegetables and other vital nutrients that are found in the skins and other parts of the fruits. For example, apples are SO GOOD for you. They’re rich in fiber, great for digestion, immunity and anti-inflammatory properties. When you juice, you’re not receiving any of those benefits. Most likely, the only benefit you’re receiving from juicing an apple is enhanced taste.
-can become costly. Since you need large quantities of each fruit and vegetable, this can become costly if you’re juicing everyday. You also want to make sure you’re only juicing organic fruits and vegetables to minimize the chance of consuming pesticides and other chemicals found in our fruits and veggies.
-a lot of the fruit and vegetable gets left behind. The juice is extracted out of the whole fruit which is why you can juice 25 oranges and barely have a glass of orange juice LOL. The rinds, the fiber, the skin and other parts of the fruit don’t make it into the juice. Some say this is wasteful, others claim it defeats the purpose of trying to be healthy since you’re not getting in the whole veggie or fruit.
WHAT TO DO NEXT:
Focus on juicing fruits that you’re already buying at the store. For example, I was buying organic orange juice every week. After I got my juicer, I started juicing my own oranges. It is the best orange juice I’ve ever had in my entire life. I save about $4 because organic orange juice from the store can range anywhere from $6-$8. One large bag of organic oranges is about $4. Pineapple juice is also a juice I was buying weekly because of the respiratory benefits it provides. While I will still eat pineapple regularly, juicing it gives me the sweetest fruit juice for my hydration cocktails.
Don’t count what you juice as your vegetable or fruit serving for the day. Think about it as a supplement. You do it on top of what you’re already doing. By really only juicing orange juice, pineapple juice and celery juice, I know I still need my daily intake of whole fruits of vegetables. I don’t eat celery so juicing it makes sense for me. Drinking 1 glass of celery juice a day has helped me with my digestion, detoxing my liver, and has helped improve my skin so much! If you want to add in some ginger to your pineapple and orange juice, by all means do you girl! You can even make little juice shots. Whatever you do , don’t forget to eat whole foods for optimum nutrition. Juicing is the cherry on top!
Make sure you wash your fruits and veggies thoroughly before you juice them. I soak my fruits and veggies in water, add a little apple cider vinegar and scrub off any dirt.
When it comes to juicing, you can either continue buying juices from your favorite juice stop. You can invest in a juicer and have fun juicing for the week. I have the Breville Juicer and it’s so easy to use and makes cleaning up a breeze. You can continue to buy juice from the store just make sure it’s always ‘not from concentrate’, organic and it only has ingredients in it that you would find in the fruit or vegetable itself. Example: juice of an orange.
Regardless of how you choose to get your juice in, remember that healthy skin, bodies and minds all start within. Nourish your body, nourish your mind and nourish your soul.
Happy Juicing!
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