Juicing is all the latest health craze. There is always a new fad popping up in the health arena - from diets to exercise to supplements. The latest and greatest thing to help get us healthier. Juicing is now front and center.
Maybe you are already juicing. Maybe you bought a juicer, but just haven't used it yet or maybe you are the person who is still deciding. Well here are some pros and cons to help you move forward.
PROS - Juicing is a great way to add fruits and vegetables to your diet.
Juicing allows you to more easily reach the recommended amount of servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
It will help increase your intake of vitamins and nutrients each time you consume the juice.
CONS - By juicing certain fruits and vegetables, you can actually lose many of their vitamins and nutrients since they are contained in the skin and pulp.
Juicers are expensive. The produce you need to buy regularly to make the juice is also expensive.
Juice is also full of calories. The more fruits you use, the more calories. You have to be sure to choose from empty calories to those which are more nourishing for your body. Be sure to keep track of the amount of calories you are putting into each juice or you could be adding way more calories to your daily intake than necessary which can lead to unwanted pounds.
The juice isn't pasteurized which can be a food saftey hazard. Wash your hands and all of the produce before juicing. Drink the juice you make on the same day if possible. Also wash the juicer in hot soapy water after each use.
Juicing should not be used to lose weight or do a cleansing, as this can be dangerous. Juice is not meant to be a meal replacement. By only drinking juice your body can fall short on the amount of nutrients it needs. It can also slow down your metabolism.
ALTERNATIVES - There are machines out there which are "extractors," such as the Nutri Bullet. These extract the vitamins and nutrients from the whole produce. They are able to turn the whole fruit or vegetable - skin, pulp and all into a liquid form. Again, this is to be used as a nutritional supplement and not a replacement for food.
Always talk to your doctor and/or pharmacist before you begin juicing. As many of the recipes call for dark green leafy vegetables. These are full of Vitamin K which is a natural blood thinner. This could have an adverse effect if you are already on blood thinners or any other medication that thins your blood. Also certain fruits juices can interfere with types of medications so be sure to thoroughly discuss this with your health care providers before adding any juices to your daily diet.
Adding fruits and vegetables to your diet is never a bad idea, just be sure to be smart about it. Sometimes what we think is good for us, isn't always the case.
