
I never fell into the juicing craze. I’ve been a supporter of making yogurt smoothies in a blender to get a quick boost of protein, calcium and energy, but never a fan of the juicer.
A lot of people ask me what my position is on juicing. With any food, my answer is always its best in it’s natural form. The juicing process does the biggest disservice to your produce. Usually, the one part of your fruit or vegetable that has the MOST vitamins and minerals is the skin. Most juicers extract the juice out of the inside of the fruit which contains mostly water. The jewel of our produce, the skin, is carelessly discarded. The skin also contains fiber which most of us don’t get enough of. It helps your digestive tract maintain itself, reducing chances of cancer, and recent studies show that it helps in weight loss too.
The argument for juicing is growing. It first started as…”it’s the only way I’m able to get my fruits and vegetables in”. I’ve also heard…”I just don’t have time to really shop and prepare my fruits and vegetables”. After seeing the juicing process and clean up afterwards, I beg to differ! The most popular argument is “I just don’t like the taste of them, but I like juice”. To me, those are people who have never had their vegetables prepared properly. So, I’ve come to the conclusion that if you don’t want to jump into the wonderful world of trying new ways to prepare and eat new, potentially yummy fruits and veggies, then yes, you should juice. I’d rather you got the most needed nutrients in the food spectrum than to not eat them at all!
One of the most recently argument I’ve heard is that juicing creates a high concentration of nutrients because of how much produce goes into a single glass of juice. Well…..if you just removed the most nutrient dense portion of the fruit or vegetable, how is that possible? The concentration has never been scientifically proven, although I would love for unbiased tests to be done (unbiased meaning not funded by juicing companies). This is also not selling me on juicing to say I have to buy and prepare a harvest of produce to make a single glass of juice!
You’re probably saying….okay, so when are you going to tell me you’re “coming around”?
Some studies are showing that mixing different foods together create a wide variety of nutrients which when brought together are a catalyst to increase health benefits. A simple, common one you’ve probably heard about is how vitamin D mixed with calcium increases the absorption of the calcium into the body. There are more combinations like this than you can even imagine! That is why I always recommend a large variety of food in your diet. In the latest juicing craze, the mixing of various fruits and veggies together is becoming extremely popular.
I buy bottled mixed 100% juices when I’m hungry, in a rush and need to create a stop gap until lunchtime. I found one in particular that impressed me. The ingredient list was simply a list of the portion of each fruit or vegetable that went into making it, and no preservatives were added. But the most impressive thing was the process by which it was derived. This was a cold pressed juice. It was slowly forced through a large holed sieve with an auger, and without the nutrient destroying
heat you normally see with blender types of juicers. Because of the large holed sieve, it retained a lot of the skin and pulp that is so important. This hearty drink actually stayed with me and seemed to add some pep in my step. The only downfall is it’s expensive. Unfortunately, it needs to be for the freshness and all the trouble they have to got through to make it that way.
I decided it was time to investigate juicers. I read reviews, watched a lot of you-tube videos and considered cost. I found a moderately priced one that has a great warranty, uses the same pressing process and is easy to clean. I haven’t started juicing yet because I’m still looking up recipes. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I purposely started this post with all the reasons I disagree with juicing because I want you to know it’s never a great substitution for the real thing. I want you to consider the down side and use your best judgment on how juicing will or will not fit into your life. I hope you follow my journey as an unbiased nutritional expert and comment on my thoughts.
More to come.