Juicing: Five Things You Need to Know | Women and Weight Website

Juicing may be all the rage for weight loss and otherwise, but is it as healthful as some would have you believe? In today?s post I will be covering 5 specific tips for what you need to know if you have ever considered giving juicing a try.

Juicing refers to drinks made from only fruits and/or vegetables. You can prepare your own juice drinks at home or buy commercially prepared fresh juice from a juice stand or grocery store. Those who expound on the benefits of juicing might have you believe that not only is juicing a great idea for achieving better health and weight but that it is actually better than eating whole fruits and vegetables. I disagree.

1. Juicing is NOT better than eating whole fruits and vegetables

Juicing may provide most of the vitamins, minerals, and phyto-chemicals (such as antioxidants) as found in fresh fruits and vegetables but saying that it is better than consuming whole fruits and vegetables is simply not true. Most juicing machines trap the pulp when the juice is extracted. In doing this you lose the benefits of the fiber present in the whole fruit.

Getting plenty of dietary fiber as found in whole fruits and vegetables is important for weight loss and your health. Fiber helps to fill you up and keep you feeling satisfied for quite a while. Given that hunger is a common problem on a low calorie diet, feeling satisfied matters.

Another reason to eat fresh fruits and vegetables is that many of the nutrients are found in greater concentration in or near the peel (in fruits and vegetables with edible skin).

[Evidently, a pulverizer-style, non-straining juicer will retain the fiber. However, this kind of juicer is more like a high-powered, and typically, expensive blender.]

2. Juicing concentrates nutrients BUT is this necessary?

The process of juicing reduces what may be a large amount of fresh food into a smaller quantity of juice. This can provide you with a much higher dose of certain nutrients in one serving. HOWEVER, if you are eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables each day you should be getting plenty of the nutrients you need from this food group without juicing. Getting a lot more nutrients may be of no benefit because the extra may simply be flushed through your digestive system and excreted.

However, if you struggle to eat enough fruits and vegetables and you enjoy juicing from time to time that?s fine. Just remember to track the calories. Vegetables as a general rule are very low calorie but the calories in some fruits and starchy vegetables can add up quickly particularly when you are juicing. The concentrating of a large amount of fresh fruits and vegetables not only concentrates helpful nutrients but also concentrates sugars.

3. Juice fasting for weight loss is NOT a good idea.

There have been people in the news over the past few years who have lost a significant amount of weight with a long term juice fast (weeks or even months). However what you may not know is that these individuals had medical supervision to make sure they were getting enough essential nutrients. Getting enough protein and certain other nutrients can be a challenge.

Juice fasts can come up far too short for calories as well as nutrients. Not getting enough calories to meet your body?s basic needs can have a negative impact on your metabolism. This is no different from any other kind of very low calorie dieting. Coming up short on nutrients can leave you feeling very tired, hungry, and irritable.

Going into ?starvation mode? will cause your metabolism to slow down. This is your body?s way of attempting to compensate for the lack of calories. It is counter-productive to weight loss because you want to encourage your body to burn as many calories as it can in a healthy manner.

Yes, you may lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time by doing nothing more than juicing. But the weight you might lose can go right back on very quickly especially if your metabolism has slowed.

4. Freshly prepared juice is easily susceptible to spoilage.

When making your own juice at home, only make up what you will drink in one serving. Juice provides an ideal environment for potentially harmful bacterial growth. If you buy juice that has been commercially prepared, look for a pasteurized product.

5. Why Juice? Fruits and Vegetables are already STARS.

Why drink fruits and vegetables when you can prepare soups, salads, roasted veggies, low calorie casseroles, sandwiches, veggie lasagna, and lower calorie pizza? In addition, fruits and veggies can be added to breads, cereals, sandwiches, stir-fries, sauces, and more. These under-appreciated plant foods can bring a fresh flavor to the foods you already eat with far fewer calories than calorie dense foods such as cheese. This increases the total amount (by volume or weight) that you can eat.

Research has shown that we tend to eat the same amount of food every day. When the volume or weight is different we tend to not feel satisfied. That?s precisely why it is so important to include low calorie fruits and vegetables in your weight loss diet. You can eat the same amount of food as you have been accustomed to eating but for fewer calories.

Fruits and vegetables can be your ticket not only to lower calorie eating and weight loss but to tasty, fulfilling eating that provides you with lots of important nutrients. Whole fruits and vegetables are BETTER than juice!

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Source: http://www.womenandweight.com/weight-management/weight-loss/juicing-five-things-you-need-to-know/

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