Juicing and a Healthier You!
What is juicing?
Juicing is the process of extracting juice from plant tissues such as fruit or vegetables.
Are you ready to give juicing a whirl? It's an easy way to get more fruits and veggies into your diet.
There are a few things you should know about juicing:
Juice and smoothies are not the same thing. A smoothie is made in a blender. It isblended, not juiced. With a smoothie, you retain the pulp, which is insoluble fiber. A blended drink yields a lot more because of the pulp.
Juice is juiced with a juicer. Juicers 'juice' your produce and separate the pulp, the insoluble fiber, from it. You discard the pulp and drink the juice. You still get fiber in the form of soluble fiber.
What is Fiber? Fiber has a very important role to play in the body, it is the indigestible component of whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Read more on fiber.
There are "Pros" and "Cons" of juicing.
Pros
- Juice has a higher nutritional value per ounce. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to eat pounds of carrots, beets, and other leafy green vegetables in one day.
- Even if your digestive system is working poorly, you can assimilate almost 100 percent of the nutrients contained in juice. While fiber often takes hours to digest, juice is absorbed into the body rapidly with hardly any strain on the digestive system whatsoever.
- A blender basically chops and mashes the fruits and vegetables. The juicer breaks open the cell of the plant, releasing vitamins, minerals, and life-giving juice. The juice does retain a portion of the soluble fiber, and the discarded fiber has a lot less nutritional value compared to what's in your glass.
- Usually involves more clean up time.
- More expensive than blending, as it requires more fresh produce.
How to Choose the Best Juicer For You
When I first started juicing about 7 years ago, I bought a Black & Decker juicer that was reasonably priced from Walmart. I figured if Black & Decker make great tools, they can't go wrong with a juicer. I still use that juicer today. I did upgrade!