Mar 10

Mar 10 The Benefits of Juicing

This month my focus is self-care and each post you read on this blog will touch on various aspects of the subject. Here's a terrific guest post from Shelley Stinson on the benefits of juicing. I personally love juicing. It's a quick way to get all your nutrients especially when you don't have the time to cook or chop your veggies. Shelley is a writer who is passionate about health and nutrition. Click here to read more of her work.

Happy reading!

You can’t watch a TV program, listen to the radio, or spend any time online without seeing at least one ad or headline geared toward helping you improve your health. And if you look at most of the health-related programs available on the market today, you’ll find that a vast majority of them all have one thing in common: a diet centered on eating lots of fruits and vegetables.

One way to do this is by juicing. What are the benefits of choosing this particular method to make sure you get enough of these particular food groups?

Reduced Health Risks

Because fruits and vegetables are absolutely loaded with vitamins, minerals, and a good dose of fiber, they can help keep certain diseases and illnesses at bay. So if you want to do what you can to protect yourself from major health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, blood pressure issues, cancer, diabetes, and more, then Harvard School of Public Health suggests that you eat foods from these two groups. Juicing enables you to do that quite easily as all you have to do is drink a glass of juice as opposed to keeping track of your intake all day.

Improvement in Health Conditions

Now, you may be saying that reduced health risks are great, but what happens if you already have a health condition. Can juicing help then? The answer is yes. For instance, as revealed in a post on the Intent Blog, a woman by the name of Jil Larsen used juicing combined with integrative nutrition to help her get rid of a skin disorder that resulted in brown patches on her skin. In other words, juicing can potentially save you trips to the doctor’s office and unwanted medications for something you can possibly cure right in your own kitchen.

You Get a Higher Amount of Antioxidants than With Other Methods

Some people choose to blend their fruits and vegetables in order to get their recommended amount daily. And while that’s certainly better than not getting them at all, one study published in Preventive Nutrition and Food Science found that, when compared to blending, juicing tends to bring out more of the antioxidant qualities of fruit. How much more? “Significantly” more. Therefore, if you’re on the fence about whether to blend or juice, then you might want to juice.

It’s Easier to Get Your Recommended Amount of Fruits and Veggies

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people don’t get in their recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables. Specifically, approximately 76 percent fall short on their suggested fruit intake and a whopping 87 percent are lacking in the vegetables they eat. By juicing, you can keep from being one of them as a large portion of your daily dietary needs can often be contained in just one or two glasses!

Ultimately, juicing is one way to get these types of benefits, giving you better health while making it easier to hit your fruit and vegetable targets at the same time!