Health Benefits of Juicing

There are many health benefits of juicing. Eating more vegetables and fruits has always been a maxim for healthy eating.  Various health studies have consistently correlated vegetables and fruits with lower blood pressure, lower risks of heart disease, stroke and cancer, as well as reduced risks for eye and digestive problems.

The USDA recommends from 5 to 13 servings of vegetables and fruits daily in people’s diets.  For a person who needs 2,000 calories a day, this would translate to around 4 ½ cups of vegetables and fruits daily, that is, 2 cups of fruits and 2 ½ cups of vegetables, not including potatoes as they are classified under starchy foods.  Unfortunately, most Americans consume only around 1 ½ to 3 cups of vegetables and fruits daily.

Health Benefits of Juicing

For health-conscious people who seriously want to meet the ideal amount of vegetables and fruits in their diet, the increasingly popular way to achieve this is through the health benefits of juicing.  Juicing is the process of squeezing out the juice from vegetables and fruits, separating the juice from the fibrous pulp.

It is much easier to drink a glass or two of vegetable and fruit juices rather than to eat two or more pounds of produce each day.  Aside from meeting the recommended daily dietary quota, juicing of raw vegetables and fruits preserves their vitamin and mineral content, a lot of which are destroyed during the cooking process.

In addition, drinking of freshly squeezed juices also provides the body with a rich, natural source of anti-oxidants and enzymes not found in their pasteurized grocery counterparts.

Proponents of juicing also tout the fact that juices are easily assimilated by the body, providing a quick boost to a person’s energy and stamina.  While it usually takes hours for solid food to be digested, juices are assimilated within 15 minutes of consumption with little assistance from the digestive system.

Aside from that, the digestive enzymes that come with the raw produce are preserved during juicing.  The body is able to use the enzymes in the fresh juice in the digestive process, instead of using up and relying solely on the body’s own enzyme reserves.

How Can Juicing Help Achieve Weight Loss?

For all the health benefits of juicing, one favorable effect that advocates have discovered from juicing is that it can actually lead to weight loss. This effect is more readily noticeable in vegetable juicing.  Some juicers have reported to have lost up to 18 pounds in three weeks when they went on a juice fast.

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