What Is Juicing?

Juicing has many health benefits, which explains why it’s not just a new fad for young adults. But what is juicing? And what are the benefits of juicing?

The popularity of juicing is increasing day by day, but it is a trend that has been around for a while. It has been present for centuries. The Japanese have been juicing for thousands of years.

Also, see the 10 Best Vegetables for Juicing!

Raw fruits and vegetables are used in the juicing process. In the juicing procedure, the liquids, vitamins, and minerals that the fruits and vegetables contain are extracted.

In this process, the solid matter of the fruits and vegetables is stripped away, leaving just the liquid.

JUICES ARE HYDRATING!

We’re not just talking about hydrating liquids here; we’re talking about a total body hydration drink that is chock full of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, and phytonutrients. It is also tasty and easy to drink, making it ideal for hydrating your body [1].

Raw fruit and vegetable juices are the most natural and quick way to fuel your body with natural and long-lasting energy.

Many of you may perceive coffee and caffeine as quick fixes, but the truth is that raw fruit and vegetable juices offer an even more rapid and effective source of quick energy [2].

It is also beneficial for you to remember that you don’t need to consume juice every day to reap the benefits of juicing. However, you can have it with your breakfast every morning or as an afternoon energy boost!

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Different juicing methods:

Following are some different juicing methods and the machines they are associated with:

Cold-pressed:

A cold-pressed juicer is similar to a Norwalk juicer. Nashville uses the same kind of system.

Cold pressed juice is the king of juicers! It means the fruit and vegetable juices have been extracted hydraulically, yielding the most juice and the richest flavor. Nashville uses a system like this as well!
This equipment keeps more nutrients during the juicing process than other juicing techniques because no heat or chopping is applied to the fruits/vegetables.
Juices do a much better job than other machines. Although it is an expensive piece of equipment, it does not affect its popularity. The machine is really worth the money in the long run!

Centrifugal:

You probably see many of these types of juicers in most stores.

Use the spinning technique and spin at a high speed.
Putting fruits and vegetables down a chute and spinning at high-speed filters the pulp from the juice, leaving the juice in a bowl and the pulp in a container.
It uses the spinning technique at high speed, and it usually heats up to some degree.
It is not as easy to break down the cell walls of fruits and vegetables and will result in wasted material if they are not “re-juiced” again in order to yield the most nutritional value.
You can easily buy these types of machines from many stores at pretty low prices.

My favorite is the Breville Juice Fountain® Cold XL Juicer.

Masticating:

There are many popular juicers with this quality, such as Omega, Green Star, and Champion.

As the name suggests, it grinds and chews food just like your teeth do when you chew and grind your food.
Grinding and squeezing fruits and vegetables in order to extract juice
Using this technique, you lose a bit less nutrition than using a centrifuge because the speed and spinning action are very low.
It works best with the greens. Wheatgrass and dark leafy greens are great combinations.
Although cleaning takes some time, the benefits are great (as they all have!)

Here are my favorite masticating juicers:

High-speed blenders & nut milk bag:

Blendtec, Vitamix, etc.

The product is spun at high speeds, which may cause the product to become heated for the duration of time needed to juice it fully.
The process that involves separating the pulp (filtering) and using a nut milk bag is more time-consuming.
The number of nutrients won’t be as high as a cold-pressed juice, but this juice still has a great deal! [3].

What are the benefits of juicing?

It’s okay to drink whole pineapple juice every day, but it can be incredibly difficult to eat the same thing every day. It’s easier to drink juice than to eat it every day!

A fruit or vegetable will reduce absorption by 17% if the fiber is indigestible and take approximately 3-5 hours to digest.

In contrast, when you drink the supplement, absorption increases by up to 68% and takes place within 15 minutes.

The act of juicing is actually similar to taking a dietary supplement. It takes 20 minutes for food to begin to circulate throughout the body.

Juicing absorbs about 99%, while eating does not reach half of that for someone with excellent digestion. In addition, during juicing, you do not have the energy expended to digest what you eat [4].

There is some evidence that cooking tomatoes increases the antioxidant lycopene 5 times. However, blending tomatoes provides a similar level of protection.

Fruits and vegetables provide more than just vitamins, enzymes, and minerals; there is also something else that is equally important. There is no life without water.

Why stay hydrated?

Humans can tolerate hunger but cannot accept thirst, as is well known. It is estimated that water makes up 65% of the human body.

This number is slightly higher in some organs, such as the brain, which makes up 80% of its weight in water. Despite how critical water is to our health, many Americans still do not consume enough.

On the contrary, people, consume liquid foods rather than plain water, such as coffee, tea, cola, and soda, which reduces their water intake [5].

Fruit and vegetable juices are essential not just because of their water content but also because the vitamins and minerals found in fruit and vegetable juices are incredibly beneficial for your health.

Juicing nutrients:

Citrus fruits, including oranges, grapefruit, and lemons, are naturally high in vitamin C, and carrot juice provides beta-carotene, a natural source of vitamin A.

Juices have a high level of Vitamin E and give us iron, copper, potassium, sodium, iodine, and magnesium, as well as other vital nutrients, which our body absorbs more efficiently when consumed than when eaten.

The nutrients we get from juicing are higher than those from eating since it eliminates the indigestible fibers.

For instance, we get 1% of beta-carotene from carrots when eaten because of the indigestible fibers they contain, but when we drink carrot juice, we can get almost 100% of it.

The enzymes are also found in fresh fruit and vegetable juices. Because heat destroys enzymes, it is very important that fruits and vegetables be fresh.

The enzymes in food are destroyed when they reach temperatures above 114 degrees. As there will be no heat during the juicing process, all enzymes will be alive.

WHO reports that a majority of people today are deficient in vitamins and minerals by 50% and 60%, respectively. This mineral and vitamin deficiency can be fulfilled by juicing.

Juice Nutrition

Juice contains a wide range of nutrients, depending on which fruits and vegetables you use, as well as whether you buy the juice or prepare it at home.

The nutrients found in juice depend on the fruits and vegetables used. Some examples include:

Potassium
Vitamin C
Vitamin K
Calcium
Folate
Iron
Vitamin A

Juice can contain more or fewer nutrients, depending on whether the fruits and vegetables are organic or conventionally grown. Heating and pasteurizing can also reduce the nutrients present in the juice.

After knowing the nutritional information of fruits and vegetable juices, let us see the benefits of juicing.

Health benefits of juicing

Juicing has many health benefits; however, let me first summarize it with the following statement: drinking fresh raw juice is the easiest, quickest, and most cost-effective way to get a wide range of vitamins and minerals into our bodies.

In addition to supplying you with many nutrients, freshly juiced vegetables also enhance the effectiveness of every single organ of your body.

The nutrients in freshly squeezed vegetable juices are more easily absorbed into your bloodstream and feed all the cells.

It’s common to observe that your body undergoes a transformation when you start including more juice in your diet. I know that my body did the same thing.

Benefits of juicing symptoms:

Here are a few examples of what you may experience when you begin to juice.

More energy
Mental clarity
Less stress
Better sleep
Clear, glowing skin
Balance the body’s pH (Alkaline body)
Improved immune system
Thick, shiny hair and nails
Better digestion
Fewer headaches
Less joint pain
Weight loss [6].

Regardless, there is limited research on juicing, but it does seem to have some health benefits. We will discuss a few here:

Support cardiovascular system

A small body of research suggests drinking pure fruit and vegetable juice can increase blood levels of nitric oxide. This compound helps your blood vessels remain healthy by opening them and lowering blood pressure [7].

Increase vitamins and minerals

If you haven’t thought about it in a while, vitamins and minerals are essential to your health! If you juice, your body will receive vitamins and minerals it might otherwise miss out on in your diet. They are beneficial for us, helping us think, work, grow, and so much more.

You might not realize it, but your body can’t function optimally if it’s deficient in several nutrients. Juicing is a fun way to get more vitamins and minerals into your diet if you don’t like eating your fruits and vegetables. It helps you gain all the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs in an easy way [8].

Potential weight loss

Juice can help you lose weight if you incorporate it into your diet. Juice may be lower in calories than your usual snacks, depending on what fruits and vegetables you consume.

You are likely to be calorie deficient when this occurs, which is an excellent way to lose some weight. Juicing can supplement any fruits and vegetables you may be missing, though we still recommend eating healthy meals throughout the day [9].

Increased energy

Getting ready for the day, grabbing a cup of coffee on the way out, and beginning the day are routine activities for most of us.

You seem to be depending on caffeine a little too much, have you noticed? Perhaps you don’t have much energy in the morning, or maybe you lose your steam by 2 pm. Consuming juice is an excellent way to gain energy without resorting to caffeine.

Adding more foods with B vitamins to your diet is also one of the many ways we can improve our energy levels without the use of caffeinated drinks. You can get these vitamins through leafy greens, citrus fruits, beets, ginger, etc. Drinking juice is a great way to receive B vitamins [10].

Reset your body by decreasing inflammation

The anti-inflammatory properties of juicing can benefit people suffering from an inflammatory condition. You will also benefit from eating dark, leafy green vegetables as well as fruits that contain high amounts of vitamin C.

A diet high in nutrient-dense foods helps fight inflammation, potentially lowering side effects. If your body needs resetting, fresh juice cleanses are the perfect way to begin fresh.

Though there are certain organs in your body that help you eliminate toxins, juice makes the process even more effective [11].

Protect against disease

You can increase your nutritional intake by drinking juice that is made up of various fruits and vegetables. This will introduce vitamins and minerals to your body.

A healthy digestive system, an immune system that functions properly, a robust immune system, and stronger blood pressure are just some of the benefits of these foods.

By drinking green juice along with healthy eating and exercise, you’re able to get rid of toxins from the body.

The phytochemicals in the juice can dissolve free radicals within the body, and free radicals put people at greater risk for health problems.

If you don’t consume fruits and vegetables usually, juicing is a great way to consume a lot of vegetables and fruit! It may not lower your health care costs, but it might keep you from developing many preventable diseases [12].

Why does juicing have these benefits?

You allow the plant cell walls to break open by juicing, releasing all the nutrients to the body in a more readily absorbed form, thus making digestion much more effortless. As a result, it instantly absorbs all the minerals, vitamins, enzymes, chlorophyll, amino acids, antioxidants, and phytonutrients without any work.

However, as excessive intake of something beyond its limit is terrible, that is also for juicing. There are lots of potential benefits to juicing, but there are also some potential risks to juicing.

Potential risks of juicing

In the long run, juice may end up being more harmful than beneficial. Depending on what types of fruits and vegetables you use, how much juice you drink, and how often you drink it, there are potential risks associated with juice consumption:

Too many calories

Even though fruits and vegetables contain calories, fiber and other tissues provide them with a balance. A standard 8-ounce glass of juice has approximately 100 to 180 calories, so it is essential to watch how much you drink. Drinking too many calories can cause you to gain weight.

Increasing sugar intake

Sugar is the primary source of calories in fruit juice.

Because juice lacks fiber to slow down sugar absorption, it can cause a spike in blood sugar levels. If you want your sugar intake to be controlled, it is best to drink juices that are mostly or wholly made up of vegetables.

Lack of fiber & protein

There is a risk of malnutrition from simply drinking juice, as all juices (even vegetable juices) lack fiber or protein. The fiber in the diet helps keep our digestive system healthy, while protein is essential for muscles, bones, and blood [13].

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References

Adnan et al. (2018). Fruit juice concentrates. In Fruit Juices (pp. 217-240).
Calbom, C. (2011). The Juice Lady’s Living Foods Revolution.
Gouws et al. (2019). The effect of juicing methods on the phytochemical and antioxidant characteristics of the purple prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica)—Preliminary Findings on Juice and Pomace. Beverages, 5(2), 28.
Nettleton, B. (2022). The 8 Best Foods for Juicing. Vaccine, 2, 17.
Pelemiš et al. (2022). Body composition and nutritional status of preschool children. Facta Universitatis, Series: Physical Education and Sport, 295-304.
Mohamedshah et al. (2022). Bioaccessibility, gut microbial metabolism and intestinal transport of phenolics from 100% Concord grape juice and whole grapes are similar in a simulated digestion and fecal fermentation model. Food & Function.
Vallée Marcotte et al. (2022). Health Benefits of Apple Juice Consumption: A Review of Interventional Trials on Humans. Nutrients, 14(4), 821.
Chaudhari et al. (2022). Acute Oxalate Nephropathy Caused by Excessive Vegetable Juicing and Concomitant Volume Depletion. Case Reports in Nephrology, 2022.
Briskey et al. (2022). Effectiveness of “Moro” Blood Orange Citrus sinensis Osbeck (Rutaceae) Standardized Extract on Weight Loss in Overweight but Otherwise Healthy Men and Women. Nutrients, 14(3), 427.
Ashraf et al. (2022). Assessment of Potential Benefits of Functional Food Characteristics of Beetroot Energy Drink and Flavored Milk. BioMed Research International, 2022.
Antoni et al. (2022, March). The Effect of Apple Guava Juice on Macrophages Level in Mice Wound on Fifth Day. In 1st International Conference on Health Sciences and Biotechnology (ICHB 2021) (pp. 12-18). Atlantis Press.
Bekkouch et al. (2022). Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), Lemon (Citrus limon L.) Juices as Preventive Agents from Chronic Liver Damage Induced by CCl4: A Biochemical and Histological Study. Antioxidants, 11(2), 390.
Ammar, A. S., & Bazaraa, W. A. (2022). Juice nanotechnology: A mini review. Food systems, 4(4), 255-258.