Juicing for Health and Weight Loss: 5 Super Powerful Tips
Juicing for health and weight loss has been getting some attention in the media lately. Juices can be a great start to your day, a replacement meal or a healthy snack, but why? What are the benefits of juicing?
In this article, I will cover all the benefits of juicing including weight loss and how exactly to go about it. I have heard people juice fasting and stuff. Terrible idea. So, basically, it would leave you thinking about food all day. Juices give you cravings if you do not add fats to them. You also consume way too few calories if the juice is all you have to consume. Eating too few calories is just as bad if not worse than eating too many calories.
When consuming too few calories, you will initially lose weight, but your metabolism will start to slow down, you will be easily fatigued. Consuming too fewer calories can disrupt your thyroid function as well. But juicing can be part of a healthy and delicious diet. But juicing can be part of a healthy and delicious diet. One of the concerns that people have is that the fibre is removed from the fruits and vegetables when juiced. This is true. But this is also why you shouldn't go on a juice fast. You can use the juice to replace a meal or drink it as a snack. The other vegetables, whole grains, and pulses that you eat normally still have the fibre that you need.
The Benefits Of Juicing
1. Juices are Nutrient Rich
Juicing is a great way to get in nutrients and eat all the servings of vegetables required. The recommended daily amount of vegetables varies from country to country, but the lowest recommended amount is 5 servings a day. this means if you want to have all your nutrients from the food without depending too much on the supplements, eat 5-9 vegetable servings per day.
Vegetables are so powerful in healing and nourishing the body. One great example is Dr Terry wahls. She reversed her Multiple Sclerosis in one year by having 9 serving of vegetables per day. But, with our busy schedules, it is not possible. So, is juicing a good option.
Most people don't even manage to eat that in a day. More than 5 servings a day can really increase your nutrient intake and give you enormous health benefits. It's pretty hard to eat a whole plate of cabbage or spinach. But juice a few vegetables and throw in a piece of fruit for taste and you'll manage anything from 3-5 servings in one go.
2. Juicing Makes the Nutrients More Bioavailable
Taking nutrients in and absorbing them are two different things. You might be taking a supplement for a long time but if you have leaky gut or use the wrong form of the supplement, you can't absorb that nutrient. Juicing allows you to increase your intake of vegetable and so it increases the nutrients that you take in. But it also makes it easier for your body to absorb those nutrients.
The cell walls of vegetables and some fruits are very rigid, and this can cause your body to struggle to absorb some of the nutrients during digestion. But a juicer breaks down all the cell walls so that your body doesn't have to struggle with that. The nutrients are released immediately and absorption happens a lot quicker in your body so you can absorb all the nutrients.
3. Juicing Benefits People with Digestive Issues
Because the juicer separates the fibre, your body doesn't need to work as hard to digest the juice. It's much easier on the stomach and because all the nutrients are already released, your body will absorb all the nutrients easily. It also cuts down the time it takes for your body to digest the juice which is another plus since it means that you will get energy quickly. People generally see some immediate positive health results, after adding vegetable juices in the diet.
4. Juices Serve as a Prebiotic
Your gut health plays a big role in your overall health. Probiotics are good bacteria that improve the health of your gut. You'll have a healthier immune system, be able to handle stress better and have healthier cholesterol levels when you take in prebiotic foods. Prebiotics are the foods for your Probiotics. Add the following vegetables to your juices to reap the benefits:
- Slightly unripe banana (where the peel is slightly tinged with green)
- Collard greens
- Cabbage
- Brussels sprouts
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Rutabaga
- Radish
- Dandelion greens
5. Juices for Liver Detoxification
Every day we make our liver work very hard to detox our bodies. A lot of these toxins are caused just by living, for example, breathing and moving around, but unhealthy habits such as a bad diet and too much alcohol add to the burden significantly. Juicing is a great way to help your liver out by taking in foods that promote detoxification. The following vegetables are great for cleansing the liver:
- Cabbage
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Beetroot
- Carrots
- Grapefruit
- Dandelion greens
- Mustard greens
- Lemon
- Tumeric
- Olive oil
Check out this recipe to support the health of your liver
6. Juicing Helps with Acidity Problems: Alkalize our body
This should be actually the number one benefit of Juicing with alkaline food. The body´s ideal pH should be around 7. Below or above this range means symptoms and disease. We have no idea about food´s pH values and eat them unconsciously. Some foods like Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Animal proteins and processed foods, shifts the body´s pH to more acidic which is the host of many diseases. Alkaline foods help cool and soothe the pain of heartburn.
The alkalinity neutralizes the acidic environment, cleanse, repair, heal and nourish. On the other hand, Orange juice, which has always been advertised as a great health juice has a low, acidic pH of around 3.4, acidifying the body. This means that Orange juice is 10,000 times more acidic than the pH of your blood! People who struggle with acidity should include the following vegetables and fruit when juicing:
The Most Alkaline Foods to Add In Your Diet Are
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Celery
- Brocolli
- Avocadoes
- Banana
- Fennel
- Spinach
- Bitter Gourd
7. Juice Aids in Weight Loss
Vegetables are the only food on the planet which have low calories and are nutrient dense. Although I am not a fan of counting calories to lose weight, when made correctly juices can be just as filling as a normal meal. Plus you can add healthy fats and proteins in your juice to make it a complete meal.
Weight loss is all about having fewer cravings. When I am drinking juice for weight loss I add some fats so that I can skip a meal. To make sure that we have a complete meal we need to add all 3 macronutrients protein, carbohydrates (carbs) and fats:
- Our carbs come from the Fruits and Veggies
- Nutrients from Vegetables
- To add protein add collagen protein, pea protein, hemp protein, or whey protein to your juices and smoothies. My favourite is collagen and whey protein.
- The fat comes from coconut milk, avocados, flaxseed meal, other healthy seeds, and nuts. I generally rotate seeds and nuts to add variety to my diet.
Dr Andrew Saul is the expert on juicing. This excerpt is from his article Juicing: Some Why's and How's.
"That countertop sawmill that is a juice extractor serves an important purpose: it breaks up individual plant cells by the billions, releasing the good stuff inside. Having taught cell biology for so long now, I’ve become familiar with what that good stuff is: plant RNA and DNA (no, this will not grow leaves on your nose), cytoplasm, mitochondria, ribosomes, enzymes and coenzymes, vitamins and minerals, plus the usual proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates... and they are all uncooked".
What he is saying here, is that vegetables are full of nutrients, a lot of which don't need cooking. Juicing is one of the best ways to get in all the goodness that vegetables have to offer and to make sure you get enough.
The Truth About Fruit Juices
Fruit juices are a terrible way to enhance health and lose weight. Can you imagine 1 glass of apple juice has more fructose than a glass of coke? What does fructose do? Fructose goes directly to your liver and stored as fat. Here I have written a full article on fruits and the myths about them.
When you take the fiber out of fruits, they skyrocket your blood sugar levels, leaving you craving more. Fibre is what resists the blood sugar elevation. That's why we often read on the internet, fibre aids in weight loss. The idea behind it is the same, that fibre will keep your blood sugar levels stabilised and you crave less and hence lose weight. I have been drinking fruit juices all my life, thinking that I am doing wonderful things to my health. Terrible idea.
The fructose in the fruit juices block the satiation signals to the brain and the brain always craves for more food afterwards. Never ever have a glass full of fruit juice again. You can add fruits for flavour but keep them to a minimum. Fructose from fruits is even worst than Table Sugar. Never eat more than 25 grams of fruits per day.
Best Vegetables To Juice For Weight Loss
1. Prefer Organic Vegetables: Use organic vegetables since these have little to no pesticides and you can be sure of the quality. If can't buy organic vegetables due to the price, select vegetables that have no blemishes. Peel them and wash them thoroughly before juicing. As the world demands better farming practices more and more the price of organic foods will drop.
Peel only the non organic veggies. Organic veggies can be juiced with the peel on.
2. Oxalates in the Vegetables: Some vegetables, I suggest adding 1 to 2 pieces only, a lot can jack up your thyroid because of the oxalic acid which is a natural chemical in some plants. It can give you joint pain as well as preventing absorption of nutrients like calcium. Don't get me wrong, kale is very nutritious, but it should be cooked and water should be drained after boiling to get rid of anti-nutrients.
It is always good to do calcium loading with the food products which have oxalic acid which forms oxalates in the body. This hurts the joints and forms kidney stones. Calcium loading will help prevent this from happening by binding the oxalic acid. Spinach, kale, and swiss chard are the ones you should never drink raw in juice because of the oxalic acid content.
Cooking and discarding the water, will kill oxalates as well. But then how do we consume these amazing vegetables? Make a smoothie. Slightly cook them, drain the water and make a green smoothie. Drink your juices and smoothies within 24 hours to take in the maximum amount of nutrients.
How To Make The Perfect Juice
- Start with a watery green vegetable or vegetables-50%: These watery green vegetables should make up 50% of your juice. You can use veggies like cucumber, fennel, lettuce or celery or even combine them.
- Add more nutrient-rich veggies-30%: Artichokes, broccoli, avocado, mustard greens, cabbage, beets, wheatgrass, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, chard, collards, etc. These should make up 30% of your juice.
- Taste-10%: Try adding herbs; parsley, mint, milk thistle, cilantro or dill. Ginger and lemon are great together. Add fruit but in limitation, you can choose any fruit that you like, strawberries, grapes, mango, banana, orange, cranberries or apple. You can also add ground sea salt and pepper. I suggest adding lemon with the peel. This is the last 10% of your juice.
- Sweetener-10%: Carrots, raw honey, stevia, molasses, and beetroot. To make your juice sweeter, just add more carrots. Don't use too much beetroot or raw honey because it is high in sugar. They should make up 10% of your juice.
- Healthy add-ins: For an extra health boost, add chlorella powder, aloe vera, cinnamon, flax seeds, Kurkum (turmeric), apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, coconut oil or spirulina powder. Whey protein, pea protein, and hemp protein will make your juice or smoothie more filling.
Juices are healthy snacks, but if you want to use them as meals, add Coconut milk or avocados, nuts, and seeds. Do not peel organic vegetables, the pulp can be used in interesting and healthy ways.
Some Tips For The Rest Pulp
- Dry the pulp in a dehydrator to make vegetable pulp crisps
- Drizzle with coconut oil or high-quality olive oil and add to a salad
- Make a soup out of it
- Use it to make veggie burger patties
The Perfect Juicer
Getting the right juicer can make sure that your juices are at their healthiest and make your life easier. A multi-purpose masticating juicer is the best way to go. They work at lower speeds which reduce noise and don't generate much heat. Masticating juicer works in slow speed 80 rpm /minute that makes fruits or vegetables in minimal Oxidation, low heat build-up, less foaming and no clogging.
The juice has more vitamins, enzymes, minerals and traces minerals when using our juicer machine. They are easy to clean and you can juice almost all type of fruits and vegetables. The other types of juicers are:
- Centrifugal juicers: These are the cheapest, but they only juice enough for one person and they don't juice the leafy green vegetables very well at all. Because they work so fast and generate heat, you need to drink the juice immediately to get the nutrients as this juicer causes the breakdown of the nutrients a lot quicker.
- Press juicers: These are very expensive and depending on the type you may need a second blender or juicer to get the job done. They can make a lot of juice and the nutrients last long. But they are hard to clean.
- Triturating juicers: These are also known as twin gear juicers. They work slowly and help to release the nutrients of the vegetables very well. You can also wait longer to drink the juice if you would like to take it to work as lunch for example or possibly only have it the next day. They are very expensive though.
- Citrus juicers: You can find manual or electric ones and they are quite cheap, but they are only good for citrus fruits like lemons, grapefruit, and oranges.
- Wheatgrass juicers: As the name suggests, these juicers only work on wheatgrass. To get the full benefit of juicing, you should look for a juicer that can juice most fruits and vegetables.
Conclusion
- Juicing helps you get in more vegetables and fruit per day and so increases your vitamin, mineral and antioxidant intake.
- Only 10% of your juices content should be from fruits. The fruits should be for flavour only because they are high in Fructose.
- Add Ginger, Spirulina, Chlorella powder, or Kurkum (turmeric) to your juices and smoothies for an extra health boost.
- For a proper meal add fats and protein to your juices. Avocado, flaxseed meal and MCT oil are great fats to add. Whey protein, collagen protein, and pea protein are excellent additions for protein.
- Get a multi-purpose masticating juicer. Its perfect speed minimize the oxidative damage. It is easy to clean and can juice many different fruits and vegetables.
- Drink the juice within 24 hours to make sure you get all the nutrients in.
