Fresh vegetable and fruit juices may provide high levels of nutrition that your body can easily absorb. Try juicing as a diet, supplement or replacement to a meal. Possible benefits of juicing include increased vitality and energy, a strengthened immune system and decreased risk of heart disease and cancer. There is no conclusive clinical evidence about these or any other benefits of drinking fresh juices. Talk to your doctor before making any dietary changes.
Vitamins and Minerals
Juiced vegetables and fruits deliver much higher volumes of vitamins and minerals than you could take in by just eating them whole. Juicing extracts almost all of the minerals and vitamins in a vegetable or fruit but in a more palatable form. For example, it would be difficult to eat five apples in one sitting; but it is very easy to drink the juice of five apples. In this way, you get more nutritional content than you would by eating the fruit.
Absorption
When making fresh juice, you are eliminating the fiber -- which has no nutritional value -- and extracting the juice. Fiber adds bulk, which cleanses the digestive system but also slows the digestive process. By removing the fiber, you can absorb the nutrition of the juice in a fraction of the time it would take to absorb similar levels of nutrition from whole fruits and vegetables.
Enzymes
According to Norman Walker, author of "Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices," one of the main benefits of fresh juices is their enzyme content. Enzymes are catalysts for metabolic processes in the body. People need them for all life processes. They are abundant in raw or live foods, but begin to deteriorate when the food is processed or exposed to oxygen. Enzymes do not survive cooking at high temperatures or pasteurization. Fresh, raw juice provides many enzymes, but the enzymes are not present in bottled, canned and pasteurized juices.
Juicer
To make your own juice, you will need a juicer. The best juicers are those which first pulverize the produce into a fine pulp and then apply a strong force to press the juice out. However, these juicers may be expensive or hard to use. A centrifugal juicer is second-best. These juicers are smaller and less expensive. They will also produce high quality juice with many vitamins and minerals, but do not deliver as many enzymes.
Types of Juice
What vegetables or fruits you make your juice out of will affect the qualities of your juice. Carrots are high in vitamin A and may have special cancer-fighting properties, says Walker. Parsnips provide a lot of potassium and phosphorus and may particularly benefit the lungs. Spinach, lettuce and watercress provide high levels of vitamins E and C. Combine ingredients with a strong flavor -- such as spinach -- with milder ingredients -- such as carrots -- to make your juice flavor more pleasing.
References
- "Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices"; Norman Walker; 1978
- "Diet and Nutrition"; Rudolph Ballentine, MD; 1978
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