For optimal health, the USDA recommends that you consume four servings of fruits and five servings of vegetables daily. The National Cancer Institute says your risk for cancer, diabetes and heart disease decreases when you consume a diet rich in the vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables. Juicing can help you fit these power foods into your diet.
Filling the Gaps
Perhaps you are looking for a way to meet your daily quota of fruits and vegetables, but the idea of eating them all day long simply does not appeal to you. Juicing lets you drink them instead. Eating the whole fruit or vegetable provides fiber that juicing does not, but the majority of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in the whole foods are retained in juicing. Be adventurous and try juicing vegetables and fruits that you wouldn't consider eating whole or that you don't normally have in your pantry.
A Healthy Alternative
For a quick energy boost, don't reach for that coffee, soda or energy drink. Juice can give you energy without stimulants or excess sugar. Juicing your own fruits and vegetables also lets you avoid the additives in some bottled juice, which may contain corn syrup, artificial colors and preservatives. Because fresh juice is not pasteurized and is vulnerable to bacteria, it should not be stored.
Tips
To ensure health and freshness, squeeze your juice in small quantities that you will drink immediately. Add a bit of the pulp back to your juice before drinking it to give it a more powerful nutritional punch. By doing this, you will replace some of the fiber that was lost through juicing, which can also help you to feel more satiated. Feeling fuller can help you stay away from snacks.
Getting Started
Investing in a juicer will save you the time and effort of hand-squeezing. In addition, a juicer can easily extract the juice from foods that cannot be juiced by hand, such as spinach and carrots. Like other household appliances, juicers come with a range of features and prices. Find juice recipes online, as well as in books and magazines, or experiment with your own combinations and begin to inject more essential fruits and vegetables into your diet in the form of a healthy, invigorating juice cocktail.
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