To Juice or Not to Juice?
This is a question we hear often. Juicing is the process of extracting juice from plants, such as fruits and vegetables. Juicing is different than blending and smoothies.
You may consider juicing if identify with one of these categories:
- Picky eaters: If you are not a fan of fruits and vegetables this is good way to get the 5 cups of fruits and vegetables needed in the daily diet. It takes 8-10 exposures to a food before a picky eater can accept it into their diet. Therefore, ingesting produce in a juice may lead to more on their plate!
- Too Busy to Stop: Some people are too busy to stop for breakfast or lunch, which can lead to cravings or a large meal in the evening. Juicing would provide you with nutrients, calories, and carbohydrates needed to satisfy some nutritional needs. There is little to no protein in juices so it still does not replace a meal. Consider having 10-15 almonds, yogurt, adding a scoop of protein powder, or small piece of fish with your juice.
- Low fiber diet: Most people need to increase daily intake of fiber, but medically a low fiber diet is needed in some cases. Most juicing machines leave the pulp(fiber) behind to be discarded. If you are not on a low fiber diet use the pulp in other recipes such as, soups, spaghetti sauce, granola bars, or smoothies. mv
