Many wonder why there is so much hype surrounding juicing. Why go through all the fuss and mess of running your fruits and vegetables through a juicing machine when a large assortment of juices are available on the grocery shelf? What’s the difference? How could juicing be included as one of the best tips to eating healthy when all the fiber and skin is left behind? Isn’t that where the good stuff is?
These are all legitimate questions. And, the answers are important when you are trying to get healthy, maintain your weight loss efforts, and give your body all the nutrients it needs. We want the best tools with the least amount of waste, right?
Here are several reasons why juicing is included as one of the best tips to healthy eating:
1. Juicing allows you to keep your fruits and vegetables closest to their natural state – raw. Once a food has been cooked, it loses some valuable nutrients. By using a juicer, you can squeeze out the vitamins and minerals that are included in the food.
2. Many juices on the grocery shelf have been processed. Since the best tips for eating healthy call for unprocessed foods, those that haven’t been cooked at high temperatures or stuffed with additives like sugar and chemicals, juicing is a better option. Take a look at the ingredient label on most store-bought juices and you will notice that water, sugar in its various forms, and chemical additives for color or increased shelf life, are part of the list. Not very natural, right?
3. What about the fiber…that’s good for you, right? True, when you juice much of the fiber is left behind. And, this is exactly why juicing is so valuable for your body. I know, this sounds counterintuitive so let’s explain. It’s all about concentration. Juicing gives you a very dense, very concentrated amount of vitamins and minerals without the bulk of the fiber. This means you can get a “shot” of exactly what you need without feeling full as a result of the fiber. That shot gets absorbed much quicker into your system because you don’t have to wait to digest.
4. What can I do with the fiber? Great tips to eating healthy include ways to avoid waste. Many people that juice will take the leftover pulp and include it in other recipes such as soup, bread, and stews. Using that pulp in other ways allows you to maximize your healthy diet and weight loss programs by fully using fruits and vegetables. For example, the left over parts from carrot juice can be added to banana bread.
5. If you are looking for an alternative to juice, you can still benefit from these tips to eating healthy. With the right blender shakes can be made with various fruits and vegetables. It’s easy to create popular “sweeter” varieties using fruits; however, toss in a handful of raw spinach, kale, or cucumber slices and you can add the power of green without compromising taste.
Enriching your diet with these tips to eating healthy is much easier than most people first imagine. By adding nutrient rich foods into your diet plan, and eliminating some of the empty calories that result from food that is over-processed, the transition to a healthy lifestyle easy.
