This is just a brief article about juicing. Read more at http://Sparkspeople.com/resources/nutrition_articles
To Juice or Not to Juice;That is the Question
-- By Becky Hand, Licensed and Registered
Dietitian
A couple decades ago, juicing was something that only overzealously
health-conscious people did. You just knew someone was into healthy living if he or she owned a juicer or drank fresh juice regularly. Today,
it's much more popular. People are juicing to lose weight, to cleanse and to
consume more nutrients. Juicers are popular sold not only via infomercials but can easily be found in department stores. Juice bars have popped up not just in hip California neighborhoods but even in the Midwest.
In the SparkPeople
Community, we get questions about juicing all the time. Should I be juicing?
Will juicing improve my health? Does juicing help with weight loss?
While you may be looking for a quick answer, it isn't that simple. Like
many things in nutrition and weight loss, there is not a one-size-fits-all
answer to the topic of juicing. Read on to find out if juicing can benefit you
and your goals.
What Exactly Is Juicing,
Anyway?
Juicing is the process of extracting the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. A small kitchen appliance known as a juicer is used to extract
the juice, and these can range in price from $50-$500. Drinking the juice of
fruits and vegetables means consuming their water and much of their vitamin and mineral content; however, the pulp, or fiber, which also has many health benefits, is removed. (Note: Some high-powered juicers do retain most of the pulp in the juice, thus resulting in a thicker juice.)
How Juice Stacks Up against
Whole Foods
Proponents of juicing like to say that juice is more
nutritious than simply consuming fruits and vegetables. But does that argument
really hold up? To compare the nutrition of whole fruits and vegetables to
juice, it is important to compare apples to apples (no pun intended). For
accuracy, this means that one must compare them based on equal portions of
weight (in grams), which is what we've done in the chart below. If using a
juicer or blender that retains the pulp, the end result will be similar to the
whole fruit. This chart is a comparison of whole fruit vs juice that does
not retain the pulp.compartment.
Fresh juices should not be confused with smoothies, which are usually made in a blender, food processor, or high-powered juicer and include the fibrous pulp of the fruit and vegetable ingredients (and can often contain a blend of fruit, vegetables, juice, dairy and other ingredients).
-- By Becky Hand, Licensed and Registered
Dietitian
A couple decades ago, juicing was something that only overzealously
health-conscious people did. You just knew someone was into healthy living if he or she owned a juicer or drank fresh juice regularly. Today,
it's much more popular. People are juicing to lose weight, to cleanse and to
consume more nutrients. Juicers are popular sold not only via infomercials but can easily be found in department stores. Juice bars have popped up not just in hip California neighborhoods but even in the Midwest.
In the SparkPeople
Community, we get questions about juicing all the time. Should I be juicing?
Will juicing improve my health? Does juicing help with weight loss?
While you may be looking for a quick answer, it isn't that simple. Like
many things in nutrition and weight loss, there is not a one-size-fits-all
answer to the topic of juicing. Read on to find out if juicing can benefit you
and your goals.
What Exactly Is Juicing,
Anyway?
Juicing is the process of extracting the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. A small kitchen appliance known as a juicer is used to extract
the juice, and these can range in price from $50-$500. Drinking the juice of
fruits and vegetables means consuming their water and much of their vitamin and mineral content; however, the pulp, or fiber, which also has many health benefits, is removed. (Note: Some high-powered juicers do retain most of the pulp in the juice, thus resulting in a thicker juice.)
How Juice Stacks Up against
Whole Foods
Proponents of juicing like to say that juice is more
nutritious than simply consuming fruits and vegetables. But does that argument
really hold up? To compare the nutrition of whole fruits and vegetables to
juice, it is important to compare apples to apples (no pun intended). For
accuracy, this means that one must compare them based on equal portions of
weight (in grams), which is what we've done in the chart below. If using a
juicer or blender that retains the pulp, the end result will be similar to the
whole fruit. This chart is a comparison of whole fruit vs juice that does
not retain the pulp.compartment.
Fresh juices should not be confused with smoothies, which are usually made in a blender, food processor, or high-powered juicer and include the fibrous pulp of the fruit and vegetable ingredients (and can often contain a blend of fruit, vegetables, juice, dairy and other ingredients).