As more and more people begin to drink fresh home-made juice for health reasons, it is vegetable juice that is being recognized as the perfect way of revitalizing the body and protecting it against disease.
Regularly juicing vegetables can have an enormous impact on your health, and of the many benefits of drinking vegetable juices my top three are:
- Improved Immunity Against Disease
- More Energy
- Better Digestion
1. Improved Immunity
The number one benefit of drinking vegetable juice for me has got to be the improved immunity against infections and disease. The immune boosting effect has meant that vegetable juices have become part of most nutritional therapies in the battle against many serious illnesses. The anti-oxidants in vegetable juice help to cleanse the blood which is good news for the heart, liver, and kidneys, and the chlorophyll in leafy greens helps to build red blood cells. As well as the vitamins and minerals the phyto (plant) chemicals in vegetables are also powerful anti-oxidants which help to detoxify and prevent disease.
2. More Energy
Drinking vegetable juice is a great way of increasing energy levels as many of the nutrients are converted by the body into energy. The cleansing and detoxifying effect transforms the whole body from being tired and sluggish, to more like an energy efficient well oiled machine. The energy saved in drinking vegetable juice instead of having to digest the whole food can be used by the body in other ways, such as in healing.
3. Better Digestion
Raw food contains digestive enzymes which ease the burden on the digestive system, these enzymes are only present in raw food as they are destroyed during cooking. Digesting food uses a tremendous amount of energy which can be apparent when you feel very sleepy after a heavy meal. The cleansing effect juicing has on the digestive system means less toxic undigested food remaining in the intestines and an easier absorption of nutrients.
More About Juicing!
Fruit Juice?
So, why vegetable juice and not fruit juice? The problem with juicing fruit can be the high sugar content which isn't suitable for anyone who is over weight, has diabetes, or high blood pressure. Although, you need to be aware that some root vegetables such as beets and carrots are also high in sugar. Juicy fruit is high in liquid content, so if you enjoy fruit and there's no health problem, why not just eat it whole?
Most people would agree that the big advantage fruit juice has over vegetable juice is the taste, (because of the high sugar content in fruit).
A Matter of Taste
For many people the biggest drawback in drinking vegetable juice is the taste, which is usually because they have an unhealthy acidic diet, and vegetables are alkaline in nature. This means the taste of many of the stronger vegetable juices can take some getting used to, so it's best to juice the milder tasting ones to start with. However, if someone is going to be drinking vegetable juice for health reasons, it's reasonable to assume that they will also be improving their diet, which will go some way in helping to solve this problem. Most folks sweeten up vegetable juice by including an apple or two in the mix, apple is generally accepted as being suitable to juice with vegetables.
Raw Vegetable Goodness
Raw vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, and phyto (plant) chemicals, and drinking the juice from vegetables means that the nutrients can be consumed in tremendous amounts as you aren't having to digest the fibre of the whole food. The high amount of nutrients in vegetable juice are consumed in their natural state making them easily assimilated into the body. Vegetable juices are a great way of getting your five a day (and more) and can help to make sure picky eaters (usually children) get theirs.
When to Juice?
The best time to have vegetable juice is in the morning before you eat anything, this means that the digestive tract is clear of undigested food. Other times of the day are just before meals, certainly not just after, it's best to wait three or four hours after a meal before drinking juice.
Preparation: No need to be over elaborate here, just wash and cut into suitable pieces to be able to fit into the juicer.
Which Juicer?
Choosing a juicer usually comes down to two things, your state of health and your state of wealth. There are many types of juicers around, it depends on the quality of juice required and how much you're willing to pay. Centrifugal juicers shred the vegetables and separate the juice and fibre, and masticating juicers extract the juice by a chewing action, the latter is preferred as the way in which the juice is extracted destroys far less of the nutrients. A good juicing machine will last longer, be more reliable, likely be easier to clean, and importantly will yield a good quality juice.
Whether it is for general well-being or to help in the recovery from illness, there isn't a better way of cleansing and nourishing the body. For better immunity against disease, good digestion, and more energy for life, begin drinking vegetable juice for health and vitality!
Pete is passionate about self help, and believes that regularly drinking healthy juices is the best way to maintain or recover good health.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment