The health benefits of juicing are both potent and many; drinking a daily glass of freshly made juice will make a believer out of anyone. Besides the wonderful tastes and combinations that can be made when juicing produce, what are these juicing benefits?
First, let’s take a look at what juicing actually is. Juicing is the act of putting fruits and vegetables through a juice extractor that seperates/squeezes the juice from the pulp. A masticating juice extractor is a great option because it “chews up” fruits and vegetables very slowly to release the juice while generating very little heat. Centrifugal juice extractors are still a great option but produce more heat that will kill some nutrients – but just some. The result is still a very nutritious juice all the same.
The fundamental benefits of juicing are delivered through the exceptional nutritional profile that fresh juices deliver. Raw fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and enzymes, but juicing actually increases the amount of nutrients we can digest from these foods. So how does that work?
The antioxidants in fruits and vegetables are tightly bound by fibers and we only release a small percentage of these antioxidants by eating whole fruits and vegetables. However, a juice extractor will “chew up” the fibers extensively to release a larger percentage of the antioxidants for us to digest and absorb into the blood stream. Additionally, a single serving of fresh juice will usually contain between 8 – 10 portions of fruits and/or vegetables, depending on which ones you use. A lot more than we would eat in one shot!
This high intake of antioxidants and other nutrients significantly reduces our chances of developing diseases like cancer and heart disease while simultaneously improving our longevity. Antioxidants protect our cells from oxidative damage and oxidative damage is what causes us to age quicker. Oxidative damage also attacks cholesterol in our blood stream causing it to harden into our artery walls to create atherosclerosis and high blood pressure. Arthritis, macular degeneration, cataracts and other degenerative disease are also associated with excessive oxidative damage that the benefits of juicing can protect against. It is then of no surprise that large population studies always find that those who are healthiest and live the longest are those with the most fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet – in both whole food and juice form.