You wouldn’t believe how many people are confused about this. I regularly get asked: will they make me fat or stop me losing weight?
And as with many things in life, the answer is: IT DEPENDS. Ha! You didn’t really want to read this, did you?
It would be sooo much easier to get a straight answer so we can just go and do the right thing.
But with this one, I better provide you some information so you can make an informed decision the next time you think about having a juice.
Did you know that when you drink juice from raw vegetables or fruit, your body can absorb most of the nutrients within about 15 seconds? Talk about an energy shot!
By separating the fruit or vegetable from its fiber, we gain faster access to amazing vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients. Without fibre they are more easily assimilated than if we were to eat them as a whole raw vegetable or fruit.
But beware……this may not always be a good thing.
Let us dig deeper.
Fiber is a VERY important part of our daily food intake and I cannot stress its importance often enough. BUT, fibre also binds certain nutrients and by removing them, as I said above, everything enters your system quickly.
Now in the case of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients….that’s a great thing. We WANT them to be absorbed quickly and boost up our health. But when the juice is based on mainly sweet fruit….trouble starts.
WHY?
When you drink fruit juices without their natural fibre, carbohydrates are set free and quickly spike up your blood sugar levels. Unfortunately then insulin is activated and starts its fat layering job. We all want to avoid that.
So what can we do? How can we give ourselves an easy to use, concentrated health boost without piling on the pounds?
By being wary of adding sweet fruit to your juice cocktail. Focus on vegetables and use only minimal or no fruit in the mix.
Here are my 4 Ways Juicing Can Help You Lose Weight
The right home-made juices can be a healthy and safe addition when drunk in complement to a balanced weight-loss plan. Juices provide a high level of quality nutrition, which will assist you in weight-loss.
#1 Easy Digestion
One of the best benefits of juicing fresh fruit and vegetables is that drinking them (as opposed to eating them) makes them really easy for your body to digest. If you were to juice say a couple of tomatoes, 2 celery sticks, a handful of cucumber, a cup of spinach, some fresh ginger plus a large carrot, you can enjoy a delicious and easy to drink fresh vegetable cocktail providing a huge amount of nutritional benefits to your body.
If you were to actually try and consume those same vegetables raw, from a plate, in one sitting, you could find the process to be quite tedious and be sitting there the whole afternoon trying to chomp your way through them.
But by juicing those vegetables, you get to drink a glass of dense, high quantity nutrients really easily.
#2 Reduction in Cravings
When you drink a glass of freshly made vegetable or green juice, you are loading every cell of your body with detoxifying minerals. You’d be giving your body amazing nutrients that it needs to heal, stay healthy, and reduce the risk of illness. In turn, you’ll also find that you experience a reduction in cravings, particularly for sweets or processed foods.
No cravings = less snacking. How good would that be?
#3 Filling Snack or Dessert
Another amazing thing about juicing is that by drinking a freshly made juice, your appetite shuts off. This is because your body (which is amazing at knowing just what it needs!) is getting stuff that it’s looking for. You’ll feel satisfied and satiated, much more than by eating empty calories in junk food. Your body will feel revitalized, not sluggish or heavy.
And instead of searching for more food even after you’ve just eaten something, you’ll find that you don’t really want or need anything more.
#4 Fun and Variety
In order to lose weight and to stay motivated, your meal plan must be enjoyable, right? But I often get employed as a weight loss coach and then my client shares that they don’t like raw vegetables or salads.
:/ Terrific.
Veggies form a BIG part of my programme!
The way I get around it is by NOT forcing the issue and rather getting everyone to eat small servings of raw items as a side salad and including a big delicious green juice each day. Low on fruit, high on veg.
This way everyone wins: the client, because they are giving their bodies an important health boost and I win because they don’t hate me for forcing them to eat a bucket of raw stuff.
Really, juicing is a fabulously fun, easy and healthy way to shed those unwanted pounds without struggle or deprivation.
Start to make green juicing a regular part of your lifestyle. You’ll like it. And here’s a delicious and easy option for tomorrow:
Trim and Delicious Juice
- 4 carrots
- 2 apples
- 1 cucumber
- ½ small beetroot (peeled)
- 1 rib celery
- 1 lemon
- 1-inch piece of ginger
Run the washed [preferably organic] vegetables through your juicer and enjoy!
Next time I’ll write about smoothies, done the ‘right way’…
Until then, yours in health….
Nicki Kelly
Vegan Wellness Coach