Juicing: Good or Bad?

Fruits and vegetables are good for your health.

Some of them even reduce your risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer (1Trusted Source).

Juicing, a process that involves extracting the nutritious juices from fresh fruits and vegetables, has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Many people use it to detox or add more nutrients to their diet.

Supporters claim that juicing can improve nutrient absorption from fruits and vegetables, while others say it strips away their important nutrients like fiber.

This is a detailed review of juicing and its health effects — both good and bad.

What is juicing?

Juicing is a process that extracts the juices from fresh fruits and vegetables.

It usually strips away most of the solid matter, including the seeds and pulp, from whole fruits and vegetables.

The resulting liquid contains most of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants naturally present in the whole fruit or vegetable.

Juicing methods

Juicing methods vary, from squeezing fruit by hand to motor-driven juicers.

Two common types of juicers include:

• Centrifugal. These juicers grind fruits and vegetables into pulp through a high-speed spinning action with a cutting blade. The spinning also separates the juice from the solids.
• Cold-press. Also called masticating juicers, these crush and press fruits and vegetables much more slowly to obtain as much juice as possible.

The nutritional quality of juice obtained from centrifugal and cold-press juicers is similar (2Trusted Source).

Purpose of juicing

Juicing is generally used for two purposes:

• Cleansing or detoxification: Solid food is eliminated and only juice is consumed for 3 days to several weeks. Some people believe drinking juice cleanses their bodies of toxins. However, no evidence supports its effectiveness.
• Supplementing a normal diet: Fresh juice can be used as a handy supplement to your daily diet, increasing nutrient intake from fruits and vegetables that you wouldn't otherwise consume.

SUMMARYJuicing involves extracting and drinking the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. Some people do this to "detox," while others do it to supplement their current diet.

Juice is an easy way to obtain a lot of nutrients

Many people don't obtain enough nutrients from their diet alone (3Trusted Source).

Nutrient levels in the foods you eat are also much lower than they used to be.

This is largely due to processing methods and the time it takes to get produce from the field to the supermarket (4, 5).

Polluted environments and high stress levels can also increase your requirements for certain nutrients.

Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant compounds that may protect against disease (6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source).

If you find it difficult to get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables into your diet each day, juicing can be a convenient way to increase your intake.

One study found that supplementing with mixed fruit and vegetable juice over 14 weeks improved participants' nutrient levels of beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and folate (8Trusted Source).

Furthermore, a review of 22 studies found that drinking juice made from fresh fruits and vegetables or blended powder concentrate improved folate and antioxidant levels, including beta carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E (9Trusted Source).

SUMMARYIf you struggle to eat enough fruits and vegetables each day, juicing is a convenient way to get a wide range of important nutrients.

Fonte: Healthline

As informações e sugestões contidas neste blog são meramente informativas e não devem substituir consultas com médicos especialistas.

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