The Detoxifying Health Benefits of Juicing

Making your own homemade juices is one of the best things you can do for your health. There is unique properties to juicing that you would not necessarily achieve as quickly by eating fruits and vegetables. However it is important to state that juicing should never take the place of eating fruits and vegetables but is something we should do in addition to eating a healthy diet.

The main thing that is lost when we juice is fiber. Fiber is extremely important to our health and is one of the main reasons we should not substitute juicing for eating fruits and vegetables. Although, with the loss of fiber there is something that we get in return, more nutrients and antioxidants. Inside fiber is antioxidants that we would not access simply by eating fruits and vegetables. Whereas a juicing machine breaks down and discards the fiber and pours forth these antioxidants into the juice.

This increase in nutrition is one of the main health benefits of juicing. In addition to this we use more fruits and vegetables to make one juice than we could possibly eat in one sitting. It usually requires about 4 oranges or 10 carrots for example to produce one glass of juice. As a result you end up with an extremely nutritious drink that far out ways the amount of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals you would achieve by eating a portion of fruits or vegetables.

The other main benefit of juicing is bio-availability. Because the tough fibers of fruits and vegetables are not present in the juice there is very little for the digestion to do. The nutrients are therefore rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream giving the digestive system and the body a rest – leaving the nutrients free to nourish and protect our cells. Very little is lost.

This juicing benefit of high bio-availability is especially beneficial for detoxification. The liver is not burdened with the digestive process and is free to use most of the antioxidants delivered by the juice solely for detoxification purposes. The antioxidants are converted into detoxifying enzymes that flush toxic heavy metals, harmful chemicals and carcinogens out of the body. To get the best out of this effect the juices recipes should be taken between meals or first thing in the morning before breakfast when the stomach is empty.

The juicing benefits of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cabbage, spinach and collard greens are extra powerful for detoxification. Crucifers contain a variety of specific antioxidants that stimulate the liver to substantially increase its production of detoxifying enzymes. This is why research shows that people who consume the most cruciferous vegetables are even less likely to develop cancer than people who eat the least – even if these people still eat lots of other kinds of vegetables!