It’s almost impossible not to get sucked into the juicing trend. And a lot of people and businesses have gotten on board.
While the concept may seem like a good thing to add to your daily diet, it’s important that you take a second look at it before you dive in too far. Picking up a bottle of pressed fruits and veggies over a soda sounds like the perfect way to stay healthy. But like all health crazes, there are a few downsides to consider as well.
Juice can add too much sugar to your diet
Most bottled juices have as much sugar as your favorite soda. It doesn’t matter if it says “natural” or “organic”; if it’s refrigerated or off the shelf. Juices made from fruits, including veggies like beets and carrots, can add a lot of sugar to your diet and send your blood sugar skyrocketing.
Juice might not add the fiber
When you juice veggies and fruits, the good fiber gets left behind. That’s a problem because fiber helps you with your gut health and helps you avoid constipation. Although many think of juicing as a cleansing routine, when people solely focus on juicing, they often have a problem with constipation.
Juice can make you hungry
Juice often has a lot of sugar and not much fiber. Juice is also missing fat and protein, both of which are needed to make you feel full. Without fat and protein, your belly signals your brain that you’re still hungry. And that means you might fill in with snacks that are anything but healthy.
Juice might not have the nutrients you anticipated
With think of juice as the cure-all to getting the nutrients we need from fresh fruit and vegetables. We’ve already established that a lot of the nutrients are lost in the skins you don’t take in through the juice. The nutrients also fade both as the juice gets closer to its expiration date, and if you leave it sitting open on your desk.
Okay, juicing might not be all it’s cracked up to be. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take in juices to add into your daily diet. When juicing, keep these things in mind:
- Avoid high sugar fruits such as bananas, pineapples, and mangoes
- Add in more greens
- Go heavy on the nutrients by adding in lemons, limes, green apples, ginger, mint, and turmeric
- Make it yourself whenever possible. That way you know what’s going into each drink.
- Look for organic ingredients to avoid chemical pesticides
- If you prefer a sweeter drink, add a little stevia or raw honey instead