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One of the benefits of juicing vegetables is that it is low-carbohydrate and low-calorie but super high in nutrients that the body needs to function. Don't get me wrong; carbohydrates in food are the body's primary source of energy! But there are healthy carbohydrates, such as in fruits, and unhealthy carbohydrates, such as refined sugar and the carbohydrates in junk food. So I've focused on fresh vegetable juicing as a way to increase the amount of real nutrition I get into my body on a regular basis. Most of us have been told to "eat our vegetables" since we were kids. I remember having a stand-off with my mother about eating peas - I refused to believe that eating something green, cooked and yukky was "good for me." So I sat at the table with my arms folded across my chest - a defiant look in my eyes no doubt - for a couple of hours. Hell could have frozen over before I'd touch those things! Well guess what? Although I didn't know it at the time, I was right! Cooking vegetables destroys all the nutrients - vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other beneficial plant nutrients. So although I know my mom had good intentions in trying to make me eat my peas, she wasn't aware that the cooked ones weren't going to do me (or her for that matter) any good! One of the major benefits of juicing vegetables is getting extremely concentrated nutrition from fresh, raw vegetables. We are advised by the government to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, but in reality, most Americans get only 1 serving if that. And now research is demonstrating that the nutrients in vegetables play a huge role in preventing and alleviating many physical conditions, including diabetes and cancer. You'd have to be chomping all day on fresh veggies to even come close to what the body needs! That's just unrealistic for most of us. But juicing your fresh vegetables solves that problem beautifully. I get a tomato or two, several stalks of celery, one or two carrots, a big bunch of leafy greens such as spinach, some broccoli or cucumber and a clove of garlic all in a glass (about 2 cups) of juice. And talk about benefits of juicing vegetables - it tastes awesome! I find it difficult to really describe how totally delicious fresh vegetable juice tastes... there is absolutely no comparison or similarity to cooked vegetable or even dressing-drenched salad... I think it's something you need to try for yourself. Before I started juicing vegetables, I steamed fresh frozen veggies, which is a lot healthier than cooking them. But the only steamed vegetable that my husband cared for was string beans. He didn't care for steamed broccoli, spinach or other vegetables like I do. But he really likes them juiced! I'm jazzed because we are both noticing improvements in our health and energy since we started drinking fresh vegetable juice. We try to drink some every day.
If you have finicky eaters in your family, including children, one of the many benefits of juicing vegetables is that people who don't normally like vegetables, especially cooked ones, can find the joy and healthiness of vegetables in juicing them. There are many more benefits to juicing
vegetables, including, but not limited to:
I wanted to share what I've experienced in this introductory article. There's a lot more information available on the Web about this and how drinking freshly juiced (preferably organic) vegetables is by far one of the best forms of nutrition and things you can do to improve your health. For more information on the health benefits of juicing (including fruits) and really nice juicer reviews, check out http://www.thebestjuicerreviews.com/health-benefits-of-juicing.html. Cheers! Return to Food, Nutrition and Health from The benefits of juicing vegetables
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