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Juicing, a term once associated only with celebrity crash diets and professional athletes’ steroid use, is quickly becoming part of our mainstream jargon. While there is still skepticism surrounding all-juice diets, adding liquefied fruits and vegetables to your daily routine proves to hold a multitude of health benefits.
For starters, juicing is a simple way to add more vegetables to your diet. Vegetable juice contains a concentrated amount of the vitamins and minerals found in each plant, so you receive most of the nutritional benefits without devouring the entire veggie. Be sure to drink your juice right away, though. Vegetable juice is highly perishable, and loses most of it’s nutrients if it is not consumed immediately.
Furthermore, adding fresh juice to your diet can help improve digestion, clear your complexion, and boost immunity. Juice cleanses stored waste and toxins in the body, which can inhibit proper organ and cell functions, said Cherie Calbom, author of The Juice Lady’s Turbo Diet. Because juice is easier to digest, it gives your digestive system a chance to rest and repair.
Juicing has also been linked to increased weight loss. When juice eliminates toxins stored in the body, it helps to break down and eliminate fat cells as well. However, if you’re looking to replace meals with juice, it is important to start slowly. While juice provides many health benefits, maintaining a balanced diet remains critical.
When juicing, you are free to mix any combination of fruits and vegetables to create flavorful and nutritious concoctions. If you’re looking for a starting point, try William-Sonoma’s 30 Days of Juicing or Mean Green Juice, as popularized by Joe Cross and Phil Staples in the film Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Happy juicing!
Mean Green Juice
6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 piece of ginger