If you’re thinking about starting to juice, you’re probably asking: is juicing healthy for me? Even though juicing is one of the easiest ways to add vegetables and fruits to your diet, the topic is quite controversial still. Whether juicing is healthy or not depends on how you do it.
In this post, we’ll look at a handful of simple but powerful tips for making sure you’re juicing in a healthy way. After all, you want to take good care of your body when you juice, not work against it.
Once you’re done reading this article, you’re armed with useful tips for added health benefits from juicing. And if you’re just starting out, knowing how to maximize these benefits is essential for achieving your goals with juicing.
Let’s get started!
Juicing basics: Is juicing good for your health?
As with any topic related to health and nutrition, juicing isn’t all black and white. Thus, you want to be mindful about how you juice. Because even though juicing may sound like a no-brainer way to improve your health, there are a few common pitfalls to avoid.
Of course, your juicing journey should start with a thorough talk with your physician. They are aware of what you should keep in mind when you start juicing. If you have a medical condition, you don’t want to start juicing only to notice the whole thing is harming your health.
You doctor can give you helpful advice about what types of ingredients you should consume and what to avoid. For instance, if you’re struggling with high blood sugar levels, they’ll most probably suggest that you keep your intake of fruits high in sugar to a minimum.
Furthermore, there are a few key points to remember when you want to start juicing to make sure you’re doing it right. Let’s take a look at 6 easy tips to ensure juicing is healthy for you in the long run.
6 easy tips to make juicing a healthy habit
Tip #1: Use fresh, organic produce
When you start juicing, you want to take good care of your body. After all, juicing is one of the easiest ways to boost your vitamin and mineral intake.
With that said, keep in mind that not all produce is the same. Conventionally produced vegetables and fruits may be laden with harmful chemical residues like fertilizers and pesticides. Since you’re not cooking the produce you use for juicing (which might at least dilute the chemicals a bit), you want to minimize your chemical intake altogether.
Therefore, choosing organic produce should be your #1 goal when purchasing fresh produce for juicing. Not only will organic foods be sweeter and have a bolder, more intense taste, but they’ll also usually have a higher nutritional value. This is because the soil they grow in is being taken care of in a more sustainable and natural way.
Organic vegetables and fruits allow you to avoid harmful chemicals and pesticides, making them healthier for your body to digest.
Tip #2: Avoid high-sugar ingredients
Although sweet fruits like apples and pineapples make a great addition to your juicing ingredients, they contain relatively high amounts of sugar. And since you want to make sure you’re juicing in a healthy way, always be aware of how much fruits you’re consuming. You want to find a balance between making your juices tasty enough to enjoy them regularly and keeping your sugar intake as low as possible.
Thus, it’s perfectly OK to add an apple to your daily juice intake. Just make sure you’re not overdoing it. Never consume more fruits by juicing than what you’d normally eat during one day.
Also, if you’re consuming a lot of sugars right now, your taste buds are used to sweet flavors. When you start juicing, it can take some time to get used to juices that aren’t that sweet. If that’s the case, don’t worry about it – it’s just temporary.
Just bear in mind that juicing takes a bit of self-discipline. Especially if you’re juicing to lose weight and improve your health, you want to make healthy choices every time you juice. Of course, I’m not saying you should aim for total abstinence from sweet fruits. Just make sure you use common sense and be mindful about what you’re putting into your body. After all, that’s the only way to feel better overall and improve your health in the long run.
Tip #3: Consult a medical practitioner before juicing
Before you start juicing, talk to your doctor about your plans. If you have a specific goal in mind for your juicing journey, your doctor can provide you with valuable tips for achieving that goal. They know exactly what you should bear in mind while juicing in order to make it a healthy habit.
Especially if you have medical conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, your physician can recommend the best produce that suit your diet. Also, some ingredients can interfere with certain medication, either increasing or decreasing its effects. Thus, go through your juicing plan with your doctor when you’re starting out.
Because we are all different and unique, your body may respond differently to juicing than others. Therefore, as you start juicing, pay attention to how your body reacts. Be mindful about the possible changes and reactions you notice.
A good way of keeping track of things is to keep a juicing diary. Take notes on the fruits and vegetables you’re juicing. Also, write down the amounts of produce you juice and when you drink your juices throughout the day.
Tip #4: Start slowly and build up gradually
Juicing is a fun way of taking care of your body! Seeing all that fresh, nutritious produce can make you want to juice more than you should. Especially if you’re not consuming much fresh produce before you start juicing, your body needs to get acclimatized to juicing. The best way to avoid consuming too much juice is to start really slowly. As always with diets and nutrition, it’s better to be a tad too careful at first. Only drink 1 glass of juice per day when you start. See how your body responds and how you feel overall. If you notice anything strange, immediately get in touch with your physician.
Since we’re all individuals, the only way to find the best way to juice is to listen to your body. You don’t want to experience any discomfort or pain, which is why you should start slow.
However, symptoms like headaches, constipation, light nausea, feeling bloated, or even diarrhoea can be quite common. These are usually signs of your body getting used to digesting juice. And if you’re consuming a lot of foods that are low in nutrients, your body will be in a shock when you start giving it healthy juices instead.
If you start feeling uncomfortable at any point, it’s a good idea to contact your doctor. However, if juicing is a big change in your diet, symptoms like headaches will usually recede in 3-4 days. After that, you should start to feel much more energetic and better overall.
Tip #5: Use a wide range of different produce
The best and easiest way to maximize your vitamin and mineral intake is to consume a wide variety of different produce. Different colors and flavors are a sign of different nutrients in vegetables and fruits.
Thus, keep your eyes open at the supermarket when you’re purchasing your produce for juicing. In the beginning, you may want to stick to veggies you already know and like. But as you start feeling better about juicing and you see and feel the first health benefits, try out new things. Trust me, you may be surprised at all the different produce available in your local stores.
A good way to experiment with new ingredients is to try out something new every week or every two weeks. Buy a piece of produce you’ve never tasted or juiced before. Try a piece and see how it tastes. Juice another piece by itself and see how the juice tastes. Sometime you’ll be surprised at how different the flavors are.
Now, which juice recipe do you think if could fit in?
Tip #6: Make juicing a regular habit
Needless to say, juicing can only have long-term health benefits if you stick to it. Therefore, make it as easy as possible for yourself to juice every day.
The best way to keep juicing regularly is to find a good spot for your juicer on your working surface. If you stow it away in the back of your cupboard, you’ll never juice again, trust me.
Also, try to juice at the same time every day. This will help you create a routine around juicing. For example, I juice every day in the morning right after waking up and doing some morning yoga. After just 5-10 minutes of being mindful about how my body is feeling, the juice tastes that much better.
The best part?
When I go to bed in the evening, I’m already looking forward to juicing the next morning. Sometimes I get the best ideas for new juice recipes just before falling asleep.
Final thoughts: Is juicing healthy for you?
Summing it all up, there can be many benefits of juicing your vegetables and fruits, such as providing your body with more vitamins and minerals. Juicing is also a great way to introduce produce to your diet that you wouldn’t normally consume.
But to make sure you’re juicing in a healthy, sustainable way and taking good care of your body, consider the tips in this article. They’re an easy way to increase the potential health benefits you can enjoy with juicing.
As juicing is regaining popularity, it’s easier than ever to find great resources for inspiration and added health benefits these days. You can add juicing to your diet and enjoy a healthy drink that tasted good enough to be a proper treat.
Depending on your starting point, you can see health benefits from juicing surprisingly quickly. Especially if you’re not consuming that much fresh produce right now, you could see a quick change in your body when you start juicing. Therefore, always make sure you consult your physician when you embark on your juicing journey.
Ready to start juicing? Awesome! Check out this article with some of the best health benefits of juicing to get started!
I hope you found a few helpful tips and inspirational points in this article. If you found this post about is juicing healthy helpful, drop me a line in the comments below!
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Happy juicing!