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Juicing fruits and vegetables is no healthier than eating whole foods, according to experts from the Mayo Clinic. In recent days, the trend of "juicing", i.e. squeezing fruits and vegetables, has been spreading on social networks, and the consumption of juice is recommended because it is supposedly healthier.
However, experts from the Mayo Clinic claim that juicing is no healthier than eating whole fruits and vegetables. The liquid contains most of the vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) found in the fruit. However, whole fruits and vegetables also have healthy fiber, which is lost during juicing.
Some believe that juicing is better than eating whole fruits and vegetables because your body can better absorb the nutrients, and it gives your digestive system a break from digesting fiber. They say that juicing can reduce the risk of cancer, strengthen the immune system, remove toxins from the body, aid digestion and help you lose weight.
However, there is no scientific evidence that squeezed juices are healthier than the juice you get from eating only fruits or vegetables.
A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition claims:
"Healthy volunteers ingested sugar-equivalent meals of oranges and orange juice and of grapes and grape juice.
Satiety, assessed by two subjective scoring systems, was greater after whole fruit than after juice and the return of appetite was delayed. With oranges, as previously reported with apples, there was a significantly smaller insulin response to fruit than to juice and less postabsorptive fall in plasma glucose." Interestingly, a study lead by H.
H. Stratton and published in the journal Pediatrics found that, "Among children who were initially either at risk for overweight or overweight, increased fruit juice intake was associated with excess adiposity gain, whereas parental offerings of whole fruits were associated with reduced adiposity gain." If you don't like to eat fruits and vegetables, juicing can be a way to add them to your diet or to try fruits and vegetables that you might not eat.
The Mayo Clinic recommends that you consider blending instead of juicing. By mixing the edible parts of fruits and vegetables, you get a drink that contains more healthy phytonutrients and fiber. Fiber can also help you feel full.
If you do try juicing, only make as much juice as you can drink at one time because harmful bacteria can grow quickly in freshly squeezed juice. If you are buying commercially produced fresh juice, choose a pasteurized product.
