The Power of Vegetables, Fruits and Juicing

Fruit and vegetable juices are rich in nutrients (vitamins, minerals), living enzymes and phytochemicals, all of which have an extraordinarily healthful and beneficial effect on your body.

For example, citrus fruits such as grapefruits or oranges provide a good portion of vitamin C, whereas carrot juice contains vitamin A, in the form of beta-carotene. Green juices are also a good source of vitamin E. Fruit juices contains essential minerals like iron, magnesium, sodium, iodine, etc…

As mentioned above, fruit and vegetable juices deliver another important group of nutrients, know as enzymes. Enzymes are a key factor for your overall body health. Enzymes enable the digestion, absorption and conversion of food into body tissue. Enzymes are also essential for the production of energy at the cellular level, and are known to prevent cell damage. In fact, enzymes are critical for most of the metabolic activities taking place in your body. As enzymes are destroyed by heat (at temperatures above 114 degrees), it is very important to consume fresh juices within an hour after the fruits and vegetables have been juiced. Since fruits and vegetables are juiced raw, the enzymes are still viable when you drink the juice.

Phytochemicals, available in many vegetables and fruits, are absolutely essential for good health and are known to prevent cancer. For example, vegetables like broccoli contain a substance that may prevent (and even cure in some instances) breast cancer. Citrus fruits are known to help remove carcinogens, which ultimately helps decrease the chance of developing cancer. Grapes contain a phytochemical that appears to protect each cell’s DNA from damage. A large number of green vegetables also contain phytochemicals that appear to offer protection against cancer-causing substances.

Finally, fruits and vegetables provide water, which is critical to our health as more than 65% of most of the cells in our body are made of water. Although water is essential for good health, most people don't consume enough water each day. Many of the fluids we drink, like coffee, soft drinks and alcohol, contain substances that require extra water to be eliminated by your body. Fruit and vegetable juices do not contain these substances and are full of pure, fresh water.

One of the major benefits of juicing is that it removes the indigestible fiber, therefore allowing much larger quantities of nutrients to be absorbed than if the piece of fruit or vegetable was eaten whole. For example, when you eat a raw carrot, you are only able to assimilate about 1% of the available beta-carotene, as the nutrients are trapped in the fiber. When a carrot is juiced, however, nearly 100% of the beta carotene can be assimilated since the fiber is removed.

If you don’t have a juicer at home and can’t make fresh juices, the best option is to purchase them from the grocery store. However, don’t be fooled when you go to the grocery store to purchase fresh juices. Read the labels carefully to make sure these juices are not pasteurized and that they are organic. If you live in a large city, purchasing fresh juice from juice bars (Whole Foods, for example) is a wonderful way to get your fresh juice, but make sure to drink to consume fresh juices within an hour or you will lose those precious enzymes.

The major issue facing our society today is that most of us don't eat enough fruits and vegetables to obtain the benefits they offer. The awful, scary truth is that the average American eats only 1 ½ servings of vegetables per day and no fruits on any given day. It’s up to each and every one of us to change this trend and start consuming vegetables, fruits and juices to become healthier.

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