Health Risks Reduced Through Juice

I recently wrote how I’d much prefer to eat my vegetables than to juice them. I’ve got nothing against juicing – in fact I’m a huge proponent of juicing vegetables so long as the juice doesn’t have added sugars or heaping helpings of sodium – but eating is a much more pleasurable experience for me than drinking is.

But if one can’t find the time to get all the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables into their diet each day – which seems to be the case for most people, 70 percent of people, in fact – then juicing is a very efficient way of solving that problem.

If this wasn’t patently obvious already, a group of researchers from the University of California have proven it through a study of theirs that was presented American Dietetic Association in Chicago last week.

The study looked into how best people can get the recommended amount of vegetables into their diet daily, the recommended amount being about five servings. Three groups of men and women met with dietary counselors on how best to go about this, the strategies differing from person to person for obvious reasons (likes and dislikes, time constraints, etc.). For two of the groups, in addition to determining how best to implement a diet of eating high amounts of vegetables, they were also instructed to drink an eight ounce glass of vegetable juice.

This very act alone – drinking an eight ounce glass of vegetable juice – was the catalyst in the groups’ getting the appropriate amount of vegetables into their diet. Because the group without the vegetable juice – despite their meeting with dietary counselors – still did not get the appropriate amount of fresh vegetables into their daily diet. In fact, they got an average of less than 25 percent of what’s recommended, or a little more than one serving a day! Pitiful.

Now, this study doesn’t break any mold or surprise anyone; juicing essentially breaks down several vegetables that might take a while to eat into one convenient glass or mug that takes minutes to drink. But if it was so obvious, then why aren’t more people doing it?

Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that vegetable juice just isn’t that appetizing. But that’s a straw man’s argument when one considers all the potential combinations that can perk up what may be a bland brew.

One way to sweeten up a vegetable juice concoction is by adding some apple slices. Apple slices are probably the best way to sweeten up any vegetable juice, whether the other vegetables included in the mélange are carrots, carrot greens, cabbage or spinach, to name a few. Another good fruit choice is lemon (peeled, of course), which tarts things up quite nicely.

But perhaps my assumption about taste is wrong. Because according to the participants of the University of California’s study, they found juicing to be a more convenient and tastier way of implementing a variety of vegetables into their diets than eating them, as reported by the study’s author Carl Keen, professor at the University of California at Davis.

Study after study has documented the health benefits of juicing, all of them published in highly respected journals like the American Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Science. If you haven’t considered juicing before, and you find it difficult to get the appropriate amount of vegetables into your daily diet, it may be time to jump aboard the juicing joyride!