Juicing vs. Raw Fruits and Vegetables: What Is Better?

admin / 0 Comments / Blog / Diabetes mellitus, Fruit, Health, Nutrition, Tomato, Vegetable, Vegetarian cuisine /

Juicing is a very popular trend in the mainstream health movement at the moment, but is it better for your health than just eating raw fruits and vegetables? Upon closer study, you’ll find that it is not. Juicing is many things: convenient, popular, space-saving and more– but it isn’t the healthiest. Juicing isn’t unhealthy either, but the question does indeed warrant some further consideration.

The main thing missing from a juice is fiber. This is a drawback but it doesn’t make juice totally worthless as a component of a healthy diet. It also matters what goes into your juice. If your juice is heavy in fresh greens and other vegetables and can be thickened up with some healthy protein, such as hemp, then it can be useful to your body. Juice takes all of the pulp or meat out of whatever is producing the juice. This does indeed reduce the material down to a portable and liquid form, but it doesn’t always get the best parts of the material into your body.

If you do wish to go the juicing route, try to minimize the carrot and beet content as both of these vegetables include high levels of sugar and can make the juice detrimental from an overall health aspect. Load up on more vegetables than fruits as well especially on the green, leafy side. Nearly anything fruit-based is going to contribute a lot of sugar content into your juice which makes it entirely off-limits for people who suffer from diabetes and other sugar-related illnesses.

Another important distinction to make is between blending and juicing. If you’re strictly talking about juicing, then you’re losing a good portion of the nutrients out of the fruit or vegetable when you throw out the pulp. On the contrary, if you use a blender and keep the pump from the plant material in the juice, then eating raw and juicing are essentially the same.

If you would otherwise avoid a fruit or vegetable all together then juicing it is a great way to get it into your diet. If you are weighing both options — juicing and eating the same ingredient raw, the raw route will always be the best way to go. Keep juicing in your diet if it is a positive and enjoyable way for you to get the fruits and vegetables that are parts of those juices. If you can find ways to consume these ingredients in whole, raw form more often — all the better.

Mar 25, 2015

Raw Smoothies For Raw Foodies

admin / 0 Comments / Blog / apple, Cooking, Food, Fruit, Nutrition, Raw foodism, Vegetable, Vitamin C /

In a world where food is growing more and more artificial, more people are returning to the basics. Eating healthy is all about getting the most nutrients out of the food you eat. One of the best options is going raw.

A raw food diet is focused on promoting personal health, weight loss, and energy gain through the preparation and consumption of raw, unprocessed foods. This means you’ll eat mostly fruits, vegetables, and nuts, with a few other, similar ingredients. This doesn’t mean that you can’t turn the oven on every once in a while, but it does mean that about three-quarters of your diet will remain uncooked.

The reasoning behind eating a raw food diet is simple: nutrient retention. Certain studies have shown that cooking food, particularly vegetables and other produce, can significantly reduce the amount of nutrients available. For instance, cooking a tomato for two minutes can reduce vitamin C levels by 10%; 29% if they were cooked for half an hour. That’s almost a third of the vitamin C lost!

The advantages of eating a raw food diet come not only from the food’s uncooked state, but also the types of foods best suited to the style; reducing carbohydrate and animal fat intake results in weight loss, increased heart health, and the higher-than-regular fiber intake keeps you, well, regular.

That’s not to say you should cut all cooked foods. Removing steamed vegetables and the vast array of potential vegetable stews and soups isn’t necessary, and many raw food enthusiasts consume some manner of cooked fish or lean poultry for iron and protein. Another limiting factor is the potential cost of the food itself. Depending on the area, produce selection may make a raw food diet difficult or pricey to obtain.

One popular way to consume food on a raw food diet is through smoothies. Many components of a raw food diet are perfect for blending into these tasty drinks, and the natural nutrients present in the ingredients make them healthy to boot.

Here’s a recipe for an easy, delicious, and healthy smoothie using ingredients you can get at your local market:
1 mango
1 banana
1 cup spinach (or other leafy green)
1 cup apple juice

Instructions:
1. Peel and chop mango and place it in blender.
2. Peel banana and place it in blender with mango.
3. Add remaining ingredients and blend thoroughly.
Yields one quart.