Cold pressed juices are very trendy right now and it makes sense that they have such a health halo! They are marketed with words like fresh squeezed, cold pressed, immune boosting or like this one I picked up at the local coffee shop, morning rooster!
Now I will be the first one to say that I love a fresh juice! Once you have had fresh squeezed orange juice (preferability on a tropic beach) it is really hard to go back to Tropicana! But even though it is delicious, what are my recommendations for my client?
The first thing to keep in mind with juice when thinking about it from a health perspective is that juice lacks the fiber, complex carbohydrates what fills us and keeps blood sugars stable. When you eat a whole orange the body has to work through the fiber of the orange to get to the sugar in the fruit so the absorption of sugar into your blood stream is more delayed and over a prolonged period. When you have a glass of juice there is not fiber and this large amount of sugar can cause your blood sugar to spike up and it can also induce diarrhea in some people (especially those who had had bariatric surgery). If you are watching your blood sugar remember to keep your glass of juice small (~4oz) and don't forget that diluting juice with some water will also help to keep your blood sugars more stable.
So we know that juice is going to impact your blood sugar, but let's back up to those immune boosting properties that these juices promise us! Even though the fiber in fruit is removed, those wonderful vitamins and minerals will still be in your fresh juice so juice can be a great way to get in your vitamins and minerals from fruit is you are not a fun of eating whole fruit (remember whole fruit is still going to be the best option!) Juices are often higher in vitamins per cup compared to fruit as a cup of juice typically contains the juice of more than one fruit and thus more of the vitamins than a single piece of fruit (it typically takes 3 oranges to make 1 cup of orange juice). Don't forget though that vitamins and minerals always live in the fibrous parts of the fruit (skin/pulp) that are being removed so that does not meet 1 cup of OJ is going to have 3x the vitamin. The vitamins and minerals in juice is a big point that juice has over soda even though both are high in sugar.
Lastly, I will make comment on juice cleanses....DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY! As we talked about before having large volumes of high sugar beverages is a recipe to have high blood sugar and cause diarrhea (plus also clear out your wallet!) Remember if you want to do a "cleanse" a great place to start is adding in daily movement, increasing your vegetable/fruit intake and drinking enough water. Not as trendy, but will give you much better longer term results!
What more help navigating our food environment and making a plan that is actually going to work to help you get to a healthy weight, improve your health and still be able to enjoy eating? Scroll down to fill out the contact form and let's get chatting!
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