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The Benefits of Juicing, Blending and Raw Food Might Change Your Life

Sophia Kosma June 12, 2018 Food & Health

Now that summer is here and we’re starting to feel the heat, the body undergoes a radical transformation: moving away from cooked, warm foods to a more cool, raw plant-based diet. Not only do we drink more water in the summer months to hydrate our bodies properly, we also integrate seasonal fruits and vegetables into our diet easily in the form of liquids and raw legumes. Let’s look at some of the reasons why juicing, blending and raw foods all work to benefit the body.

Blending Drinks

Blending your drink allows you to keep the skin of your produce to preserve all the fiber, creating a slow release of fibrous nutrition while aiding the digestion process. It also means that all the ingredients are still intact in a pureed form. For anyone who is diabetic, blending is a perfect option for the regulation of blood sugar as it releases nutrients at a slow and stable rate. It also works well for people who are actively exercising and need the nutritious release over long periods of physical exertion. The fiber content helps to maintain a strong healthy gut and has the ability to reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Juicing Drinks

Juicing is a process where you are extracting the juice of vegetables and then removing all the fiber. The process of removing all the fiber means you really don’t have to digest anything and it gives you the chlorophyll-dense juice that goes right into your bloodstream. For those people that suffer from digestive problems, skipping the fiber consumption all together might be an added bonus for some health conditions. Nonetheless, we still need a bit of fiber to aid digestion and keep things regular, which also helps keep colon cancer at bay.

Combination Of Both

Once you explore your liquid options, you may prefer one to the other. However, most research suggests a combination of both juicing and blending, mixed with consuming raw foods, are the best as each offers distinctive benefits. This enables you to balance the fiber intake, while optimizing the amount of rich nutrients you get in both. You can always find recipes that target all your health needs, helping you combine the right foods for specific purposes. The ratio of 80% veggies to 20% fruits controls the level of natural sugar in our diet and vegetables are lower in fat, sugar and sodium. We are not suggesting one or the other, as this seems to be the big debate that most health enthusiasts focus on, but rather a combination of both as they supply the body with nutrients in unique ways.

Liquid Nutrients

Although many humans are ingesting large quantities of processed foods that contain no nutritional content, they are also swallowing “junk” beverages, such as fruit juices and sports drinks, that are loaded with heavy sweeteners like corn syrup, sugar, and artificial flavors. The easiest way to fill the body with rich, vibrant nutrition foods is going directly to the source: raw fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. You can take all the nutrients found in these rich foods and feed them directly into the body to fight inflammation, boost immunity and make your skin radiant.

Energy Booster

Every time you eat heavy, processed foods, your body has to focus all of its energy on your digestive system. It actually takes an enormous amount of energy for your body to do this. When you drink liquid foods, it actually replenishes your body, going directly into the bloodstream rather than consuming energy through digestion. Juicing implies that you have done all the work for your body; hence, it only has to absorb all the nutrients. Blending will give you everything the fruits and vegetables offer. Your body will love all the extra energy it receives from the nutrients while exerting less energy digesting heavy foods.

photo credit: https://www.pazariim.al/home/554-smoothie-dsp-2-ne-1.html

Eating Extra Vegetables Efficiently & Easily

The recommended portion of vegetables can be as high as 3 servings per day and 2 servings of fruit, depending on your age, gender and level of physical activity. For most of us, it’s really hard to get those daily servings, and many people don’t even like vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are rich foods that offer us vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Adding dark green vegetables, or cruciferous vegetables, to smoothies are easy and can be mixed with one fruit to take the bite off the bitterness. Cruciferous vegetables are loaded with cancer-fighting properties and adding ginger, garlic lemon and other herbs widens the variety of plant-based produce that you can expand into your diet. Oh, did we mention how quick and easy it is to blend drinks in the morning or just before working out?

Healthy Sleep

Most of us are eating food that contains little nutritional value. During our sleep phase, the body goes through a period of recharging itself and sourcing out the vitamins and minerals needed on a daily basis. Since our food is loaded with toxins, sugars and other processed foods, it is busy finding the right content it needs while cleaning out the toxins it has accumulated. Juicing, blending and eating raw food will all help to give the body what it needs, while conserving its energy wisely. Generally, the body runs smoother and has an opportunity to rest at night, fully recharging itself.

Cancer Prevention & Radiant Health

All studies have suggested that rich diets in vegetables can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, because of the high fiber content and rich nutrients they offer. Incorporating dark greens like kale, spinach, broccoli and celery boost your immune system along with other vibrant colors, like beets and carrots that help blood circulation, provide oxygenation in the brain, maintain healthy vision and prevent cancer. Cruciferous vegetables are loaded with cancer-fighting properties, regulate blood sugar, reduce inflammation and maintain heart health. Your body will love all the added antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and anti-inflammatory foods that nourish your body and help fight free radicals that damage cells.

Weight Loss

Both blending and juicing are great for losing weight. It requires less energy to digest all the fruits and veggies and you can intake at least 5 to 6 more servings than you normally would throughout the week. Your metabolism will speed up, your immune system will be stronger and your digestion system will function properly. Once your body is given the right kind of nutrients, it will have much more energy for overall concentration, mental clarity and physical exercise.

Adding The Extras

Well, there is another marvelous touch you can add to your liquid routine and raw veggies, depending on what you’re whipping up in the kitchen: superfoods and seeds. You can add raw nuts, flax seeds, wheatgrass, wheat germ, protein powder, chia seeds, maca powder, shelled hemp seeds, turmeric, chlorophyll, spirulina, cacao powder, coconut oil and water to name just a few. All of these are rich in antioxidants, helping to enhance energy, mood, and memory while improving sexual health. The most exciting process about juicing, blending and eating a rich plant-based diet is the fact that the possibilities become endless. You quickly discover new ways of integrating variety, becoming further inspired to simply add more of this goodness into your regime. It might be really tough to digest processed foods once you dive into the miracle of juicing, blending and raw foods. Your body will radiate health inside and out and it doesn’t mean that you stop eating other foods; it simply means that you intake a diverse variety of produce that might otherwise be very challenging. There’s an old Arabic proverb that says, “He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.”

Photo source: https://helloglow.co/15-best-superfoods/

Dirty Dozen and Clean 15

Oh, one last thing! Although most of us dream of buying only fresh, organic produce at the market, the reality of the price difference makes it challenging on a tight budget. We thought it might be the perfect moment to remind you of EWG’s dirty dozen and clean 15. This guide will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most toxic pesticide residues, so you can opt to splurge on organic produce for those, while the clean 15 have no, or few, residues. You can find the full guide here.