Juicing offers several life-enhancing health benefits but one is at the top of the list:
Drinking cold-pressed juice is the most speedily effective way to absorb the immune-boosting nutrients naturally found in fruits and vegetables. The simple act of sipping rather than chewing your veggies gives you, our beeutiful juicers, near-magical access to the digestive enzymes typically locked away in the fiber matrix of whole fruits and vegetables.
But juicing gets a bad rap because folks think that fresh, cold-pressed juice doesn’t have any fiber in it.
Know what? They’re right…and, they’re wrong!
Juicing does remove the insoluble fiber from vegetables and fruits…but the soluble stuff still stays in there! And while fiber is a pivotal part of a healthy diet, getting rid of all the insoluble stuff simply allows the body to better absorb health-promoting phytonutrients like enzymes. So by removing the insoluble fiber and consuming fruits and vegetables in liquid form, we’re actually giving our bodies a nutrient delivery system that lets people who would otherwise have difficulty consuming the amount of whole vegetables we need to be healthy the opportunity to reap the benefits produce has to offer.
Soluble vs. Insoluble: What’s the big diff?
Fiber is the part of any plant that moves food through our digestive system, and it’s generally categorized as “soluble” or “insoluble.” Both types of fiber help to increase bulk, soften stools, and shorten the transit time of food moving through the intestinal tract, and both fibers are present in whole plant foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains.
Soluble fiber (like pectin, which is found in the foods we just mentioned) partially dissolves in water and forms a type of gel that is not digested. Its role is to absorb digestive bile (which is made from cholesterol) and eliminate it, thereby lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol. Soluble fiber also helps sugar to be absorbed more slowly, which helps regulate blood sugar and control diabetes.
Insoluble fiber is also indigestible, but it doesn’t dissolve in water. Instead, it absorbs water and serves as a bulking agent as it passes through the digestive system allowing for regular bowel movements that prevent constipation. Insoluble fiber also helps to maintain a balanced pH in the intestines by removing toxic substances that can accumulate in the colon.
In simple terms, fiber isn’t something you get from foods that needs to stay in your system. Its whole purpose is to move through the intestines, scraping away toxins and residue that builds up as a result of some of the processed or “treat foods” we indulge in from time to time. Both soluble and insoluble have jobs that are good for our bods…but the bottom line is that the Average Jane and Joe get way more fiber from a day of juicing than from chewing regular meals unless they’re chockablock full with raw produce. And the fact is, with the pounds of produce that go into a single bottle of juice, we say it’s easier to sip all that good stuff than to chew it.
So don’t let the fibernaysayers thwart you! Replacing even just one little meal a day with juice will keep your colon clean and your system running swelly and WHealthfully. Pinky swear.