Juicing is an easy way to introduce nutrients into the body. While it seems impossible to prepare and eat the recommended five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, juicing provides a more feasible solution. While there are several ways to extract the juice from fruits and vegetables, not all these methods provide the same nutrition.
The best way to juice up is through cold-pressing, a process that doesn’t involve heat to extract the juice from your fruit or vegetable. Heat can dissolve or reduce certain nutrients in food, but cold pressed juice maximizes the amount of nutrients you get from food by eliminating heat.
Cold Pressed Juice: What is it?
Cold-pressed juice means that the juice of fruits and vegetables were extracted by applying very high pressure and in the absence of heat.
You can also think of cold pressing as a method that separates a fruit’s extracts from its flesh. Although this kind of juicing may seem like a new method, it has been used in the ancient times in producing extra virgin olive oil.
Other methods such as centrifugal juicers use fast spinning blades, which are powered by electricity, to crush fruits and vegetables.
The motion of the spinning blades also produce heat, which can potentially affect the nutrients in the extract. The problem with heat is that it can destroy some nutrients and enzymes such as vitamin C.
The main reason behind the clamor for cold-pressed juicing is that it comes with plenty of benefits that other juicing methods do not have.
Producing your own cold-pressed juice also comes with another benefit, which is saving time. Soft fruits and vegetables can be pressed together such as berries, kiwis, and kale.
Cold Pressed Juice: Its Benefits
There are many reasons why you should choose cold-pressing over other juice extracting methods. Take a look at some of the benefits of cold-pressed juice:
- You get the complete nutrients. Cold-pressed juice contains all the available enzymes and vitamins that can be destroyed by other commercial juicing methods. Pasteurization, for example, involves heating the food to a very high temperature. During the packaging of these pasteurized juices, some chemicals are also introduced to the food to prevent harmful bacteria from forming. However, this means that good bacteria also get killed.
- You get more quantities of these nutrients. Cold-pressed juicers can extract more juice than other kinds of juicers. This benefit is more important when it comes to getting juice from leafy green vegetables. The efficiency of cold-pressed juicers means that you need less produce for your daily intake of nutrients. It helps you save more because a regular-sized carrot will give you more juice from cold-pressing over other methods.
- Nutrients are easily absorbed by the body. The next benefit that comes with cold pressing juice is making the nutrients easier to digest, which means that the body absorbs these nutrients fast.
The body uses energy in digesting food and in breaking them down into smaller pieces, so that they can be absorbed by your system.
During the process, it makes use of the energy and nutrients inside the body. But when you have the fruits and vegetables in juice form, the body uses up less energy just to make the nutrients available.
This results to a healthier and more energetic system, with plenty of nutrients available for the various functions of the body, including regenerating and repairing damaged cells.
- Help enhance the immune system. Cold-pressed juices optimize the use of the gut’s good bacteria, which help suppress the growth of bad bacteria that causes diseases. Along with other nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, the body becomes more resistant to diseases and even keep allergies at bay. If your gut flora is out of balance this can lead to dealing with a leaky gut. Leaky gut happens when there is a disbalance between the good and bad gut bacteria and can happen as digestive distress pushes toxins and particles out of the gut and into the body (hence the leaky part). This can be dangerous to the rest of your system and must be dealt with quickly. Some ways to do this are to take supplements like probiotics, eating the right foods to replace and enhance gut health, and exercise.
- Get natural juice extracts free from synthetic sweeteners. Another obvious benefit of consuming cold-pressed juice is that you get 100% natural fruit and vegetable extracts that don’t contain preservatives and synthetic sugars. When you extract your own juice, you are assured that you’re getting an undiluted form of extracts containing all the healthy vitamins your body needs.
- Benefit from vegetables. While store-bought juices may only come in fruit variations, you can extract the juice from your choice of vegetables. This means that you get to enjoy antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins from your favorite veggies, too!
- Consume more fiber. While whole fruits and vegetables are recommended for their insoluble fiber, which helps in digestion, fresh juices also come with soluble fiber known to help lower cholesterol levels in the body.
- Improves bowel movement. Cold-pressed juice may help in bowel movement issues. Because juice is easier to digest, it becomes easier for the body to get the nutrients that help aid in eliminating waste from your digestive tract.
- Provides the body with more antioxidants. Cold-pressed juice comes with high levels of antioxidants, which have anticancer and antiviral properties. When compared to store-bought juices, cold-pressed juice contains more levels of these antioxidants.
- Helps rid the body of toxins. Fresh fruits are shown to contain small amounts of glutathione, a protein made up of three amino acids, which help the body in getting rid of toxins such as pesticides and lead. Unfortunately, store-bought juices don’t come with this benefit.
- Aids in weight loss. Diets that contain a high level of raw or uncooked foods are believed to help in weight loss. If your diet consists of around 60% of uncooked fruits and vegetables, it can also help in lowering blood pressure.
Best Fruits and Vegetables to Juice
Now that you’ve seen the benefits if cold-pressed juices, here are some of the best vegetables and fruits that you can try:
- Apples. This fruit is known for its ability to cleanse the digestive system, reduce bad cholesterol levels in the body, and helps enhance the immune system.
- Berries. Known for their antioxidants, berries also come with antibacterial and antiviral properties. They are also known to help people with urinary infections and diarrhea.
- Broccoli. Arguably the “king” of vegetables, it comes with vitamin C and plenty of antioxidants. It also contains chlorophyll, which can help manage blood sugar and insulin levels.
- Cabbage. This is beneficial for people suffering with stomach problems such as ulcers. It is also packed with antioxidants and is known to help in regulating metabolism.
- Carrots. Very popular for its beta-carotene content, carrots are good for your brain, skin, and in enhancing the immune system.
- Celery. This vegetable is known for helping people with gout and digestive problems. Its high potassium content makes it good for helping reduce blood pressure.
- Cranberries. This fruit is popular for its antibacterial and antiviral properties, and is believed to improve kidney health.
- Papaya. It contains papain, which is an enzyme that helps break down protein and aids in alleviating digestive problems.
- Pineapples. This fruit can help dissolve blood clots, and has antiviral and antibacterial properties.
- Tomatoes. This is popular for blending well with other fruits and vegetables while also being good for the heart.
Closing Thoughts
While you may plan to take your daily requirement of five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, doing it seems impossible.
However, cold-pressing your favorite vegetables and fruits at home presents a more practical and efficient solution to getting all the antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs.
Getting the essential nutrients is just one of the many benefits of cold-pressed juices because it also aids in digestion and enhances your immune system.
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