One advantage of juicing is that it takes the fiber out of the food. This gives your digestive system a break and helps your body absorb the substances in your juice much faster. This is good when your juice is filled with vitamins and minerals from green juices. This is bad when your juice is filled with (natural) sugars.
When fiber is taken out of your fruits, the sugars are delivered to your bloodstream in a much faster manner, causing a bigger sugar rush and larger insulin spike (insulin is the hormone that regulates sugars in the blood). The sugars if not used up right away with say running a few miles, get stored up as fat. Causing this spike to happen repeatedly disrupts your metabolism, can cause weight problems or blood sugar-related illnesses. If you take the time to look at the back of a bottled juice that has both fruit and veggies in it, many have 25g, 35g, or more of sugar in the drink. This is around or exceeding the sugar amounts you should intake daily. Carrots and beets also contain a lot of sugar, so do not go excess with these sweet root vegtables either.
If you do decide to include fruits in your juices, green apples and berries are the best option with the least amount of sugars. Stay away from pineapple.
I really like this drink from Ellary’s Greens in the West Village, NYC because for me, the cayenne pepper gives it that extra kick and helps trick my taste buds into not craving something sweet.
Ingredients:
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Green Apple (sometimes I take this out)
- Cilantro
- Ginger
- Cayenne Pepper
References:
Eric Helms, 2014, The Juice Generation, NY, New York, Simon & Schuster