Juicing: well known as being an easy way to get a bit more fruit and veg into your diet and has also been used as a weight loss aid.

But is it actually as good for you as you think? Medical Doctor Frank Lipman says perhaps not.

When produce is juiced it removes almost all of the fibre contained in fruits and vegetables. Fibre is very important for gut health, digestion and removing waste from the body (poop). Because of the lack of fibre many people who drink a lot of juices rather than eating the whole food often end up constipated.

But while juicing removes the fibre it doesn’t remove the sugar. The sugar in say one apple isn’t so bad but how many apples are in a bottle of juice? All of the sugar from the apples is right in the bottle and because of the lack of solid food you don’t get full, meaning you end up drinking a lot more sugar than you would consume if you were actually eating an apple. According to Dr Lipman, ‘Juices made from fruit, as well as veggies like beets and carrots, can add up to liquid dessert that sends you on a blood-sugar roller coaster.’

And while we’re thinking about how much fruit actually goes into juice, it’s quite a wasteful use of all that fruit. The amount of fruit in your apple-mango breakfast juice would probably make quite a filling meal. Instead you drink it down without feeling any less hungry than before.

Juicing is often thought of as a good way to get all the vitamins and other nutrients from fruit in an easy and quick way. However the nutrients begin to breakdown once they are exposed to light and air meaning that by the time you actually drink that juice many of the benefits it still had may have disappeared.

Chances are reading this isn’t actually going to make you go off juices, after all, they still taste amazing. Fortunately, Dr Lipman has come up with a few ways to make drinking juices a little healthier.

1. If you do buy juice from a supermarket make sure you read the label so you know what you’re really getting.

2. If you go to a juice bar ask them not to add high sugar fruits and instead use some honey to sweeten up your juice.

3. Make the juice yourself- no hidden added sugar there, and when you do juice remember to:

• Skip high-sugar fruits, such as pineapples, mangoes, bananas, etc.
• Go heavy on the greens.
• Use lemons, limes, green apples, ginger, mint, and turmeric to add guilt-free flavour.
• Keep in mind that juicing for weight-loss or detox is not a healthy approach, nor is it sustainable.
   

  Article by Hannah Lydeamore