Health Trend Alert: Juicing

The juicing revolution—like the green smoothie trend—has had a steady cult following among the country’s “greenies” and health buffs. Recently, however, the popularity of juicing has skyrocketed, and has caught on with all sorts of people, particularly busy moms, homemakers, even celebrities. Some noted “juicing moms” in Hollywood are vegan vixen Alicia Silverstone and goop goddess Gwyneth Paltrow, while locally, we’ve been seeing a few celebrity moms getting their green on, like TV host Amanda Griffin-Jacob.

Juicing is obviously a quick and easy way to add a healthy, energizing boost to any day. For many people, it’s a means towards a clean, whole food-based diet. For others, it’s a way to lose weight. But for most families who decide to regularly practice juicing, it is a way to educate the family to be more conscious about food, and to make better dietary choices.

For moms like Aileen Albano, juicing is both a healthy practice and a great bonding experience since it’s a lifestyle change that is more fun to do when done with family and/or friends. The co-owner of the popular juicing company Juice Jab—a company that provides ready-made juice cleanse programs here in Manila, Aileen believes that regular juicing can “make up for times when we eat more bad than good. Juicing played a significant part in achieving our health goals. It also strongly influenced not only our diet but our overall lifestyle choices as well.”

Why moms start juicing
We asked some mom-readers of Smart Parenting online about why they juiced. They all had related responses.

1. For weight loss
I started juicing because my weight was in a see-saw state and mainly because of health issues,” says Litz Anchinges, a healthy food blogger at mergerguru.com, where she posts juice recipes suited for both adults and kids. She likes juicing because it gives them more energy. “It also replaced (our) unhealthy food cravings, especially for sweets,” adds Litz.


2. As a treatment for disease
For mom Zof Leal, juicing was more of a lifestyle shift than anything else, especially in her family. “We started juicing in 2009 when my father was diagnosed with cancer. We did not want to go the chemo-radiation treatment at first so we looked for alternative ways,” says Zof. As her father’s primary caregiver during that time, she also got used to juicing. “My Dad has been cancer free for four years now. Although we decided that he needed to go through an operation after all, his healing was faster and after the two-month rest period he was able to travel again without complications.”

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3. To help counter negative health concerns
For Normi Alvaira Herrera, it was the diagnosis of a solidified body mass that prompted her to seek out natural solutions, one of which was juicing. “We have a friend who’s a naturopathy doctor, and he recommended that I start juicing after I got hospitalized for a solidified mass in my common biliary duct last year. He prescribed juicing to help expel the toxins from my body and crush the ’stone’,” shared Normi, a breastfeeding mom. “I never had any tummy aches since.” In addition, she reports that she is now much more resistant to viral infections and bacteria.

4. For overall health and wellness
Juicing is actually easier on the digestive system compared to blending or taking smoothies. “With juicing, you take in more nutrients than if you were to eat just a whole fruit or a serving of vegetables. It's a great way to detoxify,” says mommy Racquel Guevarra, a homeschooling mom and whole living enthusiast. In fact, she opts for juice instead of coffee as a perk-up. “I get fewer migraine attacks and my skin looks better!”

Is juicing medically sound?
We asked Dr. Girlmar Leones, M.D. DPPS, a pediatrician specializing in Natural Medicine, about juicing. She states that generally, anyone can try juicing, but there are certain sound practices to keep in mind.

“Juicing raw fruits and vegetables has many health benefits, including improving the immune system. It is one of the things to consider if you want to detoxify and improve your general well-being,” says Dr. Leones. She also states that it is a good practice to employ if one doesn’t enjoy eating vegetables but would like to try a wider variety of vegetables in their diet.

But can juicing stand alone as nutritionally sound?
“In my opinion, it is always better to eat whole fruits and vegetables rather than drink its juices because you get more fiber,” says Dr. Leones, “but for kids who are picky eaters and those who have digestive problems, juicing is the next best thing to do to provide essential vitamins and minerals for optimal growth and development as it is absorbed faster in the digestive tract.” She advises that fresh juice is best taken on an empty stomach.

She also strongly advised that juicing with fruits is not recommended for people with ongoing fungal infection or diabetes, especially since sugar promotes fungal growth. “It is better to do vegetable juicing in such cases,” says Dr. Leones, since certain locally-available fruits like pineapple, mangoes and watermelon have a high glycemic Index, which causes a rapid rise in blood sugar levels.

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How to get kids interested in juicing
Even though juicing has a variety of health benefits, doctors like Dr. Leones do not agree that it should be a meal replacement, especially for children. “It should just be an add-on to a well- balanced diet,” says Dr. Leones, who still insists that a well-balanced and well-prepared meal should consist of food selections from all the food groups and not solely from the fruit-vegetable group.

So how do moms get their kids to take fresh fruit-veggie juices?

1. Get the kids used to the taste of vegetables.
Aileen says that the key to getting your kids accustomed to juicing is for the palate to adapt to the taste of the vegetables. “Since taste is very relative, you’d want to expose them to food and drinks that are not very different from the taste of vegetables – more neutral, less salty, sweet and oily dishes so that they won’t find the taste of vegetables too different,” she advises.

2. Teach by example.
For Racquel, teaching by example is an important key to getting the kids interested. “I had to show our kids that I was taking my juice (no cheating!) and I let them have a taste of it at the beginning,” says Racquel, whose girls are now accustomed to taking an apple-carrot juice every evening. Aileen also adds that piquing your child’s curiosity is effective as well. “Let them see you drink green juice regularly and most likely they will get curious and ask you for a sip. The first time they try it out is very important since it might be hard to convince them to try it again if they find the taste too extreme the first time (I learned this lesson the hard way!).”

3. Make the juices palatable, in a healthy way.
Mompreneur Ives Lim-Esteban says that making the green juice cold and serving it with fruit often helps. Zof recommends incorporating sweet fruits like pineapple and watermelon into the green juice. “I usually pack my son's juice with fruits like apples, oranges and pineapples to make it sweeter, he never notices if I put a handful of spinach or malunggay leaves with the fruits,” she says. She recommends making a mix with more fruits than vegetables at first, then gradually decreasing the amount of fruits over time.

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Are there cons to juicing?
Perhaps the only “con” to juicing is the prohibitive costs of top-quality, good juicing machines. And, on top of the initial investment of buying a good juicer, the cost of fruits and vegetables also fluctuates.

1. It’s time-consuming to make fresh juice.
“There is also a time component involved since juicing can be a tedious process.  Generally, the slower juicing methods (e.g. hydraulic press, cold-pressed) expose the raw ingredients to less heat thus producing better quality juices, so one would need to invest time to get quality output, “ says Aileen. This is where juicing companies help as they provide fast and convenient access to fresh juices, but obviously there are costs tied to getting their services.

2. It’s tedious to prepare produce for juicing.
For Zof, the process of making fresh juice each day is as important as it is tedious. As her cancer-stricken Dad’s primary caregiver, Normi had to follow a very strict schedule with his juices (about 5 times a day). “We had to buy fruits and veggies in bulk,” says Normi. “Keeping those fresh was a challenge and the constant cleaning, peeling, slicing and juicing and then cleaning again was something that we practiced for quite a while.”

3. It’s difficult to source out high quality produce.
Mommy Normi says that finding quality fruits and produce is another hurdle. “One thing I'm really more concerned about is the insufficient supply of organic and pesticide-free vegetables and fruits in common markets so you can't really juice with the healthiest options,” she says.

Juicing could be your ticket to a healthier lifestyle, faster weight loss, and other wellness benefits.

However, as with any meal plan or food program, remember to first consult your doctor if you decide to embark on a regular juice habit.

Sources:

• August 6, 2006.  Lenka J. Zajic. “Raw Food Diet Study: An Investigation of Over 500 People Who Have Eaten a Raw Food Diet for Over 2 Years” iowasource.com 

• August 21, 2002. Dr. Mercola. “McDonald’s...& Biophoton Deficiency” bibliotecapleyades.net 

 

Photo by Davide Restivo via flickr creative commons