Drinking the juice of fresh fruits and veggies is touted for having a wide array of health benefits from detoxifying the body to fighting cancer. Find out whether that’s true and how the practice may pose a risk.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
THE CLAIM: Juicing is healthier than eating fruits and vegetables.
Even if you haven’t tried juicing, you might know about it from those TV infomercials for juicer machines. Enthusiasts claim that drinking the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables has all kinds of amazing benefits, from boosting energy to removing toxins. But the real story is a lot less… juicy.
Drinking your nutrients supposedly allows them to be better absorbed because the digestive system doesn’t have to break down food and can rest.
This is scientifically baseless.
The same goes for claims that juice can detoxify the body, boost the immune system, or fight cancer.
It’s also untrue that juicing is a good way to lose weight. In fact, it may lead to weight gain. That’s because juice can have lots of calories, in some cases more than soda. Plus juice doesn’t fill you up, so it may lead you to eat more.
Another possible pitfall: fruit juice, which can be high in sugar, has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes. Whole fruit, on the other hand, is associated with a lower risk.
Fruits and vegetables contain fiber, which helps slow the absorption of sugar and avoid spikes in insulin. Not so for juice.
With juicing, you also miss out on the other benefits of fiber and the healthful compounds in the skin and pulp.
In short, you’re better off eating fruits and veggies. If you have trouble getting enough, though, juicing can serve as a backup. Stick mainly with vegetable juice, which is usually lower in sugar and calories than fruit juice. Also it’s best to drink the juice when you make it, since harmful bacteria can form relatively quickly in homemade juice that’s refrigerated.
And you certainly don’t want a drink that’s supposed to be healthy… making you sick.
For more on diet and nutrition claims, check out my book, Coffee is Good for You… which reveals the truth about everything from red meat to red wine.
Helping you be a healthy skeptic, I’m Robert Davis.