Can Juicing Help You Lose Weight?
The answer is yes! There are hundreds of different “juice diets” and juice detoxes on the market. The reason why these tend to work is that when you consume nothing but low-calorie foods, you decrease your caloric intake – helping you lose weight!
In order to lose weight, you must maintain a caloric deficit, which means you’re consuming fewer calories than you burn. In theory, juicing is great for decreasing your daily caloric intake while feeding your body the nutrients it needs.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the only way to lose weight is to partake in an intense 10-day juice cleanse.
There are plenty of different ways to incorporate juice into your everyday life to help you lose weight. One example includes trading your morning brown sugar oatmeal for vegetable juice instead. Or replacing your high-calorie afternoon snack with a carrot juice. There’s plenty of different ways to experiment with juicing for weight loss!
If you happen to be more interested in a juice fast (or cleanse), that’s great! Check out our 9 key tips for juice fasting.
10 Serious Health Benefits of Juicing
Drinking fresh juice has a very long list of health benefits. It’s no wonder why nutritionists love to add juice to their clients’ diets. Here are a few of the most common juicing benefits:
1. Potential Weight Loss Aid
You’ve gotten this far, so you already know that juicing can help you lose weight.
Depending on the fruits and vegetables that you’re consuming, it’s possible that your morning, afternoon or evening juice are lower in calories than your normal snacks.
In many cases, this can mean that you’re calorie deficient, which is a great way to get your body into fat-burning/pound-shedding mode. Although we do recommend eating healthy meals throughout your day, juicing is a great (and delicious) supplement for any fruits, vegetables and superfoods you may be missing.
2. Increased Vitamins, Minerals, Enzymes and Antioxidants In Your Diet
Juicing can provide the body with a healthy source of vitamins and minerals. These key nutrients help us grow, think, work and so much more. High levels of vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and more (even calcium) are often found in our favorite juices.
Fresh juice recipes also tend to be rich in antioxidants. For example, beta-carotene is an abundant antioxidant in red/orange-colored fruits and veggie. When consumed, Beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A by the body.
It’s worth noting that raw vegetable juice is also a good source of enzymes. That said, the enzymes from juice likely do not help your body digest food as you might expect (source).
3. Reduces Inflammation
Are you suffering from pain or inflammation of any kind? Then juicing may be a great supplement for you due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
The standard American diet (SAD diet) contains a lot of processed foods. You know what processed foods are great for? Causing inflammation in the body!
Thankfully, many of the ingredients that are included in fresh juice recipes have anti-inflammatory properties. Take apples, beets, carrots, ginger, and leafy greens, for example. These are all noted as “Anti-Inflammatory” in our juicing guide book, The Juicing Companion.
4. Boosts Energy
One of the many ways we can increase our energy levels is through ingesting more foods that have B vitamins. This includes leafy greens, some citrus fruits, beets, ginger, and more. Juicing is a fast, healthy, and easy way to get these B vitamins into your system and boost your metabolism. No caffeine needed!
5. Great for Detoxing the Body
A typical detox diet involves a period of fasting. This is followed by a diet of strictly fruit, vegetables, juices, and water.
Unsurprisingly, making fresh juice at home is great for detoxing. We have a number of detox juice recipes here at Goodnature. Here’s one you might want to try: Lemon Strawberry Ginger Root Detox Juice Shot.
6. Can Help Lower Cholesterol Levels
Loads of different fruits and vegetables can help lower your cholesterol. Just to name a few: carrots, kale, grapefruit and apples. Sure, you can eat the whole fruits. But doesn’t a glass of fresh juice sound so much more refreshing?
Suggested recipe: Carrot Apple Ginger Juice
7. Boosts Immune System
When you’re sick (or want to avoid sickness), few natural wellness remedies outperform juice.
If you want immune system support, make juice with these ingredients:
- Orange, grapefruit and other citrus
- Green apple
- Carrot
- Beets
- Turmeric
- Ginger root
- Tomato (homemade V8 juice, anyone?)
- Kale, mint leaves and other leafy greens
This is far from an exhaustive list of fruits that are good for your immune system. But it should be enough to get you started.
8. Can Help Lower Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar
Need to lower your blood pressure fast? Reaching for an apple isn’t your only option. Try a glass of beet juice, watermelon juice or berry juice!
Same goes for blood sugar. Apples, broccoli, berries, kale and more are great for lowering blood sugar levels.
Suggested recipe: Sweet Potato Pie Juice
9. Aids Your Digestive System
Juicing is a fun and easy way to gain control over your gut health. Apples and celery, for example, are great for aiding digestive processes. Mint leaves can help reduce gas. Ginger promotes good digestion. The list goes on and on!
Learn more about which types of produce are good for digestion here.
10. Protects Against Disease
The many nutrients your body gets from fruits and vegetables are vital for protection against diseases. If you don’t typically consume fruits and vegetables, juicing is a great option!
Final Thoughts
If you’re unhappy with your current diet, juicing is a great way to jump-start your weight loss journey. You can attempt juice fasting or simply incorporate more juice into your daily routine.
Juicing has the ability to provide you with an energy burst along with added nutrients and minerals you can’t get anywhere else.
If you want more delicious juicing recipes to try out, browse our chef-made juicer recipes here!
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