Juicing Diets

Juicing diets use fruit and vegetable juices to fast and detox our bodies. Juicing is not meant to replace your regular meals, but it can be beneficial over a short period of time of 2 to 3 days. When fruits and vegetables are liquefied their vitamins and minerals become concentrated in juice fluids.

You can get the health benefits from a juicing diet by including 1 to 2 glasses a day as part of a balanced diet. You don't need to fast to receive the benefits of cleansing your body with the antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables.  These natural antioxidants contribute to a healthier lifestyle and have become part of our daily lives.  Juicing helps to cleanse our bodies and remove the impurities that we ingest throughout our daily meals.  Juicing has also been known to boost our energy levels.

Preparation

Like all types of diets, before you begin, consult a doctor, especially if a health disorder exists or you are pregnant or nursing. The reason to consult a doctor prior to beginning a juicer diet is that certain fruit and vegetable juices can cause a reaction to medications being taken.  Grapefruit juice is one of the fruits that is shown to cause serious reactions to medications for some individuals.

Fasting diets limit the amount of calories ingested each day, and generally requires 64 ounces of liquid juice to be consumed daily during the fast.  While you are juicing over the 2 to 3 days, your water intake should be maintained, at least 6-8 glasses a day.  The water helps to keep your body hydrated even though your are drinking fruit or vegetable juices over the next 2 to 3 days.  Depriving your body of the proper nutrients longer than the 2 to 3 days, could cause serious health conditions.

Juicing has gotten more popular with the invention of home juicers that produce a cleaner and lump free juice.  It's also more cost effective to make these concentrated juices in your own kitchen.  Another benefit to self-juicing is to get a natural juice liquid without the manufacturing process that may add preservatives to sustain a longer shelf life of the juice product.

You can juice just about any fruit and vegetable, some of the most popular for juicing are carrots, greens, beets, and apples. Preparing these foods for juicing makes the different in getting the highest concentration of nutrients from the fruits and vegetables. Be sure to remove all of the seeds, pits and skins from the fruits.

Cautions:

Side effects in juicing may include headaches, dizziness, vomiting hunger and diarrhea. If you experience any of these side effects, you should discontinue juicing.

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