
If you ever have a doubt if something is processed or not, two easy ways to gauge it is this:
- If it is prepackaged, it’s most likely processed.
- If the listed ingredients list is full of words like yellow 5, monosodium glutamate, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, or other words that are not whole foods, it’s more than likely to be processed.
Here’s a simply guide on how to read nutrition labels that can shed some light on the issue. I know that for some people, reading nutrition labels can be an intimidating thing when seeing the ingredient list loaded with seemingly foreign words. That article will make it easier for you to figure it all out.
Drinking an adequate amount of fresh juice gives you a nutritional punch in the face. There is pretty much no way you can get the same amount of nutrients by eating whole produce, simply because of how much of it you would otherwise have to consume.In short, it all really boils down to getting maximum nutrition from clean foods and eliminating empty calories like refined sugars found in most processed junk food.
Access to such doses of nutrient without also having to consume copious amounts of fiber is one of the advantages that juicing has over blending. Of course, it should be noted that fiber has a critical role in optimal health and that there are incredible amounts of nutrient in the fiber still even after juicing. I recommend mixing in some fiber into the final product, saving some of the fiber for later to blend with some orange juice, or even experiment with making some sort of pesto out of the remnants. Still, in my opinion you don’t need to consume all of the fiber when looking for that nutrient surge to the body.
When you give your body an intense rush of nutrients and plant enzymes, it has an almost instant effect on you. After juicing for consecutive periods, I will notice my energy levels increase, my skin clearer and brighter, and I don’t crave foods with empty calories either.
Provided below are general benefits of juicing. Of course, what you choose to juice will directly correlate with what benefits you receive, but many factors also apply.
Top 7 Nutritional Facts & Benefits of Juicing Fresh Produce
- High concentration of nutrients, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals:
For many, a single juicing session provides more nutrients from vegetables and fruit than consumed in a full week. In addition, when juicing the vegetables and fruit are uncooked, in a raw state, giving you nutrients in a higher quality and purer form. This is one of the huge advantages of juicing, namely, that you can get such high concentrations of nutrients and antioxidants with relative ease. - Fast Assimilation and High Bioavailability of Nutrients
Your body is able to absorb the nutrients from juice extremely fast with minimal use of energy to do so. You know sometimes when you take multivitamins and your urine becomes really yellow? Well that yellow is you sending out most of the vitamins you just took in! Yet, when drinking a glass or two of juice, your urine is mostly unaffected, which means that your body is effectively absorbing the nutrients. Good thing, otherwise you’d in effect literally be pissing your money away! About 20 minutes after drinking the juice, your body will have absorbed all the nutrients. To give you perspective, eating a vegetable meal would take an hour or more to process the food. - High Concentrations of Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is what makes plants green. For the human, it has great detoxifying properties. The molecules of chlorophyll are very similar to that of human blood, with the difference that in chlorophyll the central atom is magnesium, whereas the central atom in humans is iron. Our blood is 75% hemoglobin, which contains iron and helps in the transportation of oxygen around the body. Several studies have been done showing that consumption of plants rich in chlorophyll help increase red blood cells and blood hemoglobin levels faster than by simply taking an iron supplement alone. This enables your body to get more oxygen. The magnesium present in chlorophyll helps produce more blood cells, which in turn gives us more energy. - Chlorophyll also:
- Cleans the colon
- Heals the intestinal tract
- Protects the body against oxidative stress
- Reduces bad breath and body odor
- Contains anti-septic properties that assist your body in fighting infections.
- Assimilates calcium and helps the body maintain an optimal balance of calcium, which is great for the prevention of osteoporosis, treating cataract, and arthritis. Evidently, it can also help get rid of it if it has occurred.
- Juicing Detoxifies Your Body
The high chlorophyll content in addition to the intense concentration of nutrients and antioxidants will give your body what it needs to clean itself up. With the amount of toxins we are exposed to these days without our knowledge, whether heavy metals, chemicals, or pathogens, your body is pretty much guaranteed to contain toxins that have no business existing in the human body. Some doctors estimate that the average human has over 700 varieties of chemicals/toxins that don’t belong in our system. - Juicing Balances the Alkalinity of Your Body
The ideal pH of the human body is around 7.35pH. Many foods, especially junk foods high in sugar, are highly acidic. Having alkaline sources will help keep your body in a balanced, optimal state. Interestingly, even though lemons and limes taste acidic, your body processes them to be alkaline, so don’t forget to order lemon with your water next time you’re out and about. Don’t forget to ask for filtered water, though. - High Photonic Energy
There is a bunch of light energy in juice, called bio-photonic light energy that can actually be seen via Kirlian photography. There is a bunch of light emanating from it, versus processed or cooked foods, that have little to no light emanating from it.
This is because through the process of pasteurization foods are heated up to high temperatures, which damages the nutrients and enzymes, and vitamins. These vitals are even partially removed sometimes as well. It’s interesting that plants are at the bottom of the food chain. Each step up, going from plants, to herbivores, to carnivores, to humans, there is a 10% loss of energy at each level. Plants literally transform light into sugars and edible forms of energy, so eating them directly in their raw state gives you the highest amount of light/photonic energy.
Body parts that are currently calcified (and shouldn’t be), such as blood vessels, joints and/or your pineal gland, may be alleviated if chlorophyll-rich foods are consumed on a consistent basis. Of course, you must remove the source of the calcification as well to get rid of the source cause.
Quick Warning Facts
Fluoridated water has been documented to be a source of pineal gland calcification. The pineal gland is important for the regulation of our endocrine system. Also it is dubbed as the third-eye by some spiritual practitioners, stating that it is linked to the connection to our higher self and to inter-dimensional experiences.
It is important to note that the sodium fluoride added to about 2/3 of our water in the US actually comes from waste products of nuclear, fertilizer, and aluminum plants. It is also used as a pesticide, as well as for rat poison. There is a big difference between the natural calcium fluoride, and sodium fluoride. According to a study done by ‘Comparative Toxicity of Fluorine Compounds’, sodium fluoride is about 85% more toxic than calcium fluoride.
Like momma always said, “Eat your vegetables!” Well, in this case, drink your vegetables!