(Food-Beverage-News.Com, November 13, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA -- Recently, 10 men who met in the dining room of Lancaster resident Ray Rowe had one thing on their minds: juicing.
Rowe, who has been juicing for about five years and recently completed a five-day juicing fast, had met with the other men to answer their questions regarding this food trend. Their reasons for being there were common and varied, and include weight loss, health and convenience. Juicing — referring to juicing fruits and vegetables — was popular in the 1970s and has recently been a resurgence in popularity. It is thought that by juicing vegetables and fruits, you get the most nutrients and vitamins they have to offer.
Still, despite this resurgence, juicing is far from being a cure-all. Ephrata Community Hospital's wellness dietitian Fran Hadley stated,
“It is a good way to get some of the nutrients from food that you might not want to eat. . . But there are some things to consider and be cautious of." For example, juicing vegetables and fruits can actually remove some of the necessary things our bodies need to function, as the process removes the fiber from fruits and vegetables. Hadley states, “Fiber is essential to controlling blood sugars. Once it's removed, it has to be added into a diet in other ways.” Adding grains and other fibrous foods into a diet plan may help, she said.
There are many machines on the market, with prices ranging from less than $100 to hundreds of dollars. However, the purpose of each is the same: to squeeze out the juice of the fruit or vegetable as efficiently as possible. Each machine extracts all the vegetables or fruit juices and leaves behind the pulp, which can then be disposed of in the garbage, added to the compost pile or used in cooking. Rowe uses it to create his meatless burgers by combining the vegetable pulp with black beans, bread crumbs and seasonings or "meat"-balls for his pasta dishes. Some enthusiasts use juicing as a way to get some extra nutrients into their children's diets.
Sonjia Kirchner of Lancaster states, “Juicing is a great way to tuck things into kids' diets that they would never eat whole, but things we know they need for their growing bodies. You can sneak something like parsley into a juice. It's one of the greatest foods on earth, but there's not a kid around who's going to eat parsley.” Kirchner, who recently invested in her first juicer, is new to juicing but has found that her children, ages 6 and 9, are having fun with her juice creations. She said, “They don't even realize that a lot of the time there are veggies in there that they really don't like.” Kirchner does sweeten her vegetable juices by adding an apple or a sweet fruit, but says that it's “more healthy than allowing them to eat candy or other sugared treats.”
If you are interested in juicing but new to the process, Rowe suggests start with a base juice of carrots and apples. Another Lancaster resident Jonathan Tirrell says that one of his favorite juices is a blend of carrot, apple and fresh ginger. “The ginger really gives me more energy when I am starting to feel sluggish. My favorite thing to juice is sweet potato,” Tirrell said.
Tirrell supplements his “already pretty healthy diet” with juicing for breakfast but admits that it is hard to plan ahead of time when juicing. “I will want a certain juice (blend) and realize that I don't have all of the stuff to make it. Or I will have some kale, make a juice out of it, and then forget I have it and the rest of the kale goes bad,” Tirrell explained.
Cleaning the machine is another inconvenience to Tirrell, since it is supposed to be cleaned between each use. If not cleaned properly, there is the chance of bacteria building up in the machine, which can lead to illness. According to Hadley, safety in juice preparation is very important. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, fruits and vegetables should be washed prior to use, and machines should be thoroughly cleaned to limit the chance of bacteria illness,. In 1999, the USDA required juice manufacturers to place warnings on product containers about the health risks of drinking unpasteurized juice or cider.
Still, despite the possible health risks, getting your recommended daily intake of three to five servings of vegetables may be more feasible if you juice some of them. As Rowe suggests, when introducing vegetable juices to the diet, it may be wise to start slowly with mild-tasting vegetables.
“A beet is a wonderful thing to add. It makes the juice a beautiful color, it's rich in iron and the leaves are extremely rich in minerals,” Rowe said.
About Mora Frederick’s Juicing Secrets:
Mora Frederick’s Juicing Secrets (http://www.amazon.com/Juicing-Secrets-Fasting-Cleanse-ebook/dp/B00506U6GC) is a guide to losing weight and staying healthy. Juicing diets are an easy and convenient way to make sure people eat adequate portions of fruits and vegetables to stay healthy and fit. Frederick’s book will help people discover the secrets of a juicing detox today.
