Let"s Talk Juicing and Fiber!

Does juicing concentrate the sugar and eliminate the fiber? Yes. But first, sugars in fruit are naturally occurring sugars including fructose. Fructose has traditionally been regarded as a healthy sugar.

When you drink FRESH all natural juice the fructose is absorbed from the intestines and is taken to the liver to be broken down into glucose. Fructose has the lowest glycemic index (GI = 19) of all the natural sugars.

We want to be careful though (especially if you’re diabetic or have a history of diabetes in your family, so please consult a physician if this is the case). Juicing and consuming too much fruit at one time can overwhelm the body’s capacity to process fructose and spike your blood sugar. That’s not what we want.

Too much of any one thing (fruit juice) is bad, so we want to juice a variety. I strive for sensible juicing. Green juice is nutritionally the best for us.

Did you know fiber helps our bodies maintain normal sugar levels? So we want to get plenty of fiber in our diets.

Juicing and Fiber, Really???

Unless you’re strictly juicing for the benefit of the juice (nutrients) being absorbed on an empty stomach (and lots of people do that), then I say, feel free to snack on the produce.

(When you’re cleansing or juice fasting, you don’t want fiber.)

When I feel like it, I snack on the produce. I say to myself, “Man those apples look good”, so I take a bite. “That spinach looks fresh”, so I have some. “Those carrots are awesome”, you get the idea. Munch on what you’re juicing. It’s that simple. You can make a good raw food meal out of it and that’s good for you!

Juicing usually doesn’t extract all of the fiber either. Depending on the type of juicer you use and the produce you’re juicing, you may find pulp (fiber) in your juice. If you want, you can add a little more pulp back into the juice you make. I like pulp in my orange juice. Some people don’t and that’s fine. It’s a personal preference.

You get fiber you need from the meals you eat throughout the day. How much fiber do you need? According to WHFoods website, you should strive for 25 grams of fiber each day. Check out their dietary fiber page, the links are below. For breakfast I enjoy oatmeal after I have my juice. Sometimes, just almonds. Both are good in fiber.

For a snack I have an apple, banana or an orange and maybe some more nuts. At lunch I enjoy salads. Mid-afternoon I snack on some more almonds. There you go, more fiber.

At dinner I enjoy steamed or lightly cooked vegetables and sometimes beans or legumes. I’ll also try to have some more fruit.

When juicing regularly if I eat healthy whole foods with my meals and snack on whole foods like fruit or almonds, I get plenty of fiber.

It’s something to consider each day though and just to be sure you’re getting the fiber you need, you can check out WHFoods Food Advisor. It’s a helpful tool.

So when someone says to you, what about fiber? You have the answer and remember you can tell them, “There’s No-Thing Better For Your Body Than FRESH Fruit and Vegetable Juice!”  Have fun juicing and juice on!

References
The Detox Specialist: Is Healthy Juice Bad For Detox?
WHFoods: How much dietary fiber do I need?
WHFoods: fiber, dietary

Let"s Talk Juicing and Fiber!