Pros and cons of juicing
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Grinding up and drinking your fruits and vegetables has made it a lot easier to get your suggested daily serving but doctors say there are pros and cons to the juicing trend.
Pulverizing all those healthy vegetables that you might ordinarily skip over at meal time has caught on and doctors say juicing in general is a good thing.
"I think juicing is great. It provides wonderful vitamins and minerals in a concentrated form," said M.D. of family medicine, Dr. Rima Kittley.
It is perfect for those on the go to get their daily dose of kale, spinach, broccoli and carrots.
"All that stuff that you wouldn't ordinarily eat but if it's in a green drink, you'll drink it," said Kittley.
But just like with most things, juicing only works for you in moderation.
"I can't imagine someone juicing more than a good glass a day," said Kittley.
Dr. Kittley says the benefits of juicing are great but an all-juice, all-day diet is not a good idea.
"If you're drinking only juice there's really not enough protein," said Kittley. "It's not total nutrition. It's a supplement to a full healthy diet. You can't live on it forever, you have to combine it with other things."
Dr. Kittley says a healthy balanced diet includes protein, dairy, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fats.
"I think people ought to eat real vegetables. If you want a little bit of blended vegetables too that's fine but the vegetables are good stuff," said Kittley.
Juicing takes most of the fiber out of your food and your digestive system needs that bulk to work effectively.
Kittley says, "Cellulose in vegetables is actually very hard to digest so when you put through the blender in whatever form you juice so it extracts out a lot of the nutritional components of the food that you wouldn't get any other way."
Kittley also warns that too much fruit mixed in with your vegetable juice defeats the purpose because fruit is packed with sugar.
Dr. Kittley says the key to juicing is using it as a supplement to your diet and while going on a liquid diet might help you lose weight in the short term, it can seriously mess with your metabolism.
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