Despite overwhelming reports of America’s obesity problem and the subsequent governmental push to lose weight, being healthy is actually on the rise. Grocery stores like Whole Foods are “cool” places to shop in, toting the eco-friendly and recently fashionable paper bag. With kale and goji berries becoming nutritional celebrities, Americans are finally taking a bite out of something healthy. Produce has taken on a bigger role in society. Once forgotten for the ubiquitous processed foods, produce is now being touted, praised, and consumed. However, a recently re-emerged trend that has risen out of healthy eating is changing the way we consume produce. Juicing is a way to get our daily required intake. Instead of eating our way to health, we’re simply sipping it out of a straw. There is nothing wrong with this, but consumers need to make sure they’re doing it the right way, instead of sipping their way out of the health benefits they assume they’re getting.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), consumers need about five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 30 percent of Americans are consuming the recommended daily produce intake. Whatever the reason may be, whether it’s increasing prices or simply a lack of interest, consumers are missing out on opportunities to attain vital nutrients their bodies need. This is where juicing comes in. One of the reasons why juicing has become so popular is because it’s a quick and easy way to get your produce in. A bottle of juice can have 5–10 servings of fruit! Consumers can get a big helping of vitamins and minerals in one shot. One might think the more the merrier right? It must be healthy! It can be, but that’s not always the case.

The produce in juices is pulverized, mechanically separated from its fiber. Fiber makes a liquid drink bulky (like what a smoothie feels and tastes like). Because juices lack fiber, juices are smooth and easy to drink. However, we need that fiber for many reasons. It helps your body get rid of wastes and keeps our blood sugar stable. When you drink so much juice, you’re also drinking a lot of sugar (natural sugar from the fruit, but sugar nonetheless). Our blood sugar shoots up and without that fiber to stabilize it, we may be hurting ourselves long term (especially if the consumer has blood-sugar issues). Also, if you drink a lot of juice, all that sugar may be extra calories, potentially turning into fat and adding on the pounds to your body.

Juicing companies praise their products, stating juices cleanse the body, giving the liver and rest of the body a respite from their “job,” detoxifying the body and ridding it of wastes and toxins. A healthy person’s body never needs a break from doing what it has been doing since mankind existed. It wouldn’t make any sense if it did. Juicing became popular in about the 1990s, so what did the human race do before then? Hope for the best? Our bodies do a perfectly good job at what they’re supposed to be doing every day of our lives. Juices may make you feel good because you’re getting nutrients into your body and attaining energy. However, there is no current scientific research that validates this notion of juice cleansing and detoxifying.

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, people still believe in juice cleansing and detoxifying, consuming a solely liquid diet for days on end. Juice companies will tell their customers that buying their products and completing the juice cleanse will purify their bodies and minds. These companies are clearly doing a great job marketing, as the juicing concept is a $5 billion market. Drinking your calories isn’t as satisfying as eating them, causing consumers to become cranky, irritable, and just plain famished. Solely drinking juices can also diminish your muscle mass. These juices are high in carbohydrates and low in protein, which our bodies need to build and maintain bone and muscle mass. If we don’t ingest enough protein, our bodies will start to break down our muscle, reducing our strength. This in turn will diminish our muscle mass and lower our metabolism, making our bodies cling to the pounds that we may want to lose.

Juices do have some benefits if consumed in moderation. They are a way of getting your vitamins and minerals and ingesting produce. However, don’t forget about another way to get your “five a day”: eat them! But if you do want to liquefy your produce, creating smoothies is another option. Juicing machines can be pricey and juices from grocery stores/specialty companies aren’t cheap either. Smoothies made from your blender retain the fiber and keep all the nutrients you need for your body. Just remember, drink in moderation! You can have a smoothie as a snack, but remember that they can be caloric from the natural sugars. Add more vegetables than fruit to lower calories and sugar. Add a protein like milk, soy milk, yogurt, or peanut butter for staying power. You can also replace for a meal, but I wouldn’t recommend doing this too often. While smoothies are delicious, their quality isn’t the same as a properly balanced meal. Enjoy them in moderation.

Smoothie Recipe:

1 cup spinach

1 cup kale

1 cup soymilk (for staying power)

1 cup frozen mango

Place all ingredients in blender and pulverize until desired texture (smoothie texture)

*I play around with the ingredients and their quantities, so I encourage you all to do the same!

By Melissa Papir, RDN