Raw foods retain all the nutrients and vitamins that are damaged in the conventional cooking process.  The vast majority of people cook every meal that they eat, whether by stove top, oven, grill, or microwave.  This results in an intake of nutrients that is far less than adequate for the body to be healthy.  Other than eating the occasional salad or raw carrots, most people do not know how to get more fresh vegetables into their diet.  Juicing provides a way to create a variety of raw meals as a healthful addition to the traditional diet. The process of juicing removes the water and nutrients from the fiber of fresh grown foods.  Both the juice and the pulp (fiber) can be used in a variety of ways such as soups, smoothies, and more. 

While juicing helps maintain a healthy lifestyle, some people opt for a more intense experience with their juicer machine.  Juicing all meals for a period of one to five days is a cleansing method that allows the body to heal and detoxify itself.  The potential benefits of a juice cleanse include improved digestion, more energy and mental clarity, and relief from many chronic conditions. 

By adding juicing to your dietary choices you’ll be taking a step toward a healthier and enjoyable way of living.  Juicing can be a great introduction to the concept of a raw food diet or simply a fun way to offer healthy snacks to your family.  For more information and some creative recipes for juicing, try The Juicing Bible.

One can often feel the juicing benefits simply by starting to drink one juice per day.  This may include better mental clarity, and a feeling of well-being, clearer sinuses, improved digestion and elimination.  By continuing to consume juices on a regular basis, or say during a complete juice cleanse, the benefits increase.  The skin may feel softer and have an improved, younger look, the body may appear slimmer, the toxic buildup in the body can be reduce and the immune system may be stronger.

While these may seem like miraculous improvements, juice cleansing simply restores the body to its natural state. These juicing benefits indicate how a normal body should be performing.  By consuming the nutrients of fresh fruit and vegetable juices, this can be a fun and easy way to restore health.

• chlorophyll
• enzymes
• trace minerals

Chlorophyll is the green pigment in plants.  Through photosynthesis, cells containing chlorophyll absorb light from the sun and convert it into oxygen. Our blood uses the oxygen to purify itself.  Research shows that chlorophyll helps to prevent damage to DNA by carcinogens (cancer causing agents).

Enzymes help break down food into simpler, more easily digested compounds.  They’re catalysts that are responsible for speeding up metabolic processes (digestion for one).   The body only makes enzymes in limited supply, so the addition of enzymes from living green foods is essential.

Trace minerals are important to the body.  Green foods and juices offer balanced amount of minerals.  This is preferred over taking supplements.  Trace minerals also promote the production of vitamin B12.

The nutrients in green foods have the ability to neutralize acids and to create an alkaline environment in the body.  An alkaline body is more immune to disease.  Juicing offers a quick and easy way to get all the benefits of green foods.  Following is a list of the more common greens for juicing:

• spinach
• wheat grass
• green cabbage
• parsley
• romaine lettuce
• celery

When taken through juice, the nutrients of fresh green drinks are quickly absorbed by the body, giving it a quick energy boost.

Juice refers to the water and nutrients that have been separated from the indigestible fiber.  It is a much more concentrated form since several fruits or vegetables are used to yield one glass of juice.  When the nutrients are released from the juicing process they are more readily absorbed and assimilated by the body.  You could receive the benefits in as little as 15 minutes.

Typically it is hard for the average person to consume the daily requirements of fruits and vegetables.  Drinking fresh juices is and excellent way to incorporate them into the diet.  One eight ounce glass of juice equals about one-third of your daily needs.  Juicing also makes it easier to consume a variety of fruits and veggies so that you can benefit from all the various vitamins and nutrients contained in them.

You may also notice some of these improvements when you drink juice on a regular basis:

• improved immunity
• clearing of the digestive tract
• strengthened bones
• increased energy
• clearer skin
• balanced moods