7 Reasons to Start Juicing ...

My number one of all the reasons to start juicing is for its natural vitamins and nutrients! That's right, juicing extracts the delicious goodness from the vegetables and fruits straight into your cup! No added preservatives necessary! The best part about juicing is the amount of vitamins and nutrients you get. Juicing is an easy way to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because I'm sure it's easier to choose "not-so-health" food choices and by doing so that limits your body's ability to absorb the good nutrients! By juicing, the vitamins and nutrients you get go straight into your blood stream and straight to where your body needs it most! Isn't that nifty?!

Juicing is also an incredibly effective way to cleanse the body, especially green juices! Green juices contain high levels of chlorophyll a powerful phytonutrient which attaches to toxins and heavy metals and helps remove them from your body. It also increases your blood's oxygen-carrying capacity by stimulating red blood cell production. This helps the body detox which means easier and faster fat loss! Who doesn't want a little kick in the butt when it comes to losing fat?

Making your own juice can be fun and it can also let your creativity flow! One of the greatest reasons is that it is all natural! I pick my fruits and vegetables from the farmers market where I know they're locally grown, free of preservatives, and fresh! So you know when you're making your juices it's of the best and freshest ingredients and you don't have to worry about any of the bad stuff you're consuming!

Picking fresh fruits from the farmers market is fun, and it's also naturally sweetened! I was able to taste test locally grown oranges and this is what turned me into a HUGE fan of farmer markets! It's naturally sweetened! So, when you're making your juices they come out sweet as is thanks to all the yummy fruits and veggies that have their own natural sweeteners! And, if I do need it to be a little sweeter I use natural, raw honey! Another win!

Although juicing is good for your digestive system you must also eat healthier too! You can't strictly rely on juicing alone - that's a NO-NO! Eat a good amount of everything from the food pyramid and accompany that with juicing as well as exercising regularly! It is important to note that vegetable juice has very little protein and virtually no fat so by itself; it is not really a complete food. It really should be used in addition to your regular meals not in place of it. So unless you are undergoing some special fasting or detoxification program it is probably unwise to use juicing as a meal replacement. Ideally it can be consumed with your meal or as a between meal snack.

Juicing also gives you a burst of energy because by drinking vegetable/fruit juices, particularly the green ones, where the fiber has been removed, the chlorophyll, nutrients and enzymes hit your body within 15 minutes and can get to work making you feel and look fantastic! Plus, you are getting more vegetables into your body from one big juice than you could possibly eat in a whole day. This is what gives you that kick of energy!

I would've never found myself juicing if I haven't tried it out! Its also quite cheaper than buying bottles and bottles of processed drink items! Might as well make that health switch over to the natural juices you make yourself! Today, I made an orange drink with carrots, Fuji apples, oranges, a little lemon and a teaspoon of raw honey! It was fabulous! The color was beautiful too! Can't beat that!

Juicing, exercising, and eating healthy are great ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle! It's not an easy one, especially juicing, BUT it definitely helps enhance and replace those nutritional values you are missing from eating and drinking processed foods! Have you tried juicing before? Do you have any great recipes you'd like to share? Let me know!