Juicing has many benefits over wholefoods.
First, it is easy to prepare juice.
And second you get it all digested and nutrition absorbed to your blood stream earlier than wholefoods.
Also, if you take juice you can easily control your calories by adjusting your fruits’ servings.
Great option for a healthier lifestyle
Juicing is a great option for folks who want to lose weight, detox or do intermittent fasting.
It’s also good for individuals that have high cholesterol. And want to reduce or eliminate junk food intake. A cup of fresh juice is way better than a bag of chips or a can of soda.
Don’t you agree?
Over the years, many weight loss supplements have come in the market that sometimes create more complications than treating the concern, but taking fruits in your diet can keep your health on the track.
According to this study, three servings of whole fruits a week can reduce risk of type 2 diabetes by 2%.
And this is one reason why fruits and veggies are the best natural healing elements in the world.
Here are 6 fruits that you can’t avoid if you love fruits and want to reap the maximum benefits of it.
1. Pineapple
Pineapple will help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity if you consume it regularly.
Along with these, it has many other health benefits like.
Reduce risk of developing asthma
It has beta-carotene, a nutrition that reduces risks of developing asthma
Rich in potassium
It is a rich source of potassium that helps lower blood pressure, provides strength to bones and muscles.
Helps main acid-base balance
It maintains acid-base balance, builds proteins, breaks down fat and turns it into energy and all these help in growth of our body (1).
High in Vitamin C
It has Vitamin C, a natural antioxidant that helps fight common cold, flu and maintains healthy blood vessels (2).
A pineapple fruit (905 grams) contains 433 mg of Vitamin C and 525 IU of Vitamin A. Vitamin A and beta-carotene boost our immune system and improves eyesight.
Good for folks with kidney stones
Pineapple is a good natural remedy for people who have kidney stones. But be careful not to eat (or drink) too much. Doing so can affect the function of the kidney because it is high in potassium.
Experts recommend around 4.7 grams per day for adults 19 years or older.
Please consult with your doctor if you’re breastfeeding to get the right dosage per day.
Increases fertility
Being rich in anti-oxidants, it is also good to conceive and improves fertility of both men and women. Anti-oxidants fight with free radicals that damage reproductive systems.
Prevents constipation
It prevents constipation because of water and soluble fiber content that improve digestion.
Great for the skin
Because of Vitamin C that stimulates the development of Collagen, it supports and improves overall skin texture.
Recommended intake: Pineapple juice should be taken in moderation and maximum recommended intake is 16 ounces (473 ml) for men and 12 to 16 ounces for women a day.
2. Apple
Have you heard the famous proverb an apple a day keeps your doctor away?
The proverb is true because an apple can provide all the essential Vitamins and minerals our body needs to function properly.
Rich in Vitamin C
According to University of Maryland Medical Center (3), apples have Vitamin C.
This is a potent natural antioxidant that fights with harmful free radicals and boosts the immune system. And a healthy immune system fights with infectious agents and keeps our body fit and fine.
High dietary fiber content
It is rich in dietary fiber that prevents our cholesterol levels from rising. Also, dietary fiber controls levels of insulin in our blood stream by regularizing release of sugar in blood (4)
Helps keep our nervous system healthy
It has Vitamin B-6, Riboflavin, and thiamin that maintain normal red blood cells and keep our nervous system healthy.
Great for the skin
The Vitamin A in apple keeps our skin wrinkle-free.
Also has good mineral content
It also has small amounts of necessary minerals e.g. copper, phosphorous, calcium and potassium.
Apples have no sodium and fat that is good to maintain normal blood pressure and your weight under control.
Recommended intake: 4 ounces of 100 % of the fruit juice a day is enough to provide you enough energy and nutrition.
3. Lemon
You cannot talk about the “best fruits for a juicing diet” without lemon in the list.
Lemons belong to a citrus group of fruits that have culinary and cleansing uses.
High Vitamin C content
It is a rich source of Vitamin C, and contains other essential Vitamins in small quantities e.g. B-6, B-5, Niacin, Thiamine, Folate (B-9) etc.
It has also body essential metals & minerals like Iron, Calcium, Manganese, Potassium and Phosphorous etc. (5).
Some of the best health benefits of lemons are as follows
Great for digestion
Lemon juice contains 8 percentage of citrus acid that is good for digestion and helps dissolve kidney stones.
Natural immune booster
Rich in Vitamin C (a 100 g serving provides 64% of daily required Vitamin C) that is a natural immunity booster.
Low calorie food
A 100 g serving of lemon contains only 29 calories, means it is good even if you are aiming for weight loss.
Low in saturated fat
Lemon has almost non-existant saturated fat content that helps lower cholesterol and minimize the risk of stroke (6).
Low glycemic index
It has a very low glycemic index. A diet with low glycemic value helps in weight loss, helps keep blood glucose levels in check, minimizes risks of breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer (7).
Lastly, lemon juice is great for detoxing the liver.
Recommended intake: 2 to 2.5 tablespoons a day with mix of water or other juices is good in taste and for your body also.
4. Watermelon
This healthy summer fruit has plant based compounds lycopene and citrulline that maintain normal blood pressure, stimulate metabolic rate and reduce muscle ache after exercise.
Low fiber fruit
However, it is a low fiber fruit (each 100 g has only 0.4 g of fiber) and a high glycemic index (72-80).
But, each serving contains small amounts of carbs that don’t have major role in increasing blood glucose levels.
Following are some amazing health benefits of using watermelons.
Lycopene is good for the body
Watermelon has a red pigment because of lycopene. This phytonutrient is an antioxidant and good for our overall health.
Reduces insulin resistance
Watermelon juice is associated with reduced insulin resistance (8). Insulin, a hormone is responsible to regulate blood sugar in our body.
Contains copper
It has copper, a mineral that provides improved health to thyroid glands, eyes, hair, heart as well as improves metabolic rate with the help of vitamins and amino acids.
High water content
Watermelons contain 92% of water by weight that keeps you hydrated.
Great for the skin
It has small amounts of Vitamin A that improves skin health.
High Vitamin C content
It has Vitamin C ( A cup of watermelon juice has 21% of daily required Vitamin C)
Helps prevent prostate cancer
Because of lycopene content, it prevents prostate cancer.
Can prevent astma
Prevents asthma because of availability of Vitamin C.
Recommended intake: Being a high GI (Glycemic Index: 72) fruit that may raise your blood sugar level, the intake of juice should be in moderation. Just 150 ml juice is good to go.
5. Avocados
It is known as one of the world’s superfoods because of its high vitamin content, nutrition, minerals and antioxidants that our body need to minimize risks of potential health concerns.
The following are some of the best health benefits of using this miracle fruit in our daily diet.
High in fiber
An avocado is enough to provide you daily recommended intake of fiber (9).
Rich in potassium
It is very rich in potassium, and only 146 g of sliced avocado can give you 708 mg of potassium that is 15% of daily requirement (for adults above 19 years of age)
Can lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol
In a study it has been found that just a week diet rich in avocado can lower your total blood cholesterol levels by 22%, and increases good cholesterol (HDL) by 11%.
Contains monounsaturated fat
The avocado has monounsaturated fat that helps absorb important nutrition.
Great for the bones
Because of Vitamin E, avocados rich diet is good to promote healthy bones.
Anti-inflammatory
It prevents anti-inflammatory disorders because of presence of flavonoids and polyphenols.
Avocados have glutathione, a potent antioxidant that boost our immune system.
Prevents certain birth defects
It is helpful in preventing certain birth defects because of folic acid that is proved to be effective in preventing certain birth defects.
Recommended intake: Just 150 gram of fruit is enough to give you good start and potassium, a heart friendly mineral.
6. Pomegranate
Pomegranate is one of the oldest fruits with good amount of nutrition, vitamins and antioxidants that provide strength to our body to keep it functioning well.
It is a red colored fruit with seeds inside and hard outer layer.
Pomegranate seeds are edible either raw or in juice form. Along with good taste, it has many health benefits like
Improves blood flow
It has Punicalagin, a water soluble phenolic compound and also an antioxidant that prevents oxidative damages of blood vessels which results in normal blood flow.
Helps reduce risk of high blood pressure
It lowers total serum cholesterol levels, blood pressure and reduces risks of atherosclerosis.
Say goodbye to depression and brittle bones
A study (10) has proved that it helps in reducing the symptoms of depression and improves bone strength due to phytochemical compounds it has that boosts estrogen and serotonin receptors.
Lowers risk of prostate and breast cancer
It reduces risks of breast and prostate cancers.
Diarrhea no more
It also relieves from diarrhea.
Recommended intake: 8 to 12 ounces of juice is safe for daily consumption.
If you look into benefits of all the above six fruits, it is obvious that they are rich sources of many essential minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and proteins that are very important for a healthy body. So, getting them in our daily diet is of prime importance.
Health concerns with juicing
However, juicing is good for instant energy and juices contain variety of vitamins, and minerals that are good for a healthy body.
Juicing removes fiber
But, they are deficient in fiber content that is good for proper functioning of our digestive system, and rich in sugar that can damage your teeth if you take juice frequently.
Editors note: Fruit is rich in fructose which has been proven in numerous studies to be linked to type-2 diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. Please do follow the recommended dosages. To give you a better understanding on how to incorporate fruit juices into your juice recipes, please check this infographic below.
Whole fruits are rich in fiber content and their sugars are released when they are blended or juiced, and more sugar means more calories.
Therefore, juicing diet in moderation is good and should be taken accordingly.
Are you using them and want to share your views please leave your comment?
Hi,Im going to start my juice diet supp and hopefully get my 23 yr old son who sadly to say is overweight to the obese sense. How often or rather how many times a week can I take the juice. Also can I combine fruit and veggies. Laatly what time of day is best to take. Ive done alot of reading regarding juice supp. Some articles confused me.
Thank you
Adrian,
Juice newbie.