Is juicing making you fat ?

Slowly sipping a glass of delicious, freshly made fruit juice is one of life’s great pleasures. From plain and simple orange or apple to complex concoctions containing vegetables, herbs or even spices, it’s never been more popular.

Sales of juicers and blenders have soared, with John Lewis claiming that the fashionable Nutribullet — favoured by A-listers including the Duchess of Cambridge — was bought at a rate of one every 30 seconds in the pre-Christmas frenzy.

It’s perhaps no wonder: advocates claim drinking juice and smoothies is incredibly healthy — an easy way of getting huge amounts of micronutrients including vitamins, minerals and cancer-preventing antioxidants into our bodies.

Jason Vale, the self-styled ‘Juice Master’, even credits the craze with ridding him of psoriasis, eczema and hay fever. So what could be better for a nation in the grip of an ever spiralling fast-food addiction and obesity epidemic than a new-found love of making juices? Well, unfortunately, they aren’t always as healthy as you’d think.
While 83 per cent of Brits gulp down a glass of juice at least once a week, experts are so concerned about the dangers — some labelling it ‘as bad as Coca-Cola’ in terms of sugar content — that there are calls to ban juice from being one of our ‘five a day’ (drinking 150ml of unsweetened juice qualifies as one of your daily total).
Our addiction to juice is being held partly responsible for weight gain, the spread of type 2 diabetes, and even dental problems.

What’s more, health advisers argue that so much damage is done to the goodness in fruit when you extract the juice or turn it into a smoothie in a blender, it’s far better to just eat the original apple, banana or orange. ‘The mechanism of consuming a whole piece of fruit is undoubtedly better for you on every level; weight loss, fibre absorption and nutrients,’ says nutritionist Jackie Lynch. There’s no question that fruit and vegetables are good for us — they help protect against strokes, high blood pressure, heart disease and even some cancers as well as providing important nutrients including zinc, for the immune system, and folic acid for making red blood cells.

The problem is, juicers reduce many of these health benefits. They work by extracting every drop of liquid from, say, an orange or apple and leaving much of the pith, peel, core and pips behind. But it’s these parts of the fruit that contain the fibre which is so vital for our digestive systems.

Fibre helps promote beneficial bacteria in the gut — vital for preventing constipation and reducing the risk of bowel cancer. It’s also thought to play a major part in keeping our immune systems healthy as well as preventing conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, bowel cancer and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis… see more

source: dailymail UK

Tags: health, Juicing make you fat

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