In today’s fast-paced, convenience- oriented world, our diets are devoid of healthy foods or nutrients because of lack of time, erratic and ignorant food habits. Vegetable and fruit juices are beneficial because it takes very little energy to digest juice and if it is freshly made, your body is getting all kinds of wonderful elements from the juice. The great thing about juices is that you get the nutritional benefit of much more fruits and veggies than you could ever possibly eat. For example, five apples or 400 grams carrots (with 1/3 water) make one glass of juice, when you drink that glass you get all the nutrients of five apples or 400 grams carrots without having to actually eat all the fruit. Keep in mind though that while juicing is excellent for supplying your body with nutrients, you still need to eat whole fruits and veggies for the fibre your body needs.

We’ve heard people going on and on about the health benefits that can be reaped from juicing and you may be asking yourself " what’s the big deal about juices?" Well inorder to enhance your health, longevity and fight disease, it is important to indulge in nutrient and phytochemical rich fruits and vegetables. Juicing is the easiest and most efficient method of extracting these high levels of nutrients. A daily glass of juice is an elixir rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other phytochemicals like pigments, flavours, enzymes, carotenoids, alkyl sulphides, tannins, indoles and plant steroids. These disease-fighting ‘antioxidants and phytochemicals’ cleanse our system of disease-causing ‘free radicals.’ If left unchecked, these free radicals, accumulate and lead to many degenerative diseases especially heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis and cancer.

Juice therapy detoxifies the body by eliminating toxic substances from the body. The wastes from the tissues are dislodged and then excreted. A word of caution about the onset of the detoxification process – beginning of juice therapy may bring about an aggravation of symptoms like nausea, boils, rashes, cold, digestive problems.

It is important to thoroughly clean the fresh fruits and vegetables to get rid of the chemicals sprayed on them during cultivation and storage. At the beginning, go easy on juice. One or two ounces are enough, and then work up to 4 or 6 ounces once or twice a day. Juices should be consumed on an empty stomach and it is better not to consume anything for the next half-an-hour.

Juices can roughly be classified into three categories:

1. Green juices: - green juices stimulate cells, rejuvenate the body, and build red blood cells. Green juices are made from spinach, celery, cabbage, coriander, wheat grass, alfalfa sprouts and other similar veggies. Green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of antioxidant beta-carotene, which boosts the immune system; helps fight disease and improve vision. They also provide vitamin E and selenium, both antioxidants, which are instrumental in preventing aging. They also contain chlorophyll, which cleanses and heals the body. Besides, spinach also provides calcium and iron.
2. Vegetable juices: - Fresh vegetables are restorers and builders. They help to remove excesses of protein, fat and acid washes from the body. Vegetable juices help build the immune system and guard against illness. Cucumber juice is very fruity and alkaline and helps to fight the body’s acidic load. If one wants to improve stamina and good health, go for a fresh ‘vegetable cocktail’ with its high concentration of nutrients.
3. Fruit juices: - Fruits are cleansers. They also appeal to our taste because they are sweet, cooling and delicious. Juices of citrus fruits (orange, sweet lime, lemon, grapefruit), pineapple, grape, plum and watermelon are an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin C. Those who suffer from ‘energy lows’ can go for ‘fruit cocktail’.

Advantages of juice therapy include:

• Safe and natural way of remaining healthy.
• Juice therapy can be safely combines with any other treatment or medication.
• Easy to digest.
• Those who have difficulty in chewing and digesting raw vegetables can resort to juice instead.
• For weight watchers, vegetable juices provide satiety.

Commonly recommended juices for certain ailments are:

As a wise man once rightly put it "let food be your medicine and medicine be your food", go ahead, indulge in your natural cocktail and march towards good health and longevity.

Madhavi Trivedi
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant