For 34 years Jack LaLanne entertained and inspired millions of Americans to adopt a healthier lifestyle through physical fitness, nutrition, and chiropractic (little known fact – he was a chiropractor himself)!
While many remember him from the days of black and white television, younger generations are probably more familiar with his “Power Juicer.” It popularized his healthy habit and brought fresh fruits and vegetables into millions of households throughout the world.
In recent years, juicing and making smoothies have become popular ways to add valuable nutrition to your diet. You may be used to buying OJ from the grocery store, but I’m going to share a few reasons why you may want to save up and buy a juicer for your home.
Any prepared juice that is bottled and sold in a store goes through a process called pasteurization. Pasteurization heats up the juice to a high temperature in order to kill bacteria that may enter the juice from the factory. Unfortunately, heating the juice also destroys most of the nutrients, leaving mostly sugar.
When you drink fresh, unpasteurized juice, your body gets an opportunity to absorb more vitamins, minerals, and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) which have been shown to protect against cancer, cardiovascular disease, and inflammatory diseases.
Juicing on your own helps increase the variety of fruits and vegetables you consume. You can buy a bottle of orange juice, apple juice, or maybe blueberry-pomegranate if you’re adventurous, but you’re still limiting yourself to a few select fruits. When you juice, you get to make your own
combinations, loaded with fruits AND vegetables! For instance, some of my favorite foods to juice together include carrots, apples, ginger, kale, spinach, and pineapples. While that may sound overwhelming, the flavors blend together and you consume more nutrients from a variety of produce than you would with purchased juice.
Having trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies? Consider adding vegetables to a fresh juice that also includes fruit, or freeze the fresh juice into a popsicle or another kind frozen treat. The natural sugars from the fruit appeal to kids while the nutrient-packed vegetables appeal to parents. You can even include your children in the purchasing/preparing/juicing parts as a fun family project.
Juicing is only one part of getting healthy, along with physical activity and regular chiropractic care, but it is an efficient and delicious option, especially for families adopting a healthier lifestyle. Just make sure not to replace the variety of fruits or vegetables that you eat as part of a healthy diet. Have fun exploring your juicing options and deciding which type of juicer you want…then juice away! As Jack LaLanne said…”Ah, the power of juice!”
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