As home juicers gain countertop real estate, local organic juice bars are garnering even more curb appeal than Starbucks. And for good reason. Veggie juice might be the magic bullet for what ails us, and the most simple way to achieve the Gwyneth glow.
Green juice: loaded or lacking in substance?
The current cascade of juicing headlines can make your head spin faster than a centrifugal juicer, but the science behind juicing is surprisingly straightforward: strip off the fibre and get the barenaked phytonutrients (ie. plant goodness). Juicing a handful of chlorophyll-rich greens is like mainlining a straight dose of plant power. Talk about a rocking enzyme party inside your bod.
The Mighty Juice Cleanse Movement
Juice cleanses have gained mega praise for their quick fix detox and immune-boosting powers. According to the folks behind Vancouver’s favourite cold-pressed juicing hot spot, The Juice Truck, a juice cleanse infuses the body with ‘life-giving’ nutrients and helps restore natural balance. Especially when we’ve fallen off the yoga-spin-clean-eating wagon.
Although the body is brilliantly designed to eliminate waste, our systems can be exposed to a number of yucky enviro toxins on the daily. Many of us could probably use an occasional reset. Perhaps it’s a gradual green juice integration and a clean eating challenge, or a full-fledged juice cleansing odyssey.
If juice had a voice, it would sound a lot like Joe Cross (better known as Joe the Juicer). As a major proponent of juicing to reboot health, Joe embarks on a spirited plant-based crusade throughout America in his documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Another bright beacon of juicing and plant-based health is the Crazy Sexy Wellness pioneer Kris Carr, who refers to her green juice as emerald sunshine. Who wouldn’t want to sip on some of that?
Not everyone is drinking the green cool-aid…
Green juice has been respectively proclaimed as the elixir of life and “drinking all the bad things that happened in high school”. Some juice skeptics point out the lack of clear scientific data on juicing or the distaste of throwing back a Shrek-worthy cocktail. The positive juice commentary tells us the more we drink, the less inclined we’ll be to inject a drowsy morning with java or indulge on junk (perhaps the motive for a juice cleanse in the first place?).
We’ve been cautioned that drinking too much kale or cruciferous veggie juice can potentially hinder the thyroid. Others point out that juicing fruit or sweeter veggies, like beet and carrot, will throw off blood sugar balance.
While green juice gets a gold star for maximizing nutrient absorption, the long-term health effects of stripping away fibre is still a little murky.
Stay calm and juice on?
Haters gonna’ hate, but the juicing trend is here to shake things up for good. In our tech-driven stress-wired world, a little green juice could go a long way in restoring and sustaining health.
Whether you’ve jumped on the juicing truck, or you’re sticking to 7-10 daily servings of whole fresh veg, let your gut be thy guide.
Keen to give your body a spring clean this year, but don’t want to give up your tasty meals? Us too. The 21-Day Eat Clean Challenge is designed for health-conscious foodies like you. Take it today.
