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Juicing is the process of extracting
juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...
from plant tissues such as
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
or
vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
s.
Overview
There are many methods of juicing, from squeezing fruit by hand to wide-scale extraction with industrial equipment. Juicing is generally the preferred method of consuming large amounts of produce quickly and is often completed with a household appliance called a
juicer
A juicer, also known as a juice extractor, is a tool used to extract juice from fruits, herbs, leafy greens and other types of vegetables in a process called juicing. It crushes, grinds, and/or squeezes the juice out of the Juice vesicles, pulp. ...
, which may be as simple as a cone upon which fruit is mashed or as sophisticated as a variable-speed, motor-driven device. It may also refer to the act of extracting and then drinking juice or those who extract the juice.
Juicing is different from buying juice in the supermarket because it focuses on fresh pressed fruits and vegetables. Residential juicing is often practiced for dietary reasons or as a form of alternative medicine. Becoming first popular in the early 1970s, interest in juicing has since increased. Films such as ''
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
''Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead'' is a 2010 American documentary film which follows the 60-day journey of Australian Joe Cross across the United States as he follows a juice fast to regain his health under the care of Joel Fuhrman, Nutrition Resear ...
'', ''
Food Matters
''Food Matters'' is a 2008 film about nutrition. The film presents the thesis that a selective diet can play a key role in treating a range of health conditions such as diabetes, cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal ...
'', and ''
Hungry for Change'' have increased the sales of juicers.
In America, juicing was popularized by
Gayelord Hauser
Benjamin Gayelord Hauser (May 17, 1895 - December 26, 1984),Picart, C. (2000, February)''Hauser, Gayelord (1895-1984), nutritionist and author'' American National Biography. Ed. Retrieved 8 Feb. 2019. popularly known as Gayelord Hauser, was an Ame ...
,
Jay Kordich
John Steven "Jay" Kordich (August 27, 1923 – May 27, 2017) was an American author and advocate of juicing and juice fasting. Kordich was best known as the "Juiceman" and the "Father of Juicing" in the United States.
Biography
Kordich played co ...
and
Norman W. Walker
Norman Wardhaugh Walker (4 January 1886, Genoa, Italy – 6 June 1985, Cottonwood, Arizona) was a British businessman and pioneer in the field of vegetable juicing and nutritional health. He advocated the drinking of fresh raw vegetable and f ...
.
Methods
Juicing tools have been used throughout history. Manual devices include barrel-shaped presses, hand-operated grinders, and inverted cones upon which fruit is mashed and twisted. Modern juicers are powered by electric motors generating from 200 to 1000 or more watts. There are several types of electric juicers: masticating, centrifugal, and triturating juicers. These variations are defined by the means of extracting the juice.
* Masticating (also referred to as cold pressed) – utilizes a single gear driven by a motor; slower operation; kneads and grinds items placed in a chute
* Centrifugal – (also referred to as high-speed juicing) – utilizes a spinning blade that resembles a grated basket; faster operation; quickly grinds items and discards pulp in a receptacle
*Triturating – utilizes twin gears; slower operation; often has multiple uses
Health effects
Longitudinal
Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
* Longitude
** Line of longitude, also called a meridian
* Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...
prospective cohort studies
A prospective cohort study is a Longitudinal study, longitudinal cohort study that follows over time a group of similar individuals (cohort (statistics), cohorts) who differ with respect to certain factors under study, to determine how these fact ...
conducted at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
showed an increased risk of
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, ...
when fruit juice is consumed. Comparatively, consuming whole fruits significantly reduced the risk, suggesting that juicing process may not be beneficial to prevent diabetes. Similarly, consumption of whole apples helped lower cholesterol levels, while clear apple juice did not have such an effect.
The
American Journal of Public Health
The ''American Journal of Public Health'' is a monthly peer-reviewed public health journal published by the American Public Health Association that covers health policy and public health. The journal was established in 1911 and its stated missio ...
proposed that the
Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 in the United States eliminate 100% fruit juices since it has been linked to
childhood obesity
Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of ...
, and substitute instead with whole fruits.
Juicing removes the fiber content of the fruit or vegetable, and the full benefits of the plant is thus not experienced.
Re-adding fiber to the juice cannot be equated to whole fruits.
There is a loss in non-extracted
polyphenol
Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of ...
s, a class of phytonutrients, in fruit juice compared to whole plant foods. Most polyphenols are bound to the plant fibers, and constitute the major portion of dietary polyphenols. There is therefore a marked loss of phytonutrients in consuming fruits and vegetables through the juicing process alone.
The
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...
says, "there is no convincing scientific evidence that extracted juices are healthier than whole foods".
Juicing may not be the best way to extract all of the nutritional value from fruits and vegetables. According to Uckoo, when juiced grapefruit was compared with blended, the latter was superior. Smoothies, which are the blending of fruit into juice, not the extraction, leave pulp and seeds within the drink leading to better nutrition.
See also
*
Health food
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
A healt ...
*
Healthy diet
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
A healthy ...
*
Jack LaLanne
Francois Henri LaLanne (; September 26, 1914 – January 23, 2011) was an American fitness and nutrition guru and motivational speaker. He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was aged 15. He also had behav ...
*
List of ineffective cancer treatments
This is a non-exhaustive list of alternative treatments that have been promoted to treat or prevent cancer in humans but which lack scientific and medical evidence of effectiveness. In many cases, there is scientific evidence that the alleged tr ...
*
Juice fasting
Juice fasting, also known as juice cleansing, is a fad diet in which a person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices while abstaining from solid food consumption. It is used for detoxification, an alternative medicine treatment, and is often p ...
*
Juicer
A juicer, also known as a juice extractor, is a tool used to extract juice from fruits, herbs, leafy greens and other types of vegetables in a process called juicing. It crushes, grinds, and/or squeezes the juice out of the Juice vesicles, pulp. ...
*
Max Gerson
Max Gerson (October 18, 1881 – March 8, 1959) was a German-born American physician who developed the Gerson Therapy, a dietary-based alternative cancer treatment that he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases.
...
*
Norman Walker Norman Walker may refer to:
*Norman Walker (bass) (1907–1963), English bass opera singer
* Norman W. Walker (1886–1985), British-American raw food and alternative health advocate
*Norman Walker (director) (1892–1963), British film director
* ...
*
Smoothie
A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dai ...
References
{{Juice
Cooking techniques
Raw foodism
Juice