An Introduction to the Health Benefits of Drinking Fresh Juices

Nutritional therapies can be used to restore and maintain good health as well to heal particular ailments at any given time. These therapies can be used instead of or alongside other approaches and treatments. A well balanced and health giving diet will be of benefit to the person directly but will also mean that any medicine or other treatment given will be able to have the maximum effect. In the case of a medical condition or illness being caused by poor nutrition or a deficiency for example of a certain vitamin, nutritional therapies and diet modification can be of greater benefit than other treatments that may not address this underlying cause as well as treating the presented symptoms. One way of using foods to prevent and heal ill health is to use juices.

Freshly juiced fruits and vegetables can be a great help in maintaining a healthy diet. Juices provide a convenient way to intake a large amount of natural goodness that anyone can enjoy. Many more nutrients can be consumed in one glass of juice than is often possible or healthy in one meal and although juices are lacking in the fibre that is present in eating the whole fruit or vegetable, as a plant based diet is high fibre by nature this should not present any serious problems.

Health food, supermarkets and even small shops now stock a larger range of ready-made juices to buy. Care should be taken to check the ingredients of these products as appearances can be deceiving and some can contain less desirable ingredients such as artificial sweeteners and glucose-fructose syrup. Another option that will ensure that you know exactly what is in your juices is to buy a juicer and make your own at home. This option also means that you can create recipes to suit your tastes and needs and is much cheaper in the long run than buying mass produced juices. Fruit and vegetable juices can be made in batches when you have the time and frozen in serving sized containers or freezer bags to defrost and use at a later date.
Juices can be an ideal solution to consuming fruits and vegetables that you do not like either for tastes or other reasons such as texture. Once juiced and combined with other food the disliked item may become more palatable or its taste maybe masked or even completely hidden, allowing you to consume it with ease.

Freshly squeezed juices can be consumed daily as part of a healthy and balanced diet and enable a large range and amount of nutrients to be consumed easily. This can be particularly helpful for anyone who has a restrictive diet for any reason or for children who may be more prone to be picky eaters. Although they may not like to eat the fruit and vegetables in their natural states children often love them juiced and can easily be included in the process of preparing the juices with adult supervision. Discovering that they like a food juiced may encourage them to try eating it in other ways as well. When giving juices to children it is wise to dilute them well or to brush teeth afterwards as the juice can cause damage to the enamel on teeth. Fruit juices can also be very high in calories and should be considered in any calorie controlled diets and in each individual’s daily calorie intake allowance.

In some people consuming some juices or drinking them in large amounts may cause diarrhoea. This problem may rectify itself as the person becomes more accustomed to drinking juices. If this is not the case diluting the pure juice may help.

In addition to drinking fruit and vegetable juices as part of a balanced diet, juices can be used to aid and heal a wide range of health issues. Fruits and vegetables can be juiced and taken alone or combined to enhance or hide flavours or increase the juices nutritional benefits. Cranberry juice is one the more well-known juices that can be used in healing. Cranberry juice is beneficial to the bladder and kidneys and is very effective in healing and preventing cystitis and other bladder and urine track infections. For anyone who finds that they are prone to these types of infection a glass of cranberry juice a day acts a good preventative measure and should lessen the infections recurrence. This is due to the fact that cranberry juice stops E-coli sticking to the wall of the bladder and other areas of the urine tract.
One important factor to consider in uses juices to heal or when recommending this approach to others is that it is important to have a correct diagnosis from a doctor or other qualified person beforehand. The reason for this is too eliminate the chances of the problem being more than it appears as some more serious conditions can present with the same or very similar symptoms as those that are less of a worry.

Some examples of juices that can be made easily and used to benefit us in everyday life include potato, mango, pineapple, orange and berries.

• Potato – good for digestive issues and stomach ulcers
• Mango – a useful digestive aid
• Tomato – this fruit benefits men’s health and may help to prevent prostate problems in later life
• Red pepper – along with carrots these are a known as being a powerful anti-cancer preventer
• Pineapple – a useful juice for helping with indigestion and digestion problems
• Orange – orange juice has long been known to aid in the absorption of iron by the body
• Banana – helps with cramps
• Prune – aids in constipation relief and iron absorption

As well as their healing abilities, juices are full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients that contribute to good health and can help to prevent against illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.