By: Tamara Jacobi

Juicing has become rather popular in the last couple of years and I am often asked what my thoughts are on this new trend.  Juice is yet another controversial topic in the world of nutrition. Of course, controversy makes things interesting, right? There are both pros and cons to juicing and of course, everyone is unique. You need to listen to your body and consider whether or not juices work for you.

Some people love juicing, when they take a sip, they feel like every cell in their body says thanks. It’s true, juicing can be extremely healing; especially for those of us eat quickly and forget that chewing is an important part of the digestion process.  When you eat too quickly, this makes digestion very difficult.  For fast eaters, the juicing process might be a good idea because it makes the nutrients of the vegetables and fruits readily available for absorption. Juicing (and blending) saves the body digestive energy, allowing more energy to be put towards healing and detoxification.  Green juices are miracle workers, offering a high concentration of nutrition, balancing the body’s pH and supporting the body with the cleansing process.

However, there are also several disadvantages of juicing.  The main one, in my opinion is that you are no longer eating a whole food.  You are taking out the nutrients and calories and leaving behind the fiber of the food, which plays an important role! Nature is perfect; she packages the perfect ratio of fiber to sugar in our fruits and vegetables to keep our blood sugar levels somewhat stable. When we remove the fiber (which is there to keep us full) this can easily flood our system with too much sugar and can cause a spike in energy follow by an unpleasant crash.   Due to the lake of fiber, juices may be very high in calories, while keeping your body from feeling the “fullness” that comes with a good meal.  Sipping on juices made from fruits and sweet veggies (such as carrots and beets) throughout the day may result in excess calories creeping up on you.  It’s also interesting to note that almost all store-bought juices contain more sugar than nutrients.

I’ve also heard that it’s recommended to “chew” your juice when drinking in order to create some saliva, an important component to digestion. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to chew juice, but this is a rather large challenge.

So, if you’re up to experiment with some juicing, I recommend that fruit or sweet roots (like carrots) be no more than a third of your juice.  Focus on greens when possible. This can be difficult because, admittedly, carrot juice is really delicious! Keep on experimenting and figure out what works best for you.

If you’re feeling drawn to the juicer, go ahead and give it a try! I personally feel that blending is a great option too; you enjoy the digestive benefits of having your food broken down for you, plus you’re still enjoying the complete food . . .

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Tamara Jacobi, Certified Health Coach

Tamara Jacobi is a certified health and nutrition coach who received her training at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She is the founder of Jungle Girl Health, www.junglegirlhealth.com, offering health coaching over the phone to individuals who are ready to feel and look their best. By using whole foods for healing and lifestyle balancing techniques, Tamara helps people understand how to heal and nourish their bodies completely.

Tamara leads an adventurous and active lifestyle, dividing her time between the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Mexican Pacific coastline.  In Mexico, she is the owner and manager of the Tailwind jungle lodge, a certified sustainable jungle lodge and adventure tour company just north of Puerto Vallarta, www.tailwindjunglelodge.com. Tamara also guides adventure tours for the Tailwind jungle lodge including sea kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and hiking. In her free time she spends as much time as possible playing outside. She is a passionate skier, road biker, trail runner and stand up paddle boarder.