Is Juicing Healthy?

What do Blake Lively, Olivia Wilde, Salma Hayek and Alicia Silverstone all have in common? They are all avid juicers.

Juicing is the newest health fad sweeping hipster streets and stomachs alike. It’s taking the fruits and vegetables easily missed in the average American diet (founded in fro-yo and french fries), and pressing their juices into one convenient, ice-cold glass. Juicing has been heralded as the craze to save the American diet – but is it really as healthy as you think?

The answer may surprise you. Juicing is beneficial for easing a high quantity of fruits, veggies and nutrients into one drink. However, the process of juicing itself may be detracting from a particular veggie’s overall potency.

In the process of juicing, some nutrients like fiber and protein are strained out of the liquid. Many of the benefits of eating clean – like lowered cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose levels and incidence of heart disease – are thanks to fiber. According to the MayoClinic, Fiber is also a primary agent in weight loss, as it contributes to a feeling of fullness that staves off your next meal. Without fiber, these benefits disappear and your juice can leave you feeling hungry and unsatisfied.

The next trade-off in choosing juice over solid meals is a lack of protein. Juice recipes often rely on vegetables like celery and carrots as foundation flavors. Unfortunately, vegetable juice typically has very little protein. A lack of protein can lead to a loss of muscle mass, which will slow your progress in achieving the promised results of all those Pinterest workouts.

If done incorrectly, juicing can pretty bad for you, leading to loss of muscle mass, lack of needed nutrients and a greater dissatisfaction with your meals. However, there is a correct way to juice.

Make sure that your juice is protein-rich. Trade veggies like celery and carrots in for darker leaves like kale and spinach. Pump the pulp back into your juice for some added fiber. If you decide to follow in the footsteps of celebs like Rosie Huntington-Whitley and Nicole Richie, be sure you do so in a way that’s healthy.