Vegetable Juice

Everyone tells you that drinking juice is okay but not as good as a piece of fruit. However, today we are talking about vegetables. Vegetable juice is good for many reasons.

Get Your Five a Day

We hear about the food pyramid and what we need to eat for proper nutrition. One thing that is needed is vegetables. Just five servings a day will yield vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are essential to keep the body running properly. Also, if you want to lose weight, eating healthy allows you to eat more for fewer calories.

But, for many, eating five servings of vegetables a day is not so easy. A busy schedule can sabotage your healthy eating habits. In an effort to get what you need, you can try juicing.

According to nutritional guidelines, a serving of vegetables is equal to ¾ cup of vegetable juice. You will catch a break with juice and you can drink it in half the time that it takes to eat some vegetables.

Commercial Vegetable Juices

Be careful when choosing juices from the store. They can contain hidden sugars and other additives so read labels carefully. Choose an organic vegetable juice that contains lots of vegetables that you would eat: green leafy veggies, carrots, tomatoes, herbs and others.

Many vegetable juices can help you make up the numbers for your daily servings. Juice is not meant to be a substitute but a supplement. If you can only get three servings a day, adding juice can give you two or three more. The goal is to try and up your natural intake of vegetables.

A benefit of commercial vegetable juices is the variety. Vegetables that you might not otherwise have tried are included and so are their nutrients.

Homemade Vegetable Juices

Another choice for vegetable juice is a juicer. The advantage here is that you know exactly what is in each drink you make. There are no preservatives. You can make up a fresh cup of vegetable juice whenever you want one.

Secondly, fresh vegetables have a marvelous taste. Many people haven’t even tasted the natural sweetness of vegetables. Juicing them gives you a chance to taste what they are really all about.

Thirdly, you can experiment with your own combinations. Try carrots with kale or pumpkin. How about spinach, lemongrass and dandelion greens? Juice one vegetable at a time and taste it. Mix a bit of one with another to see what you like.

Vegetable juice can help you to increase your daily intake of vegetables. If you are having a hard time fitting it all in, here is a way to help you. Buy commercial juices that don’t contain added sugars. For a more natural taste, invest in a juicer and make your own.