Who Doesn't Love Fresh Juice?

My daughter and I are both fighting colds at the moment so it has been juice mania around here. Juicing is a great way to pack your body full of the vitamins and nutrients it needs, especially when trying to overcome illness. Juicing separates the juice from the fiber of the fruits and veggies which allows your body to easily absorb their nutrients. Releasing the vitamin filled liquid from the fiber before ingesting it means that your body doesn't have to work as hard to digest it, allowing that energy be used for other things like fighting off colds.

Juicing has saved my sanity lately as my daughter has decided to go on a vegetable strike. I have been amazed at the lengths she will go to avoid consuming the vegetables I put in her food. She has mastered the art of separating the foods in her mouth and spitting the vegetables back onto her plate. She has not always been this way and I know it is just a stage, but it makes me feel better knowing she is getting most of the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables through their tasty juices. Making juice has become a daily event that my daughter gets excited about. She pulls a chair up to the counter and clambers up to help as soon as I mention juice time. She loves to help in the kitchen so once I get everything prepped I let her put it all into the feed tube of the juicer. We have definitely had some spills to clean up but letting her be a part of her own healthy food preparation is worth all the beet juice pooling on the counter top and running down our white cabinets.

I wish I had hopped on the juice train much earlier, especially when I was pregnant. One of the hardest things I encountered through my pregnancy was my inability to eat lots of fresh veggies. Just like most pregnant women, I experienced the most painful bloating and gas whenever I would eat uncooked vegetables. It was awful! I hear this complaint a lot from my clients too. Pregnancy can be such a catch-22; the very foods that contain so many vital nutrients for growing a baby can be so unforgiving to your digestive system while trying to do just that. Pregnancy changes everything in your body including hormones and the way your major systems function. One of these major changes is the speed at which your digestive system moves. Since your body is trying to capture every morsel of nutrient for that growing baby, your digestive system slows to a near halt. This is why so many pregnant women complain of bloating, gas and for some, the feeling of constantly being full. Although fiber in your diet is essential to avoiding constipation, a consumption of too much fiber can contribute to even slower digestion causing more gas and discomfort. So, the question is, if we are supposed to eat so many of these fresh fruits and vegetables to maintain a health pregnancy, but these foods put us in a state of constant discomfort, what is there to do? One solution would be to JUICE! Juicing would cut down on your intake of fiber without cutting out all those important nutrients that both you and your wee baby need. Remember though, fiber IS important to proper digestive functions so DON'T cut it out completely.

Have a happy healthy day!