The Pulp Fictions of Juicing and Gut Health: How to Get the Most Out of A Juice Cleanse
How do you stay energized, looking great, and hungry for fun, new adventures? We’ll let you in a few of our secrets. For us at Rowdy, we make sure to be active every day, eat whole, healthy foods, stay plenty hydrated, and one of our favorites—juicing!
Juicing has gained popularity in recent years due to its energizing, detoxifying, and health-hungry benefits. And juicing can be great for the gut! Juiced vegetables and fruits give you a mega-dose of nutrients without being tough on your digestive system.
Have you tried juicing?
What Is Juicing?
Juicing is when you extract the juice and dense nutrients from fruits and veggies. When you juice, you’re separating the solids of those ingredients from the liquids, or the pulp from the juice. Different from making a smoothie, juice doesn’t contain any pulp or solids from the fruits and vegetables it’s made from.
Unlike using a blender, when juicing with a juicer, you’re able to separate all of that pulp from the juice. Although it’s recommended that you juice with a juicer, a blender works too as long as you strain the juice from the pulp using a nut bag.
Sounds cool and healthy, right?
There are tons of different juice options at the grocery store and local juice bars have been popping up on every street corner, but here at Rowdy, we continue making our own juice at home. Here's why.
It’s best to make juice yourself at home so you have control over exactly what’s in the finished product. A lot of store-bought juices contain added sugar. This sugar is used to extend the product’s shelf life.
Making your own juice at home ensures that you’re getting the nutrients from whole ingredients without any added sugars or yucky pesticides.
As you know, here at Rowdy we’re all about promoting a happy, healthy gut. So how does juicing play into this gut-healing role of ours? Juicing is all about healthy living and so it gut-health--the two go hand-in-hand. By getting those delicious and nutritious raw fruits and veggies in while juicing, your body (and your gut) thank you for those power-filled ingredients. The thing is, only a healthy gut full of good-guy bacteria can properly absorb what you’re feeding your body. You need a healthy gut to get all the benefits of juicing, but juicing also helps promote a strong microbiome too. As you incorporate good-for-you ingredients like PRO and PREbiotics that work hard to keep the gut strong, you don’t ever want to throw your gut out of whack by feeding it the wrong food. Focusing on a juice fast to heal digestion and healthy eating helps to promote only those gut-friendly ingredients and stay away from gut-busters like refined sugar, high GI foods, and artificial sweeteners. See, juicing and the gut are proud to be pals! Let’s get juicing. Juicing seems healthy and delicious, but also like a lot of work. So we’re here to tell you that it’s worth it! Here are 5 juicing benefits to promote a healthy gut and happy body: The process of juicing extracts the vitamins and dense nutrients from fruits and veggies, leaving behind the pulp. The pulp is what your gut would normally have to work hard to digest, so the fact that your juice is pulp-free gives your digestive system a mini vacation so it can relax and heal. You’re also more likely to get a sufficient amount of vegetables in your daily diet when you juice. Trying to incorporate enough veggies into each meal every single day can be challenging. When you juice them instead, they’re much easier to consume—you get all of their delicious nutrients in and promote a happy gut. Do you cook the same veggies for dinner often? Your gut loves variety, but it can be challenging to switch it up as much as you should. With juicing, you’re able to add a larger variety of vegetables to your daily juices giving your body the diverse range of nutrients that it needs. Try your best to use 5 or 6 different veggies each day in your juices. Technology, work, relationships, poor diet, caffeine, alcohol, lack of sleep… they can all cause stress on our bodies. Juicing helps detoxify your body from those unhealthy stressors and gets it back to its happy place. By drinking juice that’s free of pulp, you can properly nourish your gut with the nutrients it needs while giving it a break from working hard to digest whole vegetables or their pulp. Resting your digestive system with a juice cleanse is a good way to give your body a break every so often. Juicing helps give your body get the nutrients it needs without overloading your digestive system. The only thing is, you have to be careful when it comes to juicing with fruits. Fruits might sweeten up your drink, but they also contain a sugar called fructose. Fructose is processed by the liver and when the body becomes overloaded with too much of it, it can increase fat production and imbalance blood sugar. Your body needs less than 15-25 grams of sugar each day, so don’t pile your juices full of fruit. Stay away from fruits like mango, strawberries, and pineapple that are high in fructose and try your best to use 80% vegetables and 20% fruit. And when you have to add something sweet to take away from the bitterness of the vegetables you juice, use a green apple to sweeten things up. A healthy gut absorbs more nutrients than an unhealthy one does, so a healthy, balanced gut is crucial when juicing—you want to be able to absorb as many nutrients as possible. So what makes a healthy gut? A healthy gut has a balance of bacteria that helps the body digest food, fight off unhealthy bacteria, and maintain overall health. Our favorite way to balance out the gut’s bacteria is through prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotics and probiotics are the good-guy bacteria that live in our gut. Probiotics fight off bad bacteria, aid in digestion, and keep us healthy. Probiotics are alive and fighting for our health. Sounds awesome! But then what are the benefits of prebiotics, you ask? Prebiotics feed the probiotics so they can do their jobs right! They’re the ones who give the probiotics their energy to keep our guts healthy. Prebiotics and probiotics aren’t the only way to promote gut health. Here are a few other ways to improve your gut’s good bacteria so you can properly absorb nutrients when juicing: Juicing can get complicated, but no need to fret! We have a list of dos and don’ts so you can make sure you’re juicing your way to your health the right way. DO: Focus on using organic, raw fruits and vegetables for maximum nutrition that’s free of pesticide residue. DON’T: Juice raw cabbage, kale, or broccoli. These veggies are high in goitrogens which decrease thyroid function and cause gas, bloating, and stomach pain. If you choose to juice with these ingredients, cook or steam them first. DO: Store juice in an airtight container in the refrigerator. DON’T: Store juice for longer than 24 hours. When juice sits, it oxidizes and its nutrients begin to degrade and turn to sugar. DO: Switch it up! Use as many different ingredients as you can to get the most diverse range of nutrients. Since you need a healthy gut in order to get the most out of juicing, it’s fun to add prebiotics into your juices to get the perks from prebiotic benefits, feed your gut’s probiotics, and promote a balanced, healthy microbiome. Here are 6 prebiotics that make awesome juicing ingredients: Not sure how to incorporate ingredients like jicama and garlic into your daily juices? Let’s look at some recipes to get you started. 6 carrots 2 stalks celery 1 handful parsley 2 cloves garlic Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Pour in 2 glasses and enjoy! 1 head of organic celery A splash of filtered water Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Make sure there are not celery guts hanging around--you only want pure juice! Pour into a glass and heal your gut. 1 cup jicama, peeled 1/2 ripe pear 2 carrots 1 knob fresh ginger, peeled Sprinkle of cayenne pepper on top Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Pour in 2 glasses, top with cayenne pepper, and enjoy! 1 cup baby spinach 1 cup fresh mint 1 knob fresh ginger, peeled 2 grapefruit, peeled 1 cucumber, peeled Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Pour in 2 glasses and enjoy! Happy juicing from us at Rowdy! Juicing For Gut Healing
The Benefits of Juicing
1. Juicing Increases Nutrient Absorption While Being Easy On Your Digestive System
2. You Can Use a Wider Variety of Vegetables When Juicing
3. Juicing Detoxifies Your Body
4. Juicing to Lower Blood Sugar
5. The Benefits Of Prebiotics & Juicing
The Dos and Don’ts of Juicing
Juicing With Prebiotics
Fresh Garlic Herb Juice
Celery Juice For Leaky Gut
Jicama Root Juice
Green Grapefruit Juice