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We're so busy that we often find it difficult to consume all the fruits and vegetables we need on a daily basis. Juicing is the latest trend where you simply blend your favourite fruit and vegetables and enjoy a glass of pure nutrients.
Fresh fruits are loaded with fibre, antioxidants and other great nutrients. And studies show that eating fruit whole gives you the most of this food group's potential benefits, like helping to prevent heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.
Eating vs. juicing
While drinking smoothies can be convenient and healthy, they are, however, often loaded with added sugar, and you might lose some of the fibre during the blending. It's also easy to drink a lot more calories than you'd get in one or even two pieces of whole fruit.
Another added benefit of eating fruits – and non-starchy vegetables – daily is that it decreases the risk for excessive weight gain according to a Health24 article.
Research published in the British journal BMJ suggests that eating certain whole fruits in particular may significantly lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. Since type 2 diabetes is epidemic in the United States, finding ways to prevent it is critical to continued good health.
For the study, researchers looked at decades of diet and health records for thousands of people. They saw – but did not prove – that those who ate two or more servings each week of fruits like blueberries, grapes, raisins, prunes, apples and pears reduced their likelihood of getting type 2 diabetes by 23%.
Conversely, drinking fruit juice every day had the opposite effect, increasing the chances of diabetes by 21%. One possible reason: the spikes in blood sugar that the concentrated sugars in juice can cause.
It's not yet clear which nutrients in those good-for-you fruits may offer diabetes protection. But one thing seems certain: An apple a day might keep the blood sugar disease away.
And don't forget to eat a fruit's peel or skin when edible – it's a powerhouse of nutrients.
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