Womans Health
Drinking Juices Can Be Bad For You!
Please don’t squeeze that orange…unless you plan to peel it and eat it…but if it’s juice you have in mind, forget it. I’m no doctor, nutritionist or dietition, but I know something about healthful eating, and I’m about to give you an important health warning that your doctor either forgot to mention…or perhaps doesn’t know about it.
Simply put, don’t drink juices if you value your health…no orange, grape, apple, or tomato juices…no fruit or vegetables juices at all. Unless you know something about your digestive system, you may be endangering yourself by drinking juices, even those you made yourself from scratch. Bottled juices can be even more hazardous, especially those made from citrus fruit.
By now you must be in denial or disbelief, saying to yourself, What is she talking about? I’ll get right to the point. Drinking juices requires no chewing, but pours
directy into your stomach, where it ferments because it hasn’t been properly digested. All fruits and vegetables are properly digested in the mouth by the enzymes in your saliva. Once digested, the body is allowed to absorb its nutritional
properties. As a result of improper digestion and subsequent fermentation, which may block the digestion of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in your stomach,
you develop indigestion, bloating, flatulence and even sharp gas pains.
If you doubt it, walk down the aisles of any drug store or supermarket and observe
rows and rows of anti-acid pillls, liquids, and other remedies for indigestion and acid-reflux symptoms and diseases. Even those expensive prescriptions doctors give
their patients to relieve the discomfort and harm from juice drinking does not
prevent continued symptoms and eventual illness.
Citrus juices are particularly harmful because most of their Vitamin C disappears
shortly after the fruit has been opened or squeezed and the resulting juices are
very acidic. Besides, fructose sugar is concentrated in most juices, which can
lead to higher blood sugar and possibly the risk for diabetes.
If you must have your juices, you have to chew them before swallowing them.
That is not very appetizing. I’ve read that diluting juices with at least half water
make them less destructive to your digestive system, but diluted juices are
no more appetizing than chewed juices.
Your best bet is to eat the fruit and veggies whole. You’ll be getting more nourishment, you won’t be wasting the fiber and nutrients, and you won’t be
getting as much sugar in your bloodstream as you would from juices.
If this makes sense to you…or not…check it out with your doctor, or a nutritionist or dietition, or go online, search under digestion, juices, acid indigestion, nutritional
benefits of particular foods, and other related categories. That should convince you.
If you suffer from acute acid indigestion, and you are a juice drinker, you might want to start by eliminating all juices for awhile to see if that makes a difference. There are other bad health habits besides juice drinking that cause indigestion and acid-reflux disease, but juices are a big part of the American diet, and indigestion is
a major health problem. Once a person’s digestive system is harmed, many other
serious health problems can arise as a result.
We’ ve been told that Food is Your Best Medicine and that You are What you Eat.
I agree, but how you eat that food is an important health consideration. We’ve also been told, You Can Dig Your Grave with your Teeth. What you eat and how you eat it and what you know about it has a solid impact on your health, and the health of your children and family. If you didn’t know about the dangers of drinking juices,
I hope this is the wake-up call that will make an important difference in your life.
