Health Benefits of Juicing

"That's the power of the juice!" is a phrase coined by fitness guru Jack LaLanne, who championed juicing as a component to good health. Juicing has been promoted as a key to good nutrition for many years. It has been used as a way to supplement a healthful diet, to cleanse the body of toxins and to help alleviate certain health issues.

Health Reasons to Juice

• There are often additives in bottled juices such as sugars and preservatives, which in the long run may not be healthy. With concerns about pesticides even in store-bought juices, you can control what you put in your body when creating your own juice.

More Benefits of Juicing

• Juicing also adds natural fiber to the diet, since most at-home juice mixtures contain pulp. There are also more vitamins retained from the juicing process, which can be lost when processed in a manufacturing plant.

Garlic, Ginger and Wheatgrass

• Other beneficial items such as fresh garlic, ginger and wheatgrass can be added to a homemade juice concoction.

Citrus Juicer

• An alternative to pouring a glass from a carton of orange juice can be as easy as slicing an orange in half and pressing the halves over an old-fashioned glass juicers. This type of juicer is available inexpensively at some retailers. They now also come in plastics, stainless steel and even mechanical varieties. Prices range from between $4 to $50 for this type of juicer.

Fruit and Vegetable Juice Combinations

• For more complex juicing mixing fruits and vegetables, there are models available ranging from $70 to $300. Some juicers allow fruits and vegetables to be inserted whole, and can handle more fibrous matter, including wheatgrass, a popular ingredient for juicers. Some juicers work more efficiently with pulp, in order for even more precious juice to be extracted.