You’ve likely heard about juicing for weight loss and detoxification. It’s a popular way to “cleanse” the body of inflammatory foods and substances. But juicing (the right way) can also boost your immune health, which is something we are all focusing on these days.
Let’s face it, the typical American diet is lacking in essential nutrients that humans need to function properly. With the over-consumption of convenient, processed foods, micronutrient intake isn’t ideal. That’s where juicing comes in – as a way to provide a burst of micronutrients and enhance nutrient absorption.
Juicing with fresh fruits, vegetable and herbs is an excellent way to make up for what’s missing in your diet, enhance antioxidant status and boost immune function.
What is Juicing?
Juicing is when you drink the juices of fruits, vegetables and herbs for their nutrition content. People juice for several reasons, like weight loss, detoxification and increased energy, but it also benefits your immune system.
That’s simply because you are drinking a powerhouse of micronutrients, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Fresh juices from fruits and veggies retain the vitamins, minerals and beneficial plant compounds that are found in their whole forms, so you are reaping the benefits even though you’re simply drinking the foods.
There’s evidence to suggest that juicing improves immune function and overall wellness. One study found that a three-day juice cleanse increased the “general well-being score” of participants and altered their intestinal microbiota.
And another study found that consuming fruit juices was able to reduce oxidative DNA damage, stimulate immune cell functions and enhance antioxidant status.
Benefits of Juicing for Immune Health
Strengthening your immune system involves several factors, including eating a healthy, balanced diet, getting enough sleep, engaging in physical activity and reducing stress. But juicing can contribute to one component of your immune health, which is consuming the nutrients your body needs to thrive.
Here’s a breakdown of how juicing can benefit your immune health:
To maintain adequate levels of micronutrients, humans need to eat a range of fruits and vegetables every day. For many, this just doesn’t happen. Supplementing with a multivitamin is one way to prevent deficiency, but juicing is another excellent way to obtain those critical vitamins and minerals.
Plus, juicing with antioxidant-rich ingredients helps to reduce oxidative stress within the body and fight inflammation, thereby supporting healthy immune function.
2. Enhances nutrient absorption
Because the insoluble fiber is removed from the ingredients in a fresh juice, it’s much gentler on the digestive system and allows for the body to better absorb the vitamins, minerals and enzymes within the juice.
3. Provides antioxidants
Immune-boosting juices provide a range of powerful antioxidants. These compounds protect the body against free radicals that can damage cells and cause a slew of adverse effects on your health. Drinking antioxidant-rich juices, like those containing carrots, cilantro, kale and ginger, can help to reduce oxidative stress and boost immune function.
4. Promotes detoxification
Juicing can promote detoxification, helping the body to cleanse toxins that suppress immune function and cause low energy or fatigue. To detox the body with juicing, you can try replacing one meal per day with a juice for a 5- to 10-day period. It’s a safe way to do a juice cleanse without missing important nutrients in your diet, like fiber and fats.
Juice Recipes to Support Immunity
To get the most out of juicing, include a range of fruits and veggies so that you are consuming multiple micronutrients and phytochemicals. Here are some recipes to get you started:
This Immune-Boosting Juice is loaded with micronutrients from bell pepper, broccoli, lemon, cucumber and ginger. Each one of these ingredients has impressive health benefits. Ginger, for example, eases inflammation and has even shown to block bacterial infections. It also promotes proper digestion, which we know can impact your immunity and mood.
This juice recipe contains celery, cucumber, pineapple, spinach, ginger and more. It helps to keep inflammation at bay, strengthening your immune system and boosting energy levels too.
This juice contains a healthy serving of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that boosts immunity and plays a critical role in important body functions like maintaining healthy skin.