Health Benefits of Juicing

I first discovered the benefits of juicing when a drummer in one of my bands brought his Juiceman Junior to band practice, along with a large sack filled with bulk apples, oranges, and carrots. This drummer was not a particularly health conscious individual, and he liked to smoke and drink. A lot. So it was a bit surprising for him to be expounding on the health value of juicing. He had received the juicer as a gift.

So we humored him and we juiced before we started band practice. We were astounded to find our energy levels and focus were substantially increased during the practice and we accomplished a lot more than we usually did. Always the skeptic, I wasn't certain this was not a fluke, so I told our drummer to bring the juicer and some juiceables (not a real word) to the next practice, and sure enough, we had a similar outcome. After a while, we started ritualistically juicing before shows and it amped up our live rock-n-roll performances considerably.

It's possible these were placebo effects. But it is also possible that juicing was somehow concentrating the life essences of the fruits and vegetables we rammed into the juicer. When we added ginger root to the mix of oranges, apples, and carrots, it seemed to energize us even more. Ginger is known anecdotally as an energizing herb, and it also adds a nice bite to the juice flavor.


Advocates of juicing list several health benefits, including improved nutrition, boosting immunity against diseases, and providing antioxidant protection against free radicals and toxins (possibly a reason my smoking, boozing drummer liked juicing).

Other more sketchy health benefits may include pain relief, weight loss, and a decreased need for prescription medications. (Note: Do not change your prescription medicine dosages without first consulting your doctor.)

There is no convincing scientific evidence that juicing is any better than just eating the whole food fruits or vegetables. However, it is quick and easy, and you can consume the juice of several fruits and vegetables all at once, concentrating their nutrients. Why eat three apples, two carrots, and an orange when you can drink one glass of their juice?

To retain more of the nutrients in the pulp of the fruits and vegetables, try blending them in a blender, rather than juicing them.