Composition and calorie content of vegetable juices. Useful properties, possible contraindications. How to make vegetable juice yourself? Features of application for weight loss.
Vegetable juice is a drink obtained by pressing various vegetables in special equipment. A good alternative to fruit juices, because they contain less sugar, and they contain more benefits. Making vegetable juice at home is very simple: all you need is a juicer and a few minutes of free time. The vegetables only need to be washed and coarsely chopped, the rest of the work will be done by the technician. By correctly combining and combining different vegetables, you can create not only very useful, but also very tasty juice, which will please not only women who dream of losing weight, but also their husbands and children. However, it should be borne in mind that some vegetable juices have a very powerful effect on the body, and therefore they should be introduced gradually and in small quantities, and if they are poorly tolerated, they should be excluded from the diet altogether.
Composition and calorie content of vegetable juices
Pictured are vegetable juices
Vegetable juice is a low-calorie product, on average it is about 25 kcal per 100 g. Some of them contain fewer, some more calories. Thus, the energy value of one of the most popular vegetable juices, tomato and carrot, is 20 and 40 kcal per 100 g, respectively.
However, keep in mind that juice is usually drunk in large volumes, for example, in a glass of carrot juice there are already more than 100 kcal - a very noticeable increase in the diet is obtained, which is especially important for those who count calories.
The composition of vegetable juices contains practically no proteins and fats, but carbohydrates are present. When cooked with pulp, it becomes a source of fiber.
As for the vitamin and mineral composition, it is important to note that it is different for each juice, but almost all of them contain vitamin C, carotenes, B vitamins, minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium. Also, vegetable juice is a source of organic acids, essential oils, tannins, flavonoids, enzymes, polyphenols and other biologically active substances important for our body.
The color of a vegetable or fruit determines its antioxidant composition, and therefore in order to get different antioxidants every day and provide your body with all the necessary biologically active substances, prepare juice of a different color every day.
Useful properties of vegetable juices
Freshly squeezed vegetable juice is an extremely healthy product, and in today's fast-paced fast world, it is often the only way to fortify your diet. A person often eats randomly, not tracking the intake of valuable components, but rather, simply trying to satisfy hunger. We began to eat more products of animal origin, as well as refined ones. In such a diet, juices will become a real salvation from the development of vitamin deficiencies and, as a result, various diseases.
However, even in a well-thought-out, correct diet, vegetable juices will not be superfluous. Many nutritionists make up whole systems of health improvement on juices, and it is not at all necessary to cook them from some exotic and expensive vegetables, our native carrots, cabbage and beets will do just fine.
The benefits of vegetable juices:
- Stimulation of digestive processes … A glass of juice half an hour before meals is a great way to stimulate digestion, but not every juice is suitable for such purposes, for example, carrot juice really ideally prepares the stomach for digesting food, but beetroot juice can, on the contrary, irritate the mucous membranes. In general, it should be noted that beet juice is not recommended to be consumed in its pure form, it is best to mix it with other juices.
- Fight free radicals … Any juice contains antioxidants - substances that can counteract excess levels of free radicals. This effect, in turn, prevents cellular destruction and mutations, which are provoked by free radicals, which ultimately reduces the likelihood of developing cancer.
- Stimulating the body's defenses … Due to the presence of vitamin C in almost any vegetable juice, it has a powerful effect on immunity. In addition, juices are also sources of phytoncides (natural mild antibiotics). Thus, the use of vegetable juices is not only an excellent prevention of various diseases, but also a good support in their treatment.
- Lower cholesterol levels … The use of vegetable juices has a beneficial effect on the composition of the blood. They lower cholesterol levels, remove salts of heavy metals, which in turn has a healing effect on blood vessels in particular and the entire cardiovascular system in general.
- Positive effect on metabolic processes … Vegetable juices stimulate metabolism, one of the best juices to speed up metabolism is from common white cabbage. It also contains a special tartronic acid that prevents the conversion of carbohydrates into fat.
- Increased mood … Vegetable juices have an excellent tonic effect - they invigorate and improve mood. Tomato is especially good in this regard, because it contains seratonin - an excellent substitute for chocolates for those who dream of losing weight.
- Restoring water balance … Our body needs water in large quantities every day, but many find it difficult to get into the habit of drinking it; in this regard, juices can be an excellent substitute, because the percentage of water content in them is very high. Restoring water balance means activating the body's detox systems, normalizing metabolism, improving digestion, etc. The best source of water is cucumber juice.
- Positive effect on skin, hair, nails … Making yourself a glass of vegetable juice is a great way to influence not only internal processes in the body, but also improve your appearance. Due to the content of vitamin C in the composition, juices stimulate the production of collagen and make the skin more toned and elastic. Their ability to remove toxins leads to a decrease in the frequency of unpleasant rashes on the face, and their content in a large amount of various minerals leads to strengthening of hair and nails.
- Anti-inflammatory effect … Due to the content of flavonoids in juices, they can reduce the level of inflammation not only in the case of the development of viruses and infections, but also allergies and food intolerances.
- Prevention of vitamin deficiencies … Vegetable juices are a storehouse of vitamins and minerals, they perfectly prevent vitamin deficiencies of a very different nature. And green juices, which contain chlorophyll, which is similar in structure to hemoglobin, is an excellent prevention of anemia.
As you can see, vegetable juices have a powerful healing effect on the entire body, and therefore the question of whether or not to introduce them into your diet is not even worth it. Of course, whole vegetables are healthier, but often there is enough time just to make juice, in which case you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity.
Contraindications and harm of vegetable juices
However, an unambiguous indication for the use of vegetable juices is relevant only if you are healthy. If you have certain diseases, then before preparing them, you must definitely read the contraindications.
So, almost all vegetable juices are contraindicated for those who have serious diseases of the digestive system, especially stomach and duodenal ulcers. Carrot vegetable juice can harm people with kidney disease, beetroot often causes symptoms of individual intolerance, incredibly useful celery juice is prohibited during pregnancy and the elderly, tomato juice is strictly contraindicated in pancreatitis, cholecystitis.
In general, if you have any diseases, especially requiring a strict treatment protocol, be sure to consult with your doctor about the appropriateness of the presence of this or that vegetable juice in your diet.
Also, keep in mind that even if you are healthy, there is a fine line between the benefits and harms of vegetable juices, and this line is a measure. For each juice, the measure is different: for example, you can drink a carrot juice and a couple of glasses a day, but beetroot juice should not be consumed more than 100 g. Be sure to check the maximum possible daily intake before preparing the juice.
Note! Particular care should be taken when giving vegetable juices to children, you need to start with a couple of tablespoons and gradually increase, carefully monitoring the reaction. Also, increased caution should be observed by pregnant women, lactating women and the elderly - during these periods, sensitivity to certain foods may change.
How to prepare vegetable juice?
The photo shows how to make vegetable juice
Vegetable juices are a very healthy but easy to make drink. The only thing you need is a juicer.
Instructions on how to make vegetable juice:
- Take the fruits that you will use for the drink - you can have one type, you can different. For a glass of juice, you need 2-3 vegetables.
- Rinse well and peel them off.
- Chop the vegetables into coarsely random chops.
- Turn on the juicer, place the glass, add the fruit piece by piece to the appropriate compartment.
Drink the finished juice immediately, the fresher it is, the more vitamins it contains. It is also important not to postpone the washing of the juicer, it is much easier to just rinse it off of the fresh cake than to then scrape off the dried one.
If you don't have a juicer, you can also make healthy vegetable juices. For these purposes, you can use a meat grinder, blender or grater. The fruits, crushed in one way or another, then need to be squeezed through cheesecloth. However, keep in mind that these methods will not be so productive: it is the juicer that can squeeze out the maximum amount of juice.
Many people wonder how to drink vegetable juices, which are not pleasant to the taste, but very useful. In this case, you can try adding various berries and fruits to a particular vegetable to achieve the optimal taste. However, remember that the base must still be vegetable. For example, adding half a small apple to 2 carrots will give you a different taste, but it will not increase the amount of sugar much.
Slimming vegetable juices
Vegetable juices will be especially appropriate in the diet of those who have decided to lose weight. They are really effective in helping to lose pounds due to the following factors:
- Acceleration of metabolic processes - such drinks help to speed up the metabolism.
- Detoxification of the body - have a positive effect on the work of neutralizing (liver) and excretory (intestines, kidneys) detox organs. This ability of vegetable juices for weight loss is especially valuable, since it is often the accumulated toxins and toxins that do not allow getting rid of extra pounds.
- Water balance normalization - due to this property, juices prevent puffiness, ensure normal circulation of fluid in the body, as a result, water does not stagnate and also does not create the illusion of excess weight.
It is worth noting, however, that with such a high efficiency for weight loss, competent nutritionists recommend only supplementing the diet with vegetable juices, and not making it up only from them, since the body must constantly receive adequate nutrition, even during a diet. So if someone advises you to go through a fashionable diet on juices, it is better to go away from such specialists. Yes, of course, the weight will go away very quickly if you only drink juices for several days, but the body will be under stress, and then the weight will return very quickly.
If you want the drink to further contribute to the loss of extra pounds, add spices to it. Chili peppers, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon work especially well for weight loss, as these spices have the ability to regulate blood sugar levels.
Watch a video about the benefits of vegetable juices:
Vegetable juice is a very healthy drink that must be present in the diet of every person. Unlike fruit, vegetables contain very little sugar, are less high in calories, but at the same time are very rich in various useful biologically active substances. However, you should not overdo it with vegetable juices either: 1-2 juices a day is a completely reasonable measure in order to give the body all their benefits, but not to feel the potential harm of excessive use.
