We’re hearing more and more about the benefits of juicing fresh vegetables. Juice Recipes for Gut Health highlight how juicing makes nutrients more accessible. But why not eat whole vegetables instead? The fact is, in vegetables, the nutrients are trapped in fibrous cells.
And very rarely do we chew our vegetables enough to release all the nutrients they contain from the fiber. But fiber also has its benefits, whether in terms of blood sugar management or microbiota maintenance. So, are vegetable juices good or bad? And if so, in what situations and for what profiles?
Juice Recipes for Gut Health : Who are vegetable juices for?
Very roughly speaking, vegetable juices are of interest to a wide spectrum of people who are devitalized, tired, have an unbalanced diet or have digestive and intestinal problems (irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.).
Vegetable juices arrive straight into our digestive system ready to be assimilated, not trapped in cellulose. Indeed, whole foods require several hours of digestion before the nutrients they contain are assimilated at cellular level.
So, juices extracted from fresh, raw vegetables offer an excellent way of providing our cells and tissues with a fast, extra supply of the nutrients and enzymes we need. So it’s vitally important to use “living foods” to give our cells what they need to repair themselves as they reproduce, and adding fresh juices to our diet ensures that nutrients are quickly and easily assimilated.
Except in cases of proven intestinal intolerance to dietary fiber, restricting our vegetable intake to juices alone seems like a bad idea, since vegetable fibers have proven their value for a whole range of health parameters (transit, protection against metabolic syndrome and diabetes, support for a balanced microbiota via prebiotics and even rheumatism and arthritis).
With that in mind, here’s a quick overview of the juices that are most beneficial to your health. Below, we’ve focused on the most common vegetables and those with the most health-giving properties, and at the end of the article, we’ve included an additional juice: wheatgrass juice, or what we might call “the juice of juices”.
Is buying them ready-made the answer?
It’s important to know that no store-bought bottled juice, whether from a supermarket or a health food store, contains all the vital elements that freshly made juice does. First of all, enzymes start to disappear from a liquid after about half an hour.
What’s more, bottled juices have to be brought to the boiling point to preserve them, which makes them “dead” substances, as all enzymes are killed by heat.
The only solution is to make your own juices, using an extractor that “masticates” the vegetables, i.e. crushes the cell wall of the fiber. Cheaper, centrifugal juicers “scrape” vegetables rather than crush them, and many nutrients remain in the fiber.
Juice Recipes for Gut Health : Carrot juice
Depending on the individual’s state of health, raw carrot juice can be consumed all the time in reasonable quantities, i.e. 300 to 500ml a day. It helps normalize the entire system.
It is the richest source of vitamin A that the human body can rapidly assimilate, and provides an important supply of vitamins B, C, D, E, G and K. It stimulates the appetite and aids digestion.
Provided it is extracted correctly from fresh, clean, high-quality raw carrots, carrot juice is particularly rich in vital organic alkaline elements such as potassium.
It is also high in calcium, magnesium and iron, while phosphorus, sulphur and silicon perfectly balance the above. It is often recommended for consolidating and maintaining the bone structure of teeth (calcium, vitamin K), as well as eye health (pro-vitamin A, antioxidants).
Raw carrot juice supports the immune system (vitamins A, C and B6) and the nervous system, stimulating vigor and vitality.
Liver and intestinal weaknesses are sometimes due to deficiencies in elements in which carrot juice is rich. A 2019 study, for example, shows that consumption of carotenoids has a protective effect against fatty liver disease (non-alcoholic fatty liver).
Carrot juice is also an ally in skin protection, rich in antioxidants (lutein, B-carotene, zeaxanthin) and nutrients that are precursors of melanin, which protects the skin from the sun’s ultraviolet rays and gives it its tan. In addition, problems of dry skin, dermatitis and other skin blemishes are often due to deficiencies in the nutrients contained in carrot juice.
The endocrine glands, mainly the gonads and adrenal glands, need the nutrients found in raw carrot juice.
Carrot juice offers a combination of nutrients for the whole body. Although less sweet than orange juice, carrot juice is still the sweetest of all vegetable juices, so it should be consumed with caution in diabetic or pre-diabetic profiles (the absence of fiber increases its glycemic load).
Juice Recipes for Gut Health : Beet juice
Following the publication in 1970 of a book by scientific authors Ferenczi, Seeger and Trub on the therapeutic efficacy of red beet, many doctors in Europe began experimenting with this “health vegetable” as part of their practice. Since then, a large body of research has highlighted its health-giving properties.
Beet is rich in betalains (betacyanins, betaxanthins), flavonoids, polyphenols, saponins and inorganic nitrates. It’s also a rich source of minerals such as potassium, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc and manganese.
The nitrates in beet juice, converted into nitrites on contact with saliva, have an impact on muscle oxygen supply, muscular efficiency, tolerance and endurance, and can therefore have a positive impact on sporting performance.
A growing number of studies (25 human studies to date) show the impact of these nitrates on blood pressure and vascular function, with a majority showing a positive effect.
The hypotensive effect of beet juice depends very much on the initial blood pressure of the person consuming it, being much more noticeable in hypertensives than normotensives.
According to a study on overweight elderly people, this hypotensive effect is maximal after 3 weeks of consumption. The downside, however, is that the effect does not persist after three weeks.
Other studies suggest that beet juice has kidney-protective properties. When taken in conjunction with treatment, beetroot juice has been shown to improve renal functional parameters in patients with kidney disorders.
In terms of glycemia, studies show that regular consumption of beet juice effectively delays the glycemic response after meals and reduces the glycemic peak.
Betalains also show promise against inflammation. A limited number of studies show that beet extracts, taken as a dietary supplement, can be anti-inflammatory, particularly in arthritis patients.
Finally, a growing number of studies show the antioxidant richness of beet juice (flavonoids, triterpenes, carotenoids, betalains) as well as its anticarcinogenic and anti-mutagenic potential, but clinical studies are lacking to make clear recommendations at this stage.
Excretion of red or pink urine or stool discoloration immediately after ingestion of beet occurs frequently (due to non-metabolized betalain) but is, barring signs of other pathology, benign.
On the precautionary side, taking beet juice in excess can lead to stomach cramps, or can be disgusting due to the hepatic detoxification process and its high mineral content.
From this point of view, people suffering from pathologies of mineral accumulation (hematochromatosis, Wilson’s disease, etc.) should probably use it sparingly; symmetrically, it will prove useful for people with anemia and for hemoglobin production. Rich in oxalic acid, it should be avoided or limited in cases of kidney stones.
Juice Recipes for Gut Health : Cucumber juice
Popular in traditional Indian medicine, cucumber is very rich in water and very low in calories. It also has a cleansing action on the body, helping to eliminate metabolic waste and chemical toxins. So cucumber juice is probably one of the best natural diuretics we know.
But cucumber has more than one property up its sleeve, in particular that of promoting hair growth thanks to its high silicon and sulfur content, especially when combined with carrot-lettuce-spinach juice. It also rehydrates the skin from the inside out, helping to maintain beautiful skin after exposure to the sun.
Cucumber juice also contains 10% sodium, 7.5% calcium, 20% phosphorus and over 40% potassium. A composition that makes it an ally in blood pressure regulation. On the other hand, juice specialists frequently recommend the synergy of cucumber juice and carrot juice to people prone to rheumatism, which results from excessive uric acid retention. The addition of beet juice to this combination is said to hasten relief.
Juice Recipes for Gut Health : Spinach juice
A vegetable rich in chlorophyll and vitamins A, C and K, spinach juice also contains a number of interesting antioxidants such as lutein, quercetin and kampferol. As spinach, like beet, is rich in inorganic nitrates, its juice is beneficial for blood pressure and cardiovascular health. Research also suggests that it may have a significant antacid effect for acid reflux sufferers.
Consumed in juice form at a rate of around 50 cl per day, it often resolves cases of constipation within a few days. Spinach’s effectiveness as a “laxative” is due to its high oxalic acid content, which encourages intestinal peristalsis.
Combined with apple juice (rich in pectin and sorbitol), it is all the more effective. However, its high oxalic acid content has a downside: people prone to renal colic, kidney stones or gout attacks should avoid long or excessive consumption, as it encourages the formation of stones (oxalates).
Spinach juice’s high vitamin A and carotenoid content makes it a partner in eye health and AMD prevention. For this purpose, it can be combined with red fruit juices rich in anthocyanin-type antioxidants (bilberries, blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, etc.).
Juice Recipes for Gut Health : The “ultimate juice”: wheatgrass juice
We couldn’t end this overview without mentioning one of the most complete juices available in nature: wheatgrass juice. Its preparation is a little more complicated (more on that later). But it is, so to speak, the juice of juices, whose use was popularized by Ann Wigmore, founder of the Hippocrates Institute, as early as the 1940s.
Wheatgrass juice contains an exceptional concentration of nutrients: flavonoids, vitamins A, B, C and E, 92 of the 118 minerals, 17 amino acids (including the 8 essential ones), enzymes in large quantities…
In just a few days, you can prepare a juice at home capable of recovering your vital energy and improving most overall health problems (see below). Wheatgrass juice also contains a very high concentration of chlorophyll, which helps to regenerate the blood.
Chlorophyll helps “make new blood” by increasing the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells in people with anemia. The addition of iron enhances this anti-anemic effect. A Chinese study also shows a positive impact on white blood cell production in leukopenic individuals.
An article summarizing the few clinical studies available on the health benefits of herb juice lists problems as diverse as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, obesity, ulcerative colitis and oxidative stress.
How much herb juice should I consume? It’s usual to consume at least 20 to 30 ml of herb juice a day during a course of treatment, and to temporarily increase to 60 ml in the case of more advanced devitalization.
-To make your own herb juice, you’ll need to buy :
● A dozen plastic cafeteria trays (or more depending on the size of the family) or, better still, dedicated trays sold in some organic stores (with holes to allow good water irrigation and matching flat sub-trays to collect excess water).
● Two or three large glass jars,
● Gauze to seal the jars,
● Large rubber bands to secure the gauze,
● Organic potting soil (no manure potting soil, which could carry bacteria).
● A juice extractor (manual or electric),
● And the main thing: organic wheat seeds for germination (in health food stores).
–Growing it
● Cover the surface of the tray with potting soil to a height of one or two centimetres.
● To sow a tray, you need one cup of wheat seeds (about 200 g), which you rinse beforehand to remove any dirt.
● Place in jars filled with filtered water, preferably lukewarm. Cover with gauze, secure with a rubber band, and leave to soak overnight or for around 12 hours.
● Then rinse the wheat well to remove germination toxins and place the seeds in a sprouter (e.g. the jar upside down at 45°, still with the gauze) for a further 48 hours until the little white root appears.
● Spread the sprouted seeds over the moistened soil of the tray. Don’t hesitate to cover the soil completely. Make a small trench with your finger along the edges to catch any excess water (if it’s not a tray with holes). Spray the seeds with water and cover with a second tray, placed upside down to reproduce a warm, humid ecosystem. Leave in place for 2 to 3 days. The soil should be irrigated, but not soaked.
● Then open, water again and place the tray in indirect light. The grass should be 2 to 3 cm high. Its color is white or cream. Direct sunlight will retard growth at this stage and dry out the soil. If mildew appears, it means you’ve not drained the water properly or the temperature is too high (20-25°C is fine). You would then have to start again.
● From now on, you’ll need to water every day, morning and evening, and aerate regularly. Seaweed powder can be added to the water as a natural fertilizer, but this is optional.
The grass can be harvested by cutting it with scissors when it is about 10 to 12 cm high. This takes between 6 and 9 days, depending on ambient temperature. Once harvested, you can run the young shoots through an extractor to obtain your daily juice.
If all this protocol wears you out in advance, you should know that there are also ready-to-use formulas in the form of organic wheatgrass or barley sprout powder. While not all their virtues are equivalent, they are still a very good health gesture.
