Jazzed Up About Juicing?

Juicing is about to have a comeback with Starbucks opening its first juice bar and juice cleanses all the rage. I will be discussing juicing with a few experts on today's Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU - FM, 88.5.

Personlly, I love juice. I've been drinking orange juice every morning of my life. You'd think I'd be sick of it by now. But every morning, I look forward to my "sunshine in a glass," and it never disappoints. Especially on those occasions when it's fresh-squeezed. I could live on the stuff. Just thinking of it makes me salivate!

But I save my juice for 8 ounces in the morning because, while, it packs a huge nutritional punch and thinking of it makes me salivate, it also puts on the weight, and fast! Here's how...

My client, Caroline, who was successfully losing weight, was disappointed one recent week that she didn’t lose weight as usual. It didn’t make sense to either of us. Her food intake was stellar. She was even a little more physically active than usual. It wasn’t until we reviewed her food diary thoroughly that we discovered the culprit was liquid calories, and they added up in a way that surprised her. In her case - as is the case with many of us – that extra glass of wine or mixer, juice as a snack here and there, can add up in ways we don’t expect.

Liquid calories in just about any form, whether alcohol, juices, or sodas, are stealth calories. They come in undetected under the radar screen but have an impact that can be enormous. Scientific evidence is confirming that though these liquids count as calories, our bodies don’t detect them the same way they would if we were eating solid food. When we eat calories in the form of solid food, we naturally compensate by reducing the rest of our meal’s or day’s food intake. But when people ingest liquid calories, studies show, they don’t compensate for them by eating fewer calories.

Learn more about juice, and listen to me on the Kojo Nnamdi Show discuss Juicing...