By now, most of you know and understand the importance of including fruits and vegetables in your diet. Research has shown time and again that a diet rich in vegetables and moderate in fruits is an essential part of optimizing your health and vitality. Regardless of how your eating plan looks, adding more whole, fresh foods into your diet will help push out overly processed junk food. If you struggle getting enough veggies into your diet, juicing may be a good option. But you also need to focus on what you juice for YOUR own nutritional needs.

Juicing is the art of transforming whole foods into liquid. Fresh juice can offer increased energy, strengthen immunity, flush the body of toxins, and provide the raw materials to help your body heal more quickly and thoroughly. BUT it must be done correctly. Otherwise, you will end up on the other end of the spectrum. You may feel weak, flu-like, bloated, and flat out miserable.

Below I connected certain foods that we typically juice along with certain health issues. In a small amount, these foods may not be an issue, but overusing can create havoc in our bodies if we are not careful. I will be listing some foods to avoid and what foods to use instead when juicing. Remember this isn’t a full list as if you were making a salad from these foods. We are strictly talking about juicing today. If you suffer from any of the conditions below, please speak to your wellness practitioner for individual guidance.

Juicing Concerns + Health Issues

Kidney Stones

What are Kidney Stones?

• Kidney stones are a solid mass formed in the kidneys, typically consisting of insoluble calcium compounds; a renal calculus.
• When people suffer from kidney stones, they need to watch their oxalate intake. What are oxalates? Oxalates are a natural substance found in many foods. Your body uses food for energy, and after your body uses what it needs, waste products travel through the bloodstream to the kidneys and are removed through the urine. Urine has various wastes in it, and if there are too much waste and too little liquid, crystals can begin to form. These crystals may stick together and create a solid mass (a kidney stone). (1)

Foods to Avoid or Reduce Kidney Stones

• Spinach is high in oxalate, a compound that can lead to the formation of kidney stones. People with calcium oxalate kidney stones should avoid overdoing this veggie.
• Oxalates are found in fruits such as bananas, plums, berries, cherries, grapes, mangos, melons, and vegetables such as chives, spinach, cauliflower, purslane, parsley, beets and the leaves (beetroot), and radish to name a few.

Food to Try Instead

• Lemon, grapefruit, tomato, lime, basil, celery, pomegranate, dandelion, wheatgrass, and horsetail.

Acid Reflux

What is Acid Reflux?

• Acid Reflux is a condition in which acidic gastric fluid flows backward into the esophagus, resulting in heartburn.

Foods to Avoid or Reduce Acid Reflux

• Foods high in acid content can aggravate and possibly lead to acid reflux.
• Avoid or reduce the usage of tomato, orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, and pineapple.

Foods to Try Instead when Juicing

• Vegetables are naturally low in fat and sugar, and they help reduce stomach acid.
• Good options include leafy greens, ginger, cucumber, melon, apple, and pear.

High Blood Sugar

What is High Blood Sugar?

• High blood sugar is often referred to as Hyperglycemia, which means high (hyper) glucose (gly) in the blood (emia).
• The medical definition of hyperglycemia or high blood sugar is an abnormally high blood level in the blood.
• It is the hallmark sign of diabetes (both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes) and prediabetes.

Foods to Avoid or Reduce with High Blood Sugar

• Fruit juice has a high glycemic index, which means the body processes the carbohydrates quickly. With the absence of fiber, the body absorbs the sugar faster than when you eat vegetables or fruits whole and can lead to a rapid spike in blood sugar.
• If you suffer from high blood sugar, it would be best to avoid fruit juices altogether.

Foods to Try Instead when Juicing

• Kale, bok choy, spinach, watercress, wheatgrass, rocket, cabbage, carrot, celeriac root, cucumber, ginger, grapefruit, lemon, celery, and tomato.
• Drink small amounts around 4-6 ounces.
• Typically, I talk about drinking juices away from other foods, but in this case, it helps slow down the absorption of sugar.
• Adding lemon to a green juice will help cut the bitterness.

Sugar Addiction

What is Sugar Addiction?

• I think most of us suffer from some form of sugar addiction. If you’re not a believer of that, stop ALL sugar (sweet foods) for a week and see how it goes. You might be surprised at how your body, mind, and emotions respond.
• Sugar releases dopamine into the body. “Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is a key part of the “reward circuit” associated with addictive behavior. When a certain behavior causes an excess release of dopamine, you feel a pleasurable “high” that you are inclined to re-experience, and so repeat the behavior. As you repeat that behavior more and more, your brain adjusts to release less dopamine. The only way to feel the same “high” as before is to repeat the behavior in increasing amounts and frequency. This is known as substance abuse.” (2)
• Overcoming sugar addiction isn’t necessarily about willpower; it’s about knowledge!
• To learn more about this, click (here) to read my post on Transitioning Away from Refined Sugar.

Foods to Reduce or Avoid with Sugar Addiction

• It is natural for most of us to gravitate toward sweet drinks. Sugar is addictive, regardless of the form what it comes wrapped in, whether it is delivered in a candy wrapper or an orange peel. Therefore, my word of caution is to be careful when and if you are only juicing fruits. In fact, I don’t recommend it.

Foods to Try Instead when Juicing

• Green juices are low in sugar, alkalizing, cleansing/detoxifying, and restorative. These fresh juices can help you overcome the addiction to sugar.
• Low glycemic veggies are your best option; wheatgrass, dark leafy greens, cabbage, carrot, celeriac root, cucumber, ginger, grapefruit, lime, lemon, celery, and tomato.

Hypothyroid

What is Hypothyroid?

• The most common thyroid issues are hypothyroid and hyperthyroid. Hypothyroid means your thyroid gland is underactive (as opposed hyperthyroid, an overactive gland).
• The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the front of the neck, responsible for making hormones that act on almost every cell in your body. The thyroid gland has vast influence on metabolism, weight, brain development, breathing, body temperature, and skin, as well as heart health and cholesterol levels.

Foods to Reduce or Avoid with Hypothyroid

• When it comes to thyroid health, compounds in raw cruciferous vegetables have been under the microscope for years. Reports read to avoid them, whereas others encourage them. Navigating nutrition for thyroid balance is confusing!
• These “compounds” are thought to inhibit the intake of iodine, which is essential for our thyroid. Therefore it is a more sensible approach is to ensure sufficient iodine levels.
• Cruciferous veggies that people typically juice include arugula, cabbage, kale, mustard greens, collard greens, spinach, watercress, and bok choy.

Foods to Try Instead when Juicing

• Here are some foods (but not limited to) that help the health of the thyroid; pineapple, cilantro, parsley (yes you can juice those!), dandelion greens, celery, apple, lemon, lime, cucumber, carrot,  and fennel.

Medication Absorption & Effectiveness Issues

• Grapefruit juice can interfere with the absorption of certain medications (thyroid, cholesterol-lowering drugs, etc.). Always talk to your physician or pharmacist if this is a concern.
• The high vitamin K content in spinach, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, turnips greens, collard, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and parsley can lower the effectiveness of blood thinning medications. You don’t have to avoid these foods, but you do need to monitor your daily intake. (1)

Gas and Bloating

• Freshly squeezed juice from certain fruits (plums, sweet cherries, pears), contains high concentrations of sorbitol, a non-digestible form of sugar that occurs naturally in fruits. Sorbitol can result in the production of intestinal gas, causing bloating and discomfort.
• Juices should also be enjoyed on an empty stomach to reduce bloating and stomach discomfort.
• Also, don’t gulp your juice. Chew it! Sounds weird, I know, get over it. :)

Dental Issues

• One of the worries about fresh juices is the acidic nature in certain foods, which can be hard on the enamel of your teeth. The more greens you add to your juice and the less acidic fruits you use will help to prevent dental damage. Leafy greens will only help to strengthen your teeth, so be sure that they make up the bulk of your juices.
• Wait at least thirty minutes after finishing your juice to brush your teeth so that your mouth can return to its normal pH balance which helps prevent further damage.
• If possible drink your juice through a straw to minimize contact between the juice and enamel of your teeth.

Nutritional Deficiencies (while fasting)

• I recommend that all long-term juice fasts be monitored by a wellness practitioner. Depending on the person, any pre-existing conditions and the duration of the fast, can cause adverse effects.
• Fasts can result in electrolyte imbalances.
• Being too low in calories can harm your metabolism and may turn to eat muscle rather than fat.