Part 2 of 2: Is juice healthy,even if it's 100% fruit? Answer: not by my standards

Friday, March 4, 2011


Okay. I promised I'd talk more about enzymes in part 2. Following part 1 where I broke down simple volume issues; namely, a large glass of OJ is like eating 3-4 oranges, but without the fiber and other nutrients to slow the release into the blood stream- as you would have if you simply ate the fruit).

I'll get to the pasteurization/enzyme question shortly, but first I wanted to point something out. Take for instance a popular bottled "mango smoothie" that has the following ingredients in it:

Mango puree (company claims that one entire mango is present per bottle), apple juice, water, orange juice, banana puree, coconut and lemon juice.

The bottle is 450mL. The serving size on the side of the bottle is almost 1/2 that- 250mL.

Now. Let's look at the nutritional info.

Serving size
Calories
Protein
Sugar
Fiber
Vitamin C
Vitamin A
Iron
Calcium
240mL
150
1g
30g
0g
O%
0%
2%
2%
450mL
281
1.8g
56g
0g
0%
0%
3.75%
3.75%

So what would happen if we simply blended the raw ingredients together?
Ingredient
Calories
Protein
Sugar
Fiber
Vitamin C
Vitamin A
Iron
Calcium
1 mango
107
1g
24g
3g
76%
25%
1%
2%
¼ orange
17.5
¼ g
4g
1g
32%
2%
¼%
2%
¼ banana
25
0g
3g
1g
4%
3%
3%
1%
1 wedge lemon
1
0g
0g
0g
4%
0%
0%
0%
½  oz coconut
50
1/2g
1g
1.5g
2%
0%
2%
0%
Totals:
200
1.75g
32g
6.5g
118%
30%
6%
5%

You'll notice I've bolded both the 250mL serving size and my calculated "smoothie" to illustrate a point, while trying to compare as closely as possible, the servings. Calories are roughly the same, sugars are roughly the same, but what do you notice in the other columns??? Where did the fiber go? In the trash. Where the heck did all the vitamins go????? I have a theory...

Pasteurization, my friends.

Okay. So as I mentioned yesterday, when you heat food (fruit, veggies, nuts, oils) you change them. The longer and hotter you cook something, the less will remain of the nutrients. Anything over 118 degrees Fahrenheit will cause damage to existing nutrients. Does this mean you should become a raw foodist and never cook anything again? Depends- does that appeal to you? If it doesn't, you may fit into my camp where I recognize that raw is the optimal way to go, and as a result I incorporate TONS of raw fruit and veggies into my diet (usually breakfast and lunch) but I still have cooked veggies at dinner...because come on- roasted brussel's sprouts are the best side dish ever invented. Period. Hands down. Full stop.

That being said however, recognize that when you heat your food, you will lose nutrients, so do so lightly (and for goodness sake don't microwave your food), and make up for it with raw at other points throughout the day.

In addition to the loss of vitamins and nutrients in pasteurized juice, there's this pesky thing about enzymes. Now, for any moms out there who have either breastfed or read up on it, EVERY available information source (WITHOUT EXCEPTION) will tell you not to microwave breast milk. The reason is that microwaving, or heating excessively (anything more than plopping the bottle into a bowl of warm water) will damage the incredible properties such as the immune boosters, vitamins/minerals and...wait for it...digestive enzymes. Breast milk isn't the only food that has naturally occurring enzymes- in fact, I'd be hard pressed to find a single living thing that did NOT have them.

So what the heck IS an enzyme? Please bare with me while I try to explain how I understand all this...I expect that if I've got this all turned around someone will jump in.

Let's go back to grade 9 science, shall we? An enzyme is a facilitator for all kinds of chemical reactions which enables the reaction to happen faster and more efficiently (requiring less energy). Enzymes are responsible for anything from the transformation of milk to cheese, to the transformation of barley to beer. There are also thousands of enzymes involved in the digestive process (ones that our body produces) as there are also thousands of enzymes that facilitate the chemical processes for any living thing we eat, to have grown and been alive. In other words, all living things produce their own enzymes. When you eat food that is alive, you ingest those enzymes also, which further ease your own digestion. When you cook your food, you are ingesting food that does not bring its own digestive powers, so you're on the hook for the whole enchilada (literally or figuratively...).

Again, I'm sorry to all the hard-core raw foodies out there, but I like warm food. I can't see myself as a hard-core raw foodist. However, we can minimize the detrimental effects of heat on our food by doing so minimally, or doing so with gusto recognizing that cooked and pasteurized food is lacking, and having a healthy balance of raw produce (for both the vitamins and minerals, as well as the healthy balance of enzymes). You might also try tricks like adding slivered veggies to warm broth or sauce rather than cooking chunks of veggies to soften them.

As I have said over and over: I am all about balance. I continue to have my little daily dose of dark chocolate, my plain potato chips and my roasted brussel's sprouts a few times a week because I don't ever want to feel deprived. And I don't. Feed your body well; crunch on raw veggies and fruit as much as you can, and pepper the rest of your diet with the other things you enjoy. Oh, and if you want juice, put fruit and ice in your blender. Your body will thank you.

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