Eating

Get Juiced

It's been about a decade since I lugged my Juiceman out of the back reaches of my kitchen cabinet. When I first bought the juicer, I used it daily, creating fresh, tasty concoctions with just about anything I could find in my fridge's vegetable drawer.

But scrubbing the pulp stuck in the blades of the Juiceman always took longer than the actual juicing, so I stopped because I didn't have the time. Now I'm in my early 40s and concerned about age-related aches, occasional acid reflux, weight gain and even scarier possibilities, such as my increased risk of cancer (both my parents had the disease). The research is clear that eating antioxidant-packed produce can decrease the odds of getting many conditions--from digestive woes and skin problems to diabetes and cancer--so it's high time I start juicing again.

Why raw is right on

Even though I try to load my plate with greens as often as possible, experts say I might not be getting all the nutrients those vegetables offer if I'm cooking them. That's because heat destroys some nutrients and enzymes, says Michael Murray, N.D., author of The Complete Book of Juicing: Your Delicious Guide to Youthful Vitality (Clarkson Potter). He notes that cooking vegetables can destroy up to 97 percent of vitamins B and C, and up to 40 percent of vitamins A, D, E and K. The pasteurization process used for packaged juices also kills nutrients and enzymes, he says.

"If you don't eat enough raw foods, you're not getting adequate cancer-fighting phytonutrients like free-radical-scavenging carotenes and alkalizing chlorophyll and anti-viral flavonoids," says Murray. To reduce my risk of chronic disease, he suggests I eat So percent of my daily vegetables (five to seven 1/2-cup servings) and fruits (one to two 1/2-cup servings) raw.

"Fresh juices are an excellent way to get a concentrated shot of plant- based nutrients in a readily absorbable form," he says. Because juicers break down the indigestible fiber's cell wall, the nutrients inside are released and immediately absorbed by your own cells. But, even though some fiber is retained in juiced fruits and vegetables, I'll still need to eat plenty of produce to reach a woman's recommended daily intake of 25 grams of fiber.