Coffee is currently the most popular drink in the world. Many people claim that they can’t do anything before they have had their coffee and people do not skimp when buying coffee machines or popping into a coffee shop so that a barista can make them coffee to their exacting standards. More recently, juice bars have been popping up, often they are placed as kiosks in the middle of shopping centers, trying to appeal to the impulse of the passing shopper.
A traditional continental breakfast always included an often freshly squeezed juice and parents would like to give their children juice to drink on a daily basis. However, few people can be bothered to squeeze their own oranges on a daily basis and would rather opt for the convenience of buying ready-made juice, either longlife or freshly squeezed.
Whilst juice was traditionally viewed as a child’s drink of choice during the day, more and more adults are opting to buy it for its health benefits. This explains the growth in the freshly squeezed juice market and juice bars, which are expected to see an increase in size of 2.7% in 2021.
There are perceptions that juice is healthier for you and can help you lose weight but are these assumptions founded?
As children we were told to eat our 5 a day. Some people find this difficult to do so. If they drink 100% freshly squeezed juice instead, they are gaining the same vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals you need in your daily diet. The only thing missing is dietary fibre from the fruit.
There are claims that drinking juice is healthier than eating fruit. The theory is that it gives your body a rest from too much dietary fibre and can aid your digestion. Juice also can reduce your risk of cancer, boost your immune system, remove toxins from your body and help you lose weight. Scientific studies are being carried out to substantiate these claims.
Juicing gives a very smooth texture whilst blending leaves it a little rougher. The benefit of a blended juice or shake over a juiced one is that there are healthy phytonutrients and fiber left in. Fiber can help you feel full and therefore aid a person in their quest to eat less and lose weight.
Finding a freshly squeezed juice that is really fresh and contains all the goodness still intact is very important. Companies such as Pri Niv in Israel combine the health benefits with a range of flavours that will appeal to a wide range of tastebuds but more importantly just as different fruits have different benefits so will the different juices. This allows the consumer to have the benefits of a carefully constructed juice, that they would have specially blended for them at a juice bar without having to go to one specially.
Buying and drinking juice has never been so exciting!