So Juice Is Evil?

Another response to a comment from the “Weight of the Nation.”

One of the experts said that we should NEVER drink juice.

OK, so here we go again, with a “good food” versus “bad food” mentality…

The expert said that juice is a “bad” food because it is high in calories.  So he thinks he is helping by saying that you should never drink juice, because then your calorie consumption for the day would be lower, and then you would lose weight, or at least not gain.

If you want to be a dieter for the rest of your life, following food rules instead of your own personal biology, then go ahead and follow this advice.  Count your calories and don’t waste them on juice…  You will forgo the foods you love, strengthen the disconnect between what your body wants, and what you provide.  Yes, you may diet your way down a few pounds.  But remember, what is the best predictor of the future?  It is the past.  And when you diet, you lose weight and then you gain it back.

But that kind of a life isn’t good enough for me.  And I hope it isn’t good enough for you.

Why would a wonderful, beautiful food, like fresh squeezed orange juice, be banned from my life.  I just  had a glass- and I love it.  I “crave” it.  It tastes like health to me.  It is pulpy and cold and sweet and thirst quenching and one of those simple pleasures in life.

Do I drink a gallon of it?  No!  And why not?  Because since I know that I will never diet again and that I can have OJ anytime my body asks for it (I have learned to listen, and SO CAN YOU) I drink a small glass and am completely satisfied.

And my body knows that I drank it.  By that I mean that I am not ingesting calories that go unnoticed.  And my body also knows what nutrients are in what I drank-  it is “processing” them.  So later on today, I may not crave something full vitamin C.  I may crave a protein heavy chicken salad with crunchy vegetables in it.  Who knows!  I am not worried about it.  I drank the juice I was craving, and now I move on.

But this expert would have given me big points for pouring myself a large glass of ice water instead of the juice I wanted.  How miserable!  I needed juice, so I drank it.  And now I am done, moving onto more important things.