Juicing Vitamins and Weight Loss

Vitamin C is about so much more than fighting colds!  Do you need to lose weight?  Did you know that you can target foods high in vitamin C in your juicing recipes to make fat-burning easier?  Yes!  This simple and well-known nutrient has been shown to play an important role in boosting weight loss and metabolism.

Let’s take a closer look at how vitamin C benefits your body.

What Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid.  It is a water-soluble vitamin with an antioxidant function in your body.  This means that the nutrient is constantly working to neutralize free radicals that can cause cell damage.

Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in your body.  This means that you need to take in a fresh supply of them each day, otherwise you will develop a deficiency which can lead to health issues over time.  All the B-vitamins are also water-soluble.

Your body does not have the ability to produce any Vitamin C by itself, so you have to make sure that your intake of this nutrient is always adequate.  Smokers and folks who are heavy drinkers are highly likely to be deficient in vitamin C.

What Does Vitamin C Do In Your Body?

Apart from keeping your immune system strong, vitamin C functions like a top-rated maintenance guy and handyman in your body!  This is the nutrient that takes care of much of the never-ending repair work you are not even aware of.

Vitamin C is one of the main players when it comes to forming collagen.  Collagen is a fibrous protein, vital for supporting and connecting a variety of tissues in your body.  From your bones to your muscles, teeth, cartilage, nails and skin need collagen to be healthy.  Your skin also relies on this protein for maintaining suppleness and a youthful appearance.

So, you can see why you need a steady vitamin C supply for all the upkeep that is constantly taking place behind the scenes!

How Can Vitamin C Help With Weight Loss And Exercise?

If you are using juicing recipes for weight loss, you may find that your results improve drastically if you include more foods high in vitamin C.

Researchers are finding that vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C can increase your fat burning rate during exercise.  How is that for delicious news?  This is superb motivation to increase your daily intake of a whole range of great-tasting fresh produce.  Eat some and juice some!

What we see here is impressive teamwork between the antioxidants carnitine and vitamin C.

Carnitine basically helps your body to turn fat into energy.  It can also play a role in reducing the inflammation that usually follows strenuous exercise.  How does this happen?  Your body can produce carnitine, but vitamin C is required to activate it.  The carnitine reciprocates by boosting the working of the vitamin C, with you enjoying all the benefits of their interaction.

According to a study done by Carol S. Johnston of the Arizona State University (published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition¹), fat-burning can be up to 30% higher during exercise if you have a healthy level of vitamin C in your body, compared to the results in folks who are getting too little of it.

So, by topping up with a vitamin C-rich juice in time, you can ensure that you gain the maximum benefit from walking, working out or any other fat-loss  activity.  The vitamin C and carnitine team may also enable you to exercise for longer, as it could add to endurance and give you more energy.

If you have been struggling to lose weight consistently in spite of exercising, you could try adding more foods high in vitamin C.  Who knows, this may just be what you need to get your over this frustrating nothing-is-budging plateau.

A Taste Of Other Vitamin C Benefits

While this vitamin is helping you to get your body back into shape, it will do a number of other things you are going to love!

As vitamin C has to do with collagen production, it is exactly what you need for maintaining a youthful, glowing, plump-looking and firm skin!  It may be one way of keeping wrinkles at bay, from the inside out.  It can also help to combat skin dryness and slow down the aging process.

At the same time your nails and hair will also benefit.

While it has become apparent that vitamin C may not be the ‘magic pill’ that keeps you from getting colds, this nutrient can definitely reduce the severity of a cold or other infection, preventing more serious complications.

Vitamin C functions as an antioxidant and therefore is a major enemy of the free radicals that cause all sorts of havoc in your body.  It acts as an awesome ally when you need protection from the cell damage normally initiated by these bad guys and reduces inflammation.

It can therefore help to prevent certain cancers, may lower your risk of developing heart disease and can even prevent the development of serious age-related eye diseases.

Also remember that this vitamin can improve iron absorption in your body.  When you are having iron-rich foods, it is a good idea to try and include a selection of foods that are high in vitamin C.  This can increase your iron uptake significantly.

Juicing Recipes For More Vitamin C Benefits:

Following are two of my favorite juice recipes for increasing vitamin C intake.  The first one is a delicious fruity treat!  The second will give you lots of greens, as well as that all-powerful sweet red bell pepper.  Yum!

If you need to increase the quantity of a recipe, cucumber always is a good ‘neutral’ ingredient to use.  It is low in calories and sugar, high in water and make for lots of juice!  It is also excellent to help reduce water retention.

Berry C-Booster Juice:

2 kiwi fruit
1 cup strawberries
1 cup cranberries
1 guava
1 pear
6 to 10 mint leaves (according to taste)

Feed-The-Burn Juice:

1/2 cup kale
1/2 cup of spinach
4 broccoli florets
4 carrots
1/2 cucumber
1/2 beet
1/2 to 1 red bell pepper (according to taste)
1 apple
1/2 lime

Wash and prepare Vegetables and Fruits:

Roll kale and spinach into tight balls before juicing.

Trim carrot ends and discard greens.

Peel cucumber only if waxed, as skin is nutrient-rich.

Trim beetroot ends, peel thinly, and cut into chunks.

Quarter the apple (don’t peel, but discard all seeds).

Peel lime thinly, discarding skin (leave as much of the white pith as possible, as this is nutrient-rich).

Juicing:  Run all the ingredients through your juicer.  Juice the spinach and kale with carrots for the best results.  You will get more from the cucumber if you use a lower speed.  Pour over ice and serve.

Servings: 2 Medium servings.

Read more knowledgeable articles plus delicious and healthy juicing recipes by Rika Susan:

Best Juicing Recipes For Weight Loss.
What are the best juicing recipes for weight loss?  Did you know that by simply remembering to add goodies like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale, you could be giving your juicing for weight loss recipes fat-fighting clout at a whole new level!

Juicing For Weight Loss
Juicing for weight loss has such a wealth of body benefits that it is fast replacing water detox regimens.  If a healthy diet and nutrition program is uppermost on your list of priorities, you will soon discover that juicing for weight loss is the optimal option.

Reference: Carol S. Johnston, PhD, FACN. Strategies for Healthy Weight Loss: From Vitamin C to the Glycemic Response. Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition June 2005 vol. 24 no. 3 158-165