Diabetes is unfortunately a rather common health problem today. In many situations, diabetes is diet related and is primarily a result of too much sugar.

Juice is a refined food and like all refined foods, the food is no longer whole. A whole food takes longer for the body to digest and thus, the sugar content of the food is released slowly into the bloodstream. Digestion is the body's natural way of slowly releasing vitamins and nutrients into the bloodstream.

The people of Asia never knew what diabetes was until they began to refine rice and make it white. Unfortunately, brown rice is a whole food while white rice is a refined and processed food. White rice contains very little nutrition and yet, because white rice is a pure starch it also releases sugar into the bloodstream really fast.

When your body eats brown rice, due to the fact it is a whole food, it takes longer to digest and so the nutrition is released slowly into the bloodstream.

White rice, on the other hand, is a processed food and because it has already been refined, white rice is more rapidly digested releasing sugar into the bloodstream much faster.

Juicing is like all processed foods but the difference is that with juicing, you are getting good nutrition. But at the same time, we need to realize that we are potentially releasing sugar into our bloodstream. This is why I have published the nutritional analysis for as many vegetable and fruits as possible in my book.

It's important to realize how much sugar is in the vegetables we are juicing.

When juicing, we want to focus more on vegetable juice rather than fruit juice. We also want to focus on vegetables that are low in sugar content. As a general rule, vegetables that are grown above ground are low in sugar while those grown below ground are high in sugar and this includes beets, carrots, yams, etc.

When starting juicing for the first time, I tell people to add a small amount of carrot to their juice to make the juice slightly more delicious. But the key here is a small amount. With time, you want to remove the carrot from the drink and juice vegetables that have a lower sugar content.

A sugar is a sugar is a sugar — no matter what the source of the sugar is. A sugar from a vegetable or fruit can still lead to sugar related health problems like diabetes and hypoglycemia.

If you are concerned about diabetes, then consult your doctor and/or naturopath before juicing. Additionally, get yourself a glucometer so you can test your blood sugar after juicing. A glucometer is the same tool that diabetics use to test their blood sugar.

As a little tip, remember that the nutritional analysis provided for the fruits and vegetables is per 100 grams. When reviewing the nutritional analysis for each fruit and vegetable you should then take a look at its energy level (sugar content) while remembering that 100 grams of a carrot is small amount while 100 grams of lettuce is a lot.

Since lettuce is light weight, it will take quite a few leaves to make 100 grams.

454 grams equal 1 pound. So if you buy, as an example, a 1 pound bag of carrots, then approximately ¼ of that bag is equal to 100 grams.

Do you have questions about juicing vegetables and/or fruits?

Do you have questions about natural health and healing?

If so, Ask Jesse a question:

Some questions and answers may appear online to help others learn more about juicing, juicing techniques and about health and while we're at it, about happiness too!

If you really do not want your question and answer to appear online, just let me know.

Not all questions and answers will appear online. Instead, I like to publish those question and answers that can most benefit others.

You can read and view questions that have been asked in my juicing questions and answers section.

1. Juicing strategy for overall health and wellness.
2. Can the body detoxify too fast?
3. Should some vegetables be cooked before juicing?
4. Is Eating Whole Fruit Okay Even Though It Is High In Sugar?
5. Receding Gums and Juicing
6. My Husband Got A Stomach Ache From His Juice?
7. Which Juices Would Be Good For Depression?
8. Do you have some tips for IBS, constipation and gallstones?
9. Should I peel beets for juicing them or just wash them?
10. Did not realize that pears and beets are high in sugar!