by: Grace T. Kim
Ever wonder why you’re always hungry or low in energy even after having a meal? Most likely, your diet is missing essential nutrients. Without proper fuel, your body will be lethargic and you’ll end up eating more food, because the body is craving for more vitamins, enzymes and minerals. By making vegetables the predominant component of your meals, you can get all the fuel that your body needs. An efficient way to get your daily dose of vegetable goodness is by drinking juices. Fortunately Bangkok offers many inexpensive options to get a healthy cocktail every day.
This is not to say that you should replace your solid vegetables with juices, because your body still needs to digest nutritional fiber, i.e. avocados, bananas or quinoa, to feel full and to expel other solid food. Most people don’t bother eating raw vegetables because of the inconvenience and taste. This is why juicing is becoming a popular trend: because you get all the goodness without the hassle.
For the best results, drink fresh juice on an empty stomach for better nutrient absorption. Select juice products that are slow-juiced or cold-pressed without additives like preservatives or sugar. This means that you have to drink less fruit juice than vegetable juice. The rule of thumb is juice that tastes sweet means that it has too much sugar, even if it is naturally derived from fruit. Think of your juice as a healthy supplement rather than a sweet drink. Follow these tips and you’ll get the most nutritional bang for every Thai baht that is spent.
Juice cleansing is a detoxification method where people go on a liquid fast, but it is vitally important to consult with a doctor or clinical nutritionist before drastically changing your diet. You’ll never know what precautions to take if food is deemed as healthy. For example, grapefruit is contraindicated for people who take hypertension drugs and/or statins (cholesterol medication). Apparently grapefruit and some drugs share an active ingredient, so when they are combined they could overdose the medicine. The lesson is to be informed and eat well.
In Bangkok, it has never been easier to get your daily cocktail of goodness. You can be economical and juice your own drinks, which it takes a small investment in a good-quality juicing machine (ranging from THB 800 to THB 8,000), which takes time in buying vegetables in bulk, and cleaning your juicing machine (my least favorite part). The upside is that you control the quality of your juice and the recipe. The juicers are also readily available at your local department store and online shops like Lazada. Make sure you look for slow-juicing or cold-pressing features, because regular juicers will damage the plant cells and enzymes, the very thing you want to drink. You can tell the difference of the quality of juice between regular centrifugal juicing and slow-juicing in the picture below.
Centrigual juicing product on left, cold-pressed juicing product on right
Want something easier? Choose one of many Thai juice companies online that prepare and deliver freshly prepared juice right to your home or office. This may be a good option for those who want to try this health trend without the fuss.
When buying juice on the street or in a restaurant, make sure that you ask for no sugar by saying, “May wan.” Some juice vendors add fructose or condensed mild to enhance the taste. This will defeat the purpose of having fresh juice.
With such an abundance of juicing options, there is no reason why you can’t have nutritional balance your diet. So if you are feeling low in energy, try drinking a vegetable cocktail!
