Is juicing healthy? The short answer is yes, done sensibly, but it is not the magic health fix some people make it out to be. A glass of fresh juice counts towards your 5 a day, but only as one portion, and it cannot replace whole fruit and vegetables.
What juicing actually does
When you juice fruit and veg, you keep most of the vitamins and minerals but leave the fibre behind in the pulp. That fibre is one of the main reasons whole fruit and veg are good for you. It slows down how quickly sugar reaches your bloodstream, keeps you full, and keeps things moving.
Without it, you get the sugars from the fruit in a much more concentrated form. That is why the NHS says unsweetened juice and smoothies only ever count as one of your 5 a day, however much you drink, and recommends keeping it to around 150ml a day.
The good side of juicing
For all its limits, juicing has a real place. If you struggle to eat vegetables, a glass of juice is a far easier way to get them in than a plate of them. Carrot, celery, tomato and leafy greens all juice well, and a vegetable-heavy juice is genuinely low in sugar compared with shop-bought fruit juice.
Fresh juice also has nothing added. No syrup, no preservatives, no “juice drink” nonsense. Just the produce you put in, which puts it ahead of most of what you will find in the chilled aisle.
If you want somewhere to start, a simple carrot, orange and turmeric juice is a good first recipe, or a savoury tomato and celery one if you prefer less sweet.
The downsides, to be honest about
Juice is not a free pass. A fruit-heavy juice can carry nearly as much sugar as a soft drink, just with more vitamins attached. Drink it fast on an empty stomach and you will feel the sugar hit.
Juicing also strips out the fibre that helps you feel full, so it is easy to drink a lot and still be hungry ten minutes later. And if you are juicing instead of eating whole fruit and veg, you are missing the best part of them.
There is also no evidence that cold pressed is meaningfully healthier than any other fresh juice. What matters is what is in the glass and how much you drink.
What about juice cleanses?
If your plan is a week of nothing but juice, I would say don’t. Your liver and kidneys already do the detoxing, and there is no evidence a juice cleanse removes toxins or does anything a normal healthy diet does not. What it will do is leave you short of protein, fibre and calories, and probably grumpy with it.
A more useful idea is a gentle challenge: one vegetable-heavy juice a day alongside proper meals for a week. That is sustainable, and that is how a habit actually sticks.
How to juice healthily
- Keep juice to 150ml a day, one portion of your 5 a day.
- Go vegetable-first. A third of a cucumber, a couple of carrots, a stick of celery, then a small piece of fruit for sweetness.
- Drink it with a meal, not instead of one.
- Keep eating whole fruit and veg. Juice adds to your diet, it does not replace it.
- Skip shop-bought juice with added sugar. If it says “from concentrate” and has a long ingredient list, it is a different drink.
Frequently asked questions
Is juicing as good as eating whole fruit?
No. Whole fruit and veg keep their fibre, which juice loses. Juice is a useful extra, not a substitute.
How much juice can I drink a day?
The NHS says 150ml of unsweetened juice or smoothie counts as one portion of your 5 a day, and that is the limit worth sticking to.
Does juicing help you lose weight?
Only if it replaces higher-calorie drinks or snacks, and even then the effect is small. Juice still has calories and almost no protein, so it is not a meal replacement.
The bottom line
Juicing is a healthy habit if you keep it vegetable-heavy, keep it to one small glass a day and treat it as an addition to whole fruit and veg, not a replacement. It is a way to get more good stuff in. It is not a cure for anything.
More juices to try: see the full Immunity collection, or start with the Carrot Orange Turmeric Juice and the Tomato Celery Juice. I have also written about whether celery juice is good for you, and there is a gentle 7-day juicing challenge if you fancy easing in slowly.
When in the day to drink it is the other question I get asked most, and the honest answer is in the best time to drink juice.