Pro: Getting more produce. “Most people do not consume nearly enough fruit. A combination of whole fruit and 100 percent fruit juice is the most effective way to meet the fruit shortfall, without paying more,” says Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington. “For some people, 100 percent juice is the lower-cost option for meeting nutrient requirements.”

Con: Lack of fibre. While drinking your fruits and vegetables is a convenient way to reach your daily produce goals, eating whole fruits and veggies, with their intact fibre, will likely leave you more satisfied. When you eat a piece of whole fruit, its intact fibre slows the digestion of the natural sugars.

When you drink juice, you get sugar without fibre to slow it down.

Pro: Better diet quality. Drinking 100 percent fruit juice is associated with improved diet quality in children and adults, particularly with making sure children, adolescents and teens get enough of key nutrients like vitamins A and C, potassium, folate, and magnesium.

Con: Not all juices are equal. The term “juicing” refers to juice extraction from fruits and vegetables, but not all juices are created equal, and many are not 100 percent juice. Some are thinned or filtered, while juice “cocktails” or juice blends may contain one or more juices, with much of the sugar coming from added sugars. These types of juice don’t offer as much nutrition as 100 percent juice or whole fruits and vegetables.

Pro: Phytonutrient boost. Along with vitamins and minerals, juice may give you a phytonutrient boost. Phytonutrients are compounds made by plants that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory or other benefits for health. A study in Nutrients found that even 1/2-cup of Concord grape juice per day provides enough polyphenols (a type of phytonutrient) to reduce several risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including blood pressure.

Con: It’s not “magic.” Even though phytonutrients may also support our immune system, the juice isn’t a magic elixir for detoxing or boosting the immune system. The liver needs protein and adequate calories to transform toxins into a form that we can eliminate. Our intestines need fibre to speed that elimination. Also, our gut microbiota plays a role in immunity, and those microbes feed on fibre.

Juicing healthfully:

Like to juice at home or visit your local juice bar? Here’s what you need to know:

• Think supplemental. Use juicing to supplement your daily diet, not as your diet. Juice can be a great way to squeeze in additional vitamins and minerals, but it doesn’t have the fibre, protein, and fat that are also essential for health.
• Keep calories in check. Juice may be full of nutrients, but it still contains calories. How many calories are in your juice? That depends on what’s in it, and the serving size. If you use vegetables in your juice blend, the calories will be lower than if you are drinking pure fruit juice.
• Put vegetables first. When you juice fruit, you get all of the nutrients and all of the natural sugar, but none of the fibre, so the amount of sugar and calories per serving becomes more concentrated (more in a smaller amount). Juicing primarily vegetables like dark leafy greens, celery, and cucumber, then adding a small amount of fruit, like apple or kiwi, or root vegetables (carrots or beets) for sweetness is the better way to go. A hint of lemon, lime, or ginger is a nice touch.
• Don’t ditch the fibre. When you juice, you don’t get the fibre that’s in whole fruits and vegetables, because juicing machines extract the juice and leave behind the fibre-rich pulp. If you juice at home, you can stir some of the pulp back into the juice or use it in cooking. Try adding fruit pulp to muffin batter, or use vegetable pulp when making broth, pasta sauce, or casseroles

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“Later in life, there tends to be a decrease in the number of hours slept,” says Dr. Karen Carlson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “There are also some changes in the way the body regulates circadian rhythms,” she adds. This internal clock helps your body respond to changes in light and dark. When it undergoes a shift with age, it can be harder to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.

Beyond making us tired and moody, lack of sleep can have serious effects on our health, increasing our propensity for obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

A recent study in the British Medical Journal associated several hypnotic sleep aids with a possible increased risk of death. You don’t need to avoid sleep aids if you absolutely need them, but before you turn to pills, try these tips to help you get a better night’s sleep:

1. Exercise

Going for a brisk daily walk won’t just trim you down; it will also keep you up less often at night. Exercise boosts the effect of natural sleep hormones such as melatonin, Dr. Carlson says. Exercising too close to bedtime can be stimulating. Carlson says a morning workout is ideal. “Exposing yourself to bright daylight first thing in the morning will help the natural circadian rhythm,” she says.

2. Reserve bed for sleep

Don’t use your bed as an office for answering phone calls and responding to emails. Also avoid watching late-night TV there. Reserve your bed only for sleep.

3. Keep it comfortable

Television isn’t the only possible distraction in your bedroom. Ambience can affect your sleep quality too. Make sure your bedroom is as comfortable as possible. Ideally you want a quiet, dark, cool environment.

4. Start a sleep ritual

Rituals help signal the body and mind that it’s coming to be time for sleep, explains Dr. Carlson. Drink a glass of warm milk. Take a bath. Or listen to calming music to unwind before bed.

5. Eat – but not too much

A grumbling stomach can be distracting enough to keep you awake, but so can an overly full belly. Avoid eating a big meal within two to three hours of bedtime. If you’re hungry right before bed, eat a small healthy snack.

6. Avoid alcohol and caffeine

If you do have a snack before bed, wine and chocolate shouldn’t be part of it. Chocolate contains caffeine, which is a stimulant. Surprisingly, alcohol has a similar effect.

7. De-stress

Stress is a stimulus. It activates the fight-or-flight hormones that work against sleep,” Dr. Carlson says. Give yourself time to wind down before bed. To relax, try deep breathing exercises. Inhale slowly and deeply, and then exhale.

8. Get checked

An urge to move your legs, snoring, and a burning pain in your stomach, chest, or throat are symptoms of three common sleep disrupters–restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. If these symptoms are keeping you up at night or making you sleepy during the day, see your doctor for an evaluation.

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1. Eat the colours of the rainbow.

It’s easy to identify foods with the highest levels of antioxidants, they’re often the most colorful. Carrots and sweet potatoes have plenty of beta carotene; bell peppers, strawberries and tomatoes contain vitamin C; tomatoes and watermelon have lycopene; and dark leafy greens like spinach contain lutein. Blueberries have anthocyanins. Red grapes have resveratrol. And the list goes on, so banish the beige!

2. Plot out your plate wisely.

To lower your cancer risk, the American Institute for Cancer Research recommends filling 2/3 or more of your plate with plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans and 1/3 or less with animal proteins, such as lean meat or dairy foods.

3. Eat whole fruits first.

Pure fruit juice, though often rich in the same vitamins, minerals and cancer-fighting phytochemicals as the whole fruits they’re made from, don’t contain Fiber. Though you may feel full after snacking on an orange, you probably won’t after drinking a glass of orange juice, but you’ll end up consuming more calories, because juice condenses a fruit’s calories into a small amount. A glass of juice here and there won’t hurt, but stick with whole fruits first.

What’s missing in “dressed-up” juices? Some fruit juices are now fortified with Fiber (it’s added in the form of a thickening agent called maltodextrin), but you’re still missing out on all of the other beneficial compounds whole fruits provide. If it’s Fiber you’re seeking, why opt for processed and bottled when you can enjoy fresh and whole?

4. Crush your cloves.

To help garlic retain its cancer-fighting properties, the American Institute for Cancer Research recommends this trick: During preparation, crush your garlic instead of mincing it. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes at room temperature before you toss it in the skillet and await that familiar savoury fragrance.

5. Get in the grains.

Eating plenty of whole grains is important to maintaining healthy immunity; nutrition experts agree that at least half of the recommended 6 to 9 servings of grains you should eat every day should be whole grains. Look for the term “whole grain” as the first ingredient when shopping for breads or try some healthy whole grain recipes feature brown rice, quinoa, barley, corn and oats.

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