I am often asked, "What do you think about juicing? What is the best way? What are the best ingredients? Will I lose weight?"

Juicing is a great way to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet. You must, however, be aware of how much fruit you are using. Some people end up using way too much fruit, exceeding the number of calories and grams of carbohydrates they would otherwise normally have in one day.

The other challenge with juicing is that some juice bars and home juicers remove the pulp and skin. It's very important to keep the soluble fiber that's found in whole fruits and vegetables. By using a good blender instead of a juicing machine (which will extract the juice and leave behind the pulp of fruits and vegetables and can remove much of the soluble fiber), you can keep the soluble fiber in your drink. This gives you a great mix of vitamins and minerals as well as the soluble fiber which will slow down the process of digestion, help control your blood sugar, and keep you fuller. If your juice ends up being too thick, just add some cold water into the blender while it's mixing, or a little bit of coconut water or coconut milk.

It's always best to include some dark leafy green vegetables into your juice such as spinach and kale. This will not only give you a maximum amount of vitamins and minerals, but will help keep the overall carbohydrate content of your juice lower.

Using a juice plan for many people will help them lose weight. The problem is that you need to continue to have protein and healthy fats throughout your day. Going on an all juice diet or fast for many days may help you lose weight in the short term, but in the long run once you've introduce regular food, the weight may come right back on….  A great way to balance this is by adding protein and fat into your juice: almond milk, Greek yogurt, flaxseed powder, flaxseed oil, and peanut butter or almond butter.