Do you REALLY want to drink that??

Our eyes are trained to look at food, and our bodies are trained to digest it; our minds may decide which foods are more desirable to eat, but they also decide whether we are satisified with what we ate, and if we have had enough. All of this is harder to do if we are drinking our calories rather than chewing them. A piece of fruit is much more appealing than a glass of juice; a juicy steak hits a spot that no protein shake will ever come close to, and do you REALLY want to pass up that gorgeous salad for some vegetable juice??? Your mind and body both recieve a much greater pleasure in the process of eating food - the expectation, tasting, chewing and digesting provide feedback that you are eating. When you drink a meal (as in a protein shake) or substitute juice for a piece of fruit or a vegetable, you miss out on valuable nutrients (vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants) that are lost in processing foods into juices, and any fiber, which is so important for our digestive systems to work properly. Your stomach does not get the same satisfaction from drinking, so it doesn't send the proper signals to your mind that it is being fed. It takes time to disgest food, but it takes very little time for liquids to pass through your body; this leaves you feeling hungry, or feeling hungry sooner, and you'll just end up consuming more calories in the long run. Take that extra time to peel an orange - all of your parts will be happier for it! Melissa