Bloating and Digestive Issues: The Reason Why Most Fibers Fall Short

When our founder, Annie, first came up with the concept for SMART Pressed Juice, she used to frequent a popular juice bar in Santa Monica, California. Santa Monica is the mecca for all things trendy: green juices, celebrity yoga, $8 lattes filled with gratitude, you name it.  

Over time, she became a regular there and used the opportunity to frequently chat with the high-profile clientele to see what they liked and didn’t like about juicing. 

That’s when she overheard one of their top customers say something intriguing: “I’ve done everything right. I drank every single juice you gave me, followed your schedule exactly to the minute, I’m still bloated and haven’t gone to the bathroom in SEVEN DAYS.”

Seven days?!

Annie immediately went to go talk to her to learn more. It turns out drinking five green juices daily may help reset your digestive system, but it also slows down your metabolism because you are drinking nothing but liquid that has had all the plant fibers and proteins removed. 

In other words, it’s not the best thing for your digestive system if your goal is to cleanse and detox. 

This was also the missing element in most juice systems on the market and the “aha” moment for Annie. Fiber is one of the most important things to include in a cleanse, and yet it is the number one thing you see missing from all juice cleanses and similar programs.

If you’ve tried juice cleanses before only to encounter the same bathroom issues as the woman Annie spoke to, a lack of fiber was the culprit. 

Now, you might be thinking that adding fiber to a cleanse is pretty simple, but the fibers you choose are very important.

The Problem with Most Fiber Supplements

It is no secret that a high fiber diet can help support healthy body weight, increase energy production, promote a healthy gut. Yet the average American diet consists of high intakes of protein as well as carbs that are deficiently low in fiber. As a result, most Americans need to increase their fiber intake.

Juice cleanses are meant to help reset your digestive system after you’ve maintained a poor diet - and they do. But you can’t properly detox your body without the proper combination of fibers, which many juice cleanses lack.

Some of you may be thinking, “Can’t I just pick up a fiber supplement from the store and take it with my juice cleanse?”

While that could help somewhat, most fiber products on the market contain only soluble fiber due to its low cost and high fiber claim. The downside of this is that all of this soluble fiber causes most people to experience gas and bloating.

Not to mention, you must pay attention to the rest of the ingredients in these popular fiber supplements. Metamucil, for example, is a single ingredient fiber and is full of fillers and artificial colors like what you would find in Mountain Dew. 

Benefiber is another popular one, but it's made from allergenic materials like wheat dextrin which can be extremely irritating to the gut for some people. Fiber gummies are also popular, but a quick look at the ingredients shows they're full of sugar and actually contain hardly any fiber.

The Ideal Fiber Solution

Annie discovered that the SMART fiber solution is to combine all types of dietary fiber: soluble, insoluble, resistant starches, and nutrient-dense activated fibrous superfoods in the form of seeds and sprouts. Naturally, ourPineapple Chia Cleanse is formulated to deliver just that!

What exactly are soluble and insoluble fibers, and why do our bodies need both? Here’s a brief overview:

• Soluble Fiber:This type of fiber combines with water, creating a gel-like substance in the intestines. In addition to reducing blood sugar spikes, soluble fiber helps you feel full for a longer period of time.
• Insoluble Fiber: This type of fiber typically passes through the body as is. Insoluble fiber helps bulk up your waste to ensure it's properly eliminated.

Soluble fiber works to soak up any potentially harmful compounds in your body, like unhealthy fats or excess estrogen. Insoluble fiber helps move things along quickly, limiting the amount of time that chemicals like mercury, BPS, and pesticides stay in your system. Moving these harmful compounds and chemicals through your body faster ensures they don't have time to cause any harm.

How We Chose Our Ingredients

Here is an in-depth look at the ingredients that make up our fiber the smartest choice out there.

1. Organic Flaxseed and Organic Chia Seed

Flaxseed and chia seeds both contain high mucilage (gelling fiber) content, which can increase nutrient absorption and colon detoxification. Containing both soluble and insoluble fiber, these two superfood seeds also contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids (good for heart health support), lignans (antioxidants), and significant amounts of micronutrients (calcium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin B1). 

SMART Pressed Juice powders contain flaxseed and chia seeds that are organic certified and cold-milled. Cold milling means no heat is used during processing, which allows us to turn them into “powder sized” seeds while keeping their nutrients intact.

2. Organic Psyllium Husk, Organic Fennel Seed, and Organic Marshmallow Roots Herb

This trinity of high-fiber herbs each has different digestive functions that work synergistically to improve the process of elimination, which can be difficult during a juice cleanse or even when consuming a typical American diet. 

First off, the psyllium husks act by helping your body absorb water, which in turn, softens stools. Next, fennel seeds stimulate the release of gastric and digestive juices, thus supporting healthy digestive functions. Lastly, marshmallow roots produce mucous membranes that help repair and smooth out stomach lining, supporting the overall digestive functions.

3. Organic Jerusalem Artichoke Inulin

Inulin is a water-soluble fiber found in plants. While there are many benefits of Jerusalem artichoke inulin, ourPineapple Chia Cleanse is using it for its prebiotic function. Being an oligosaccharide, a compound consisting of simple sugars, inulin passes through our large and small intestines unabsorbed. This process naturally ferments inulin to feed the friendly gut bacteria. Among its many important functions, the friendly gut bacteria assists in breaking down food and the absorption of nutrients.

4. Organic Activated Sprouts

OurPineapple Chia Cleanse contains organic amaranth sprout, organic quinoa sprout, organic millet sprout, organic pumpkin sprout, organic spelt sprout, organic broccoli sprout, organic lentil sprout, and organic white kidney bean sprout. Why do we use so many sprouts, and why do we choose activated seed sprouts? The answer is because sprouts are highly nutritious - and activated seed sprouts are even more so!

Activated seed sprouts are made even more potent through the pre-sprouting of stored protein and carbohydrates into active enzymes and vitamins. Foods with live enzymes deliver more energy and nutrients to the body, thus activating the metabolic enzymes, which allows the cells in the body to perform their function. In this case, we are looking for better absorption of nutrients.

5. Pineapple, Enzymes, and Probiotics

We love pineapple for many of its benefits. It is naturally sweet and low-calorie, yet jam-packed with nutrients and dietary fiber. What is unique about pineapple is the abundance of bromelain, an enzyme that specifically breaks down protein.

To enhance pineapple's natural benefits, we included a group of enzymes to support the healthy breaking down and digestion of all food types. We use amylase to assist with breaking down starch, protease for protein, cellulase for plant fiber, lactase for milk sugar, and lipase for fats and fatty acids. In addition, we added a hardy probiotic, bacillus coagulans, a widely researched strain that supports healthy digestive and immunity functions. Lastly, we added pineapple flavor and organic monk fruit extract to improve the experience of this product.

As you can see, our formula is carefully crafted to provide an array of health advantages from which everyone can benefit. Try it as part of our7-Day Juice Cleanse for maximum results!

For more SMART lifestyle tips like this, visithttp://www.smartpressedjuice.com and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or like us on Facebook. You can also visit our Amazon store to stock up on our delicious juices.

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