How to Juice for Weight Gain

People juice fruits and vegetables for a number of reasons: to add more produce to their diets, help ease various ailments, or as part of a so-called detox regimen. Juice is also a more-concentrated source of calories compared with whole fruits and vegetables. So, drinking it can help you take in more calories if you’re trying to gain weight.

But juice doesn’t provide a balance of nutrients, and it can be high in sugar. This means you should get calories from additional sources to help yourself gain weight.

Counting Calories for Weight Gain

Gaining weight requires taking in more calories than you burn.

While calorie needs vary from person to person, you’ll generally need to add about 500 calories to your daily intake to gain 1 pound per week, according to Mayo Clinic. To make sure you get all the nutrients your body needs, choose extra calories from healthy foods.

Fruits and vegetables are nutrient dense, but they aren’t necessarily high in calories. But juicing them removes most of their fiber, making the drink higher in calories, according to Cleveland Clinic.

The number of calories in a glass of juice varies depending on the fruits and vegetables you’re juicing.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), one 8-ounce (oz) serving of carrot juice contains 96 calories and 9 grams (g) of sugar. An 8-oz serving of apple juice contains 119 calories and 25 g of sugar.

Be Mindful of Sugar Content

The calories from juice can help with your weight gain, but you may not want all the sugar.

One 8-oz serving of apple juice contains more than 25 g of sugar, according to the USDA. That’s similar to eating 6 teaspoons (tsp) of table sugar.

Getting a heavy dose of sugar in a drink can also cause your blood sugar to spike, according to Cleveland Clinic. This may be concerning for people who need to control blood sugar, such as those with diabetes.

Fresh juice is also not a good source of protein, fat, vitamin D, calcium, or iron. It may not provide the balanced nutrition you need for healthy weight gain.

Tips for Gaining Weight With Juice

To avoid spiking your blood sugar, you can add some of the leftover pulp from juicing for extra fiber. Fiber can help slow your digestion, so your body doesn’t absorb the sugar as quickly, according to Cleveland Clinic.

Also, try to limit the amount of fresh juice you drink to no more than 8 oz a day. Add other high-calorie, nutrient-rich foods to get the rest of your extra calories. Good choices include nuts, seeds, eggs, and vegetable oils.

For a balance of nutrients, you can also try using your fresh juice in a smoothie. Drinking a 500-calorie smoothie each day in addition to your regular dietary intake could help you gain a pound per week.

To add variety to fruit-juice smoothies, experiment with different kinds of juices and other ingredients, like nut butters, milk, or Greek yogurt.

For a smoothie with 412 calories and 41.4 g of sugar, blend half a cup of fresh orange juice with:

• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1 medium banana
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1 tablespoon (tbsp) of almond butter

Safety Precautions

Take some simple steps to help prevent foodborne illnesses when you make juice.

First, make sure the produce that you want to juice is free of mold and soft spots.

Also, rinse your fruits and veggies under cold water to remove dirt and other contaminants before cutting or juicing, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).