Juicing Basics

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about juicing and all its health benefits.

It took me a while to jump on the juicing bandwagon because I believe eating whole fruits and vegetables or making smoothies is the most beneficial. With juicing, you lose all the fibrous parts and also some of the nutrients. But eating THAT many fruits and veggies a day is nearly impossible for most people. And I personally have a hard time drinking smoothies because they are so thick, and again, you can’t get as many fruits and veggies in smoothies either.

So I caved and decided to buy an inexpensive juicer to start out with and see if juicing was really for me. After almost two months of juicing, I am happy to say that it is one of the best decisions I’ve made! And if you are still on the fence about it, then keep reading to find out about why and how to juice.

Why Juice?

• Maximize the amount of nutrients – vegetables and fruits are most nutritious when RAW. Juicing them raw gives you a large dose of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, anti-oxidants, amino acids, and phytonutrients, which help fight cancer!
• Detox – All the nutrients you will be consuming from just one glass of juice will help eliminate the toxins from your body!
• Boosts the immune system
• Increases energy
• Assists in weight loss
• Helps improve the body from inside out. Not only will you feel better, but look better as well. Hair will be fuller and shinier and skin will have a glow.

How to Juice

Use mostly vegetables and only one or two fruits per glass.  Using too many fruits causes a spike in sugar levels and adds a lot of extra calories.

Kale, spinach, collard greens, dandelion, sprouts, mint, cilantro and pretty much any other green leafy vegetable is the best choice. I also add lemon/lime and ginger to every green juice I make to give a boost in flavor and nutrients. To block out some of the bitterness of the leaves, try adding 1 or 2 fruits. Apples and pineapple are my personal favorites. Make sure to juice apples with peel on and pineapple with its core. Other veggies I love juicing are celery, cucumber, carrots, and broccoli because they are less bitter than the leafy veggies.

Keep in mind that you can juice a lot of parts of a fruit or veggie that you wouldn’t normally eat. Melons are excellent to juice with the rind, and the rind has numerous nutrients and is very juicy. Same goes for the stems of a lot of vegetables.

Almost anything can be juiced, except for avocados and bananas. But banana peels can be juiced and are quite tasty. They are rich in seratonin, which improves the mood and helps fight depression!

If possible, use only organic, especially if you are juicing with the rind/peel.

How to Drink and Store Juices

Drink juice on an empty stomach first thing in morning. This will maximize the nutrients absorbed and help with digestion of juice

It is best to drink the juice right away. If that is not possible, then store it in an airtight container and keep in refrigerator for up to 48 hours.

Chew it don’t drink it! Swish the juice gently around the mouth before swallowing. Mixing of saliva with juice helps kick start the digestion process.

Picking a Juicer

Manual Juicers – Not electronic, you have to juice it yourself. Great for citrus fruits and wheatgrass.

•  Pros
  • Inexpensive, good option for beginner juicers
  • Easier to clean
  • Not noisy
•  Cons
  • Limited to certain fruits and vegetables you may juice in it
  • Takes some work on your part to manually juice the produce, can be tiring if you are doing it for long

Centrifugal – fine blades chop up produce and then spin at a very high speed to extract juices.

•  Pros
  • Most widely available and afforable
  • Easy to use and clean
  • Faster than other juicers
• Cons
  • High speeds for juice extraction cause heat, thus killing some enzymes and nutrients
  • Causes juice to oxidize faster
  • Not as efficient as juicing all the juice from produce

Masticating – Pushes down and crushes the produce in order to squeeze the juice out.

• Pros
  • Gets most of the juice out, very little waste
  • Produces almost no heat, thus minimizing oxidation and no loss of nutrients
  • The juicier lasts a lot longer
• Cons
  • Takes a lot longer juice
  • More expensive than centrifugal juicers

Triturating – If money is no object, then buy this! Juices produce using twin gears that interlock and rotate at a very low speed.

• Pros
  • Causes no heat while juicing, thus maximizing nutrients and minimizing oxidation
  • Juices both hard produce as well as leafy ones just as well
• Cons
  • Really expensive!

Hope these tips help you make the right decision about juicing!

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