Fresh fruits and vegetables are the healthiest foods around, and one great way to unlock their nutritional bounty is through juicing. Converting vegetables and fruits into liquid form preserves all of their great benefits and makes them more palatable and easier to consume. Here are just a few of the ways that juicing can contribute to a healthier diet:
There are many different types of juicers to choose from, depending on the type of juice you prefer. No matter what style of juicer you prefer, avoid juicers that create a lot of heat when they run. Excess heat can ruin the valuable nutrients in the fruits and vegetables.
Use cucumber as a great flavor disguiser when you are juicing greens. Cucumber is excellent at masking the strong flavors inherent in greens. A juice’s health benefits aren’t going to do you much good if you can’t stand to drink it. Cucumber also has the extra added benefit of being chockfull of important vitamins and nutrients itself.
Make sure and remove the greens from items like carrots and rhubarb. They can contain harmful chemicals that become toxic when juiced. Make sure to research all of your fruits, veggies and other items before juicing them so that you are aware of any important do’s and don’ts before starting.
When making carrot juice, make absolutely sure to get fresh, healthy carrots. Signs of old carrots are rubberiness, limpness, wilted tops, and excessive cracking. Look for carrots that have a full color, are firm to the touch, and have green, leafy tops. These carrots will produce the freshest, sweetest juice.
Keep all the tools you use in juicing, like your cutting board, knives, measuring cups, juicer, etc. together in their own place so you always know where they are. The one reason you won’t continue juicing is because you’re not keeping your things organized, leaving you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind, is that you need to prepare yourself mentally and financially, for investing a lot of money into a quality juicer. This is important to consider and save for because quality juicers can cost upwards of $1500.
An important part of your juicing routine should be proper dental care. Fruit acid and sugar can soften or possibly erode your tooth enamel. Try to incorporate juice into your dental schedule by drinking the juice a few minutes before your morning brushing. This will also give you a healthy kick start to your day.
To entice kids to join you in your juicing adventures, start with smoothies. You can add honey, yogurt, or even fruit sherbet. Always start off with at least one vegetable or fruit in the smoothie, so that when you try adding different items it won’t taste much different than the first smoothie you’ve given to them.
One of the best juicers that you can use in order to have high quality juice are masticating juicers. These juicers operate on a more gentle process and therefore preserve the juice’s valuable nutrients. Another advantage of using this kind of juicer is that it enables you to store the juice for a much longer period of time.
A major benefit of juicing is the high volume of healthy nutrients that are made easily available. In order to maximize those nutrients, the base of the juice should be made from vegetables like spinach, kale, chard or broccoli. By using these vegetables you will achieve the maximum health benefits including a low amount of sugar, which is usually a dominant ingredient in store-bought juices.
If you want to have a juice that tastes like a commercial smoothie, add some vanilla! Skip the extract and go for the real thing – scrape a vanilla pod and enjoy the smooth, creamy flavor it imparts on the final product. If you really want to fulfill the smoothie experience, add a little non-fat, unsweetened yogurt to your drink.
One of the great advantages to drinking natural juiced drinks daily is that it helps cure a variety of different ailments. For example, cabbage juice helps heal different types of ulcers. For this, it is necessary to consult a medical professional first.
Juicing is a lot of fun, but it can turn disastrous if you don’t take care of your equipment! Make sure that you clean out the pulp reservoir every time you make juice, and sterilize all your tools from knife to cutting board to extraction container each time you use them.
To maintain the freshness of leafy green vegetables, use a sealed zipper bag designed for this purpose. Wash any dirt off of them and dry them before storing them in the bags.
Have you ever been happy to be sick? I haven’t either, but a case of bronchitis can be aided by some tasty juices which will make you a lot happier than any medicine that you’d be prescribed! Try grape, lemon, onion, and orange juice to soothe the pain and help kill off the nasty germs that are making you sick.
If you’d like to sweeten vegetable juice, reach to beets or apples. Apples sweeten everything without adding a strong flavor that can turn you off. Beets are a great sweetener as they ARE vegetables, making them healthy and lower in calories than their fruit counterparts. Carrots are another lower-calorie option, and they keep blood sugar levels balanced, too!
Juicing is a great nutritional process that can be just as simple or as complex as a juicer wants to make it. Quick, cheap techniques can offer dramatic health benefits, and a greater investment of time and money can provide even bigger results. Hopefully, the tips presented above can be of use in starting or improving a great juicing routine.
