Juice is a powerful force. It takes the essence, the vitamins, the minerals and the antioxidants from all these food sources and compacts it into a small, flavorful and potent liquid that you can use to maximize the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. This article will show you how.
Try to use locally-grown fruits and vegetables in your juicing. The best option is to use produce that you’ve grown yourself. Every mile that a piece of fruit needs to be transported to get to you increases the carbon footprint of your glass of juice. It also increases the chance of your produce becoming contaminated with bacteria or chemicals.
Don’t forget to wash your produce prior to juicing, and use organic products where possible. So many people seem to think that since it’s going to turn into juice, they don’t need to wash their fruits and veggies. Just because it’s liquid, doesn’t mean the chemicals present on the peels are going to go away. Clean your fruits and vegetables thoroughly before juicing.
Wheat grass is only usable by us when it has been juiced. We physically can’t process the fibers when it is in plant form. Learning to enjoy wheat grass will provide your body with benefits from nourishing your kidneys, providing vitalization to your skin and body, and removing toxic metals from your body’s cells.
Some items just aren’t made for the juicer, especially if they’re soft and mushy. For example, you’ll never be able to make a juice that is mostly banana, but you CAN put a half of a banana in a juice made with other firmer produce. Peaches tend to give the same result.
Buying a masticating juicer will allow the juice you make to have it’s nutrients break down much slower, meaning you can take your time in drinking it or even store it for a while. It will also leave as much of the natural nutrients intact as possible, giving you the most healthy juice to drink.
Let color be your guide for variety. You will want to keep your juicing varied so as to not get bored with it. Incorporate a variety of colors in your fruits and vegetables as a sort of juicing palette from which to create. Just remember to know the nutrient content from each source and enjoy the rainbow.
When you have your juicer assembled, prepare the fruits or vegetables quickly so you will not have to stop and start during the juicing process. Look at juicing as if you were making a meal. Having everything on hand before you begin to cook is always easier than trying to find what you need during the process!
When figuring out your recipes and buying produce at the market, remember that approximately one pound of vegetables and fruit will lead to one cup of juice. Softer fruits will yield about as much juice as is equal to their weight as they won’t lose much pulp, while harder vegetables will produce a lot of pulp and produce less juice.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you want to make sure that your refrigerator will be able to hold all of your fruits and vegetables that you need. This is important because you will need a lot of space, keeping your ingredients in room temperature may cause them to spoil quicker.
Make sure you drink your juices as soon as you make them. Time is important for juicing because the valuable nutrients will become oxidized when exposed to the air. So you always want to drink your juices quickly. If, for some reason you can’t, then try to store the juice in an air-tight container to minimize oxidation.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that when you are dealing with greens such as lettuce, it is best to stack it up in a dense pile before putting it in your juicer. This is important because you will get the most amount of juice and nutrients this way.
If you can’t find organic produce to use in your juices, make sure that you peel your fruits and vegetables before juicing them. Most of the pesticides on conventionally grown produce is on the skin, and washing isn’t enough to remove all of the residue. Peeling will eliminate the bulk of these contaminants from your food.
Before you randomly go pick your produce that you want to put through your juicer, you should make sure you are getting the best quality fruits and vegetables that you can. If your fruits and vegetables aren’t of good quality, you won’t be getting the best nutrition that you could be.
If you are new to juicing, a steadfast rule to follow is – to go slow! Start with a vegetable that you know you like. After trying that vegetable juice for a few days, you can slowly start to add in vegetables that you are unfamiliar with or not sure if you will like. By taking small amounts at a time, your body will adjust slowly to the different foods and absorb the juice in naturally.
Juicing is a great way to get delicious, fresh juice and also many important nutrients. If you need to store the juice you have made, be sure to store it in an airtight container that is opaque. It is important to be sure that there is no extra air in the container and that the juice is stored for no more than twenty four hours.
As you can see from this article, there are a lot of great things about juicing. The health benefits alone should make you want to start doing it. Take this advice and make a positive change for yourself and your family. Kids love juice and they are much more likely to drink it than to eat any vegetables you put on their plate.
