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:
Store your home made juice in a nontransparent, air-tight container with no extra space for air. To prevent extra air from ruining your juice, add filtered water to the top of the container, or use a food saver to remove the extra air. Fresh juice can be stored up to 24 hours.
Start gradually with vegetables. Start by adding bits of vegetables to your fruit juices and work your way up to full vegetable drinks. Vegetables are more nutritious than fruits as a group but not as tasty sometimes. Adding more veggies to your drinks will make your taste buds ready to get that superior nutritional value.
Give yourself an area in the fridge just for your juicing ingredients. Maybe they’ll get their own produce drawer, or half a shelf, but making room is important. When you see that space become empty you will know that you’re running out of food, and you’ll also have a much easier time putting it away after shopping.
Get adventurous with your juicing ingredients! Why not try grapefruit or add in a little ginger for some zip! Other items to try are celery, parsley, beets, bell peppers, and leafy greens! You never know what you might end up liking.
When looking for a juicer to purchase, check out the additional features it provides. A masticating juicer often comes with attachments to make pasta or grind foods, which can save you money by making other foods from scratch as well. Consider the juicer an investment for your whole kitchen, and pick up a few attachments while you’re out.
Shop around for a juicer that works for you. You want to look for a juicer that is easy for you to use, assemble, take apart and clean. The juicer should also be well constructed. You do not have to buy the most expensive juicer on the market for your needs yet you do need to understand how to use the juicer.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that sometimes you may need to add in artificial flavors to attain a certain taste that you desire. This is important because while you may feel as though you are cheating, there are some flavors that are just not reasonable to obtain from normal juicing procedures.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you want to ensure that all of the fruits and vegetables that you purchase are cleaned as well as possible. This is important for health reasons as well as making sure that there are no outside factors that effect the taste of your juice.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that if you require storing it for more than a day that you want to keep it chilled and air tight. This is important because with the lack of preservatives, your juice will spoil quicker than store bought types.
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.
Juicing will remove some of the fiber from the fruit and vegetables you’re consuming, so it’s important to supplement your fiber intake through the other foods you eat. Aim to ingest only whole grains and avoid white items like bread, pasta, and rice, as they don’t contain enough fiber to be healthy.
Some people claim that mixing fruit and vegetables in your juice leads to indigestion as the enzymes required to break down fruit are very different than those to break down vegetables. I, personally, have never had a problem, but if you find you have any tummy upset after drinking a mixed juice then you should probably stick to one or the other.
In regards to juicing, you can simply drink the juice by itself or you can us the juice in either a frozen beverage or smoothie. This will help you to mix it up and keep things interesting and tasty.
Maintaining blood sugar levels helps to curb hunger, so including carrot juice in your creations can help you keep healthy and eat less. Carrots do have more sugar in them than many other vegetables, but the fact that they don’t cause a spike in blood glucose means that you can overlook that and drink them up!
To gain the most benefits from making your own juice at home, make it a habit. Consume juice daily by replacing a daily snack with fruit and vegetable juice. Make sure you drink your juice no later than 20 minutes after you make it for the best health benefits.
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.
