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:
Drink your juice at room temperature in order to receive maximum health benefits. Chilling your juice will make it harder for your body to digest it, and therefore reduce the amount of nutrients you absorb. Also, chilling the juice requires it to sit in a fridge or freezer, and fresh juice is best immediately after you make it.
If storing your juice, use only air tight containers to avoid the damage from oxidation. Refrigerate your juice and as a little helper, add in just a little bit of lemon juice to help keep your juice as fresh as possible. Following these steps should lead you to still have tasty, healthy juice even hours after you did the juicing.
Be aware that wheat-grass is actually gluten free so if you know someone or if you suffer from a gluten intolerance you are free to use wheat grass in your juicing. The benefits from wheat grass are incredible so give it a shot and start incorporating it into your juicing endeavors.
When preparing for a juice diet, make sure to stock a LOT of fresh fruits and vegetables! On average, it takes 4.4 pounds of raw fruits and vegetables to make just a single quart of juice, so you’ll need lots. Also make sure to get a large variety of ingredients so that you don’t get bored with the same old juice.
Store all your fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator, especially in the summertime. Juicing depends on fresh produce and leaving them out starts the process of decay more quickly. Keep your produce nice and cool until you eat it so that you can preserve as many vitamins as you can.
You should always wash your juicer as soon as you are done using it. Some juices can also stain the jugs and blades of your juicer if they are not cleaned off immediately.
You don’t have to buy a fancy juicer to start juicing, you can use a blender or food processor just to get the hang of it. In fact, a food processor can do just as good a job as a juicer! I also picked up an inexpensive citrus juicer, though, as I found doing it manually hurt my hands.
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.
If you are going to store some of your juice for an extended period of time, make sure to add a few drops of lemon juice to it. This will keep the juice from turning color and preserve it while you wait to drink it. The more juice you save, the more lemon you should add.
Don’t be afraid to juice melon! Cantaloupe and honeydew are very tasty ingredients, but keep in mind that they’re soft and will produce a thick juice. Watermelon, on the other hand, will produce a very watery juice. Make sure to get a seedless melon to make it easier for you to use.
Not only will you save money by juicing and not having to buy expensive juices at the store, but you’ll also be able to reduce your vitamin and supplement intake. Being healthy will also mean you’ll take less prescription drugs, saving you even more money just by keeping in good shape!
Vegetable juice contains very few calories, no fat (unless you add dairy), little sugar (unless you add a sweetener, including fruit), and lots of fiber. It will taste wonderful and provide you with all the nutrients and vitamins needed to fulfill your daily required intake. It’s also a ton of fun to make!
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.
Don’t just use the same handful of ingredients for all of the juicing you do. There are a lot of great fruits and vegetables out there, and they all have different nutritional profiles, so mixing up your ingredients means that your body will get a wider array of nutrients and enzymes.
In regards to juicing, it is important to consider the fact that you are creating a natural and cheap anti-aging product. This is important to consider when you weigh the costs of a juicer and produce, against how much you may pay for other methods of staying young, such as creams or medicines.
In regards to juicing, it is important to consider that it is a great way to get children to get their vegetables in a way that they may not ordinarily want to eat. This is a great way to provide them with all of the nutrients that they need, in order to grow up healthy.
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.
