Juicing is a tremendous way to bring a new sense of health and vitality to your life. Knowing the best juice combinations for optimal health is key to maximizing the benefits of raw foods. Follow these tips, and you will soon be on your way to making delicious, healthy drinks your whole family can enjoy.
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.
If you’re going to start a juicing diet, it may be helpful to start with a few days of eating primarily fruits and vegetables before going over to all-juice. This helps reduce dependence on sugar, flour, and other common diet staples that can make a juice diet difficult to swallow.
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.
Juicing can be expensive- if you’re making a few wheat shots a day as well as larger fruit and vegetable juices, expect your grocery bill to pile up. One way to reduce costs is to use primarily carrots, which are very inexpensive compared to the amount of juice they produce.
The best kind of juicer to buy is one that will masticate the juice. This will allow you receive more of the natural vitamins, as well as let you store the juice for longer periods of time with out ruining anything. These types of juicers will basically “chew” the food till it is in juice form.
If you are going to store juice that you have made yourself, you need to do this correctly. Choose a container that is airtight, and add a couple of drops of lemon juice to it before putting it into the refrigerator. Label your juice so that you remember what you are drinking, and enjoy!
Making healthy juice from vegetables is wonderful, however, do not go overboard with variety. Stick to using 2-3 vegetables in your juice blends and incorporate apple into the mix. You will minimize the amount of flavors you are trying to combine and the apple will add the right amount of sweet to the mix for extra enjoyment.
The best place to find the freshest produce for juicing at great prices is at a local farmer’s market. Often, they are held once a week during the summer and fall months, and you’ll find everything sold on a farm, including meat, eggs, dairy, baked goods, canned goods, and TONS of fresh fruit and vegetables!
While you can keep the skin on fruit like apples or pears when you juice, some fruit actually have toxic skin. For example, citrus zest is fine for you, but the white part is bitter for a reason! Mango and papaya also have skin which is toxic to humans, so don’t include that in your juice.
To lose weight quickly but healthfully, try juicing. Simply replace one to two meals per day with fresh green juice. There are countless recipes available online, but you can make your own by mixing a green leafy vegetable with one or two fruits. You will be getting more vitamins and minerals than the average American, but fewer calories.
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 it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you should build your entire healthy lifestyle around it. This is important because it is an enjoyable way to get your body all of the nutrients that it needs and with a healthy diet, you will be motivated to make healthy choices in other areas of your life.
The best time to juice is first thing in the morning when you have an empty stomach. Your body can fully digest and assimilate the juice because there will be nothing else for it to compete with. Within 30 minutes the nutrients will be fully absorbed into the blood stream.
As soon as you make your juice, drink it. In order to reap the optimum benefits from juicing, drink immediately after making. The longer you put off drinking it, the less nutrition your body will receive. With that said, it is a good practice to drink the juice immediately.
Studies have shown that the optimal intake of fruit and vegetables in a day is 8 or 9 servings per day. Most people are lucky to even get 2 to 3, but by juicing you can meet your minimums easily and tastily! Make sure that the bulk of the servings, preferably 5 to 6, are vegetables.
The health benefits of juicing are something nobody should be without. The best way to enhance your health through juicing is to gain a thorough understanding of the vitamins and minerals you can extract through different types of foods, and how to make the tastiest combinations. Use the advice in this article, and you will be able to make wonderful, life-giving juices each and every day.
