As concerns about health and nutrition continue to rise, so has the custom of making fresh-squeezed juice at home. Juicing offers a convenient and healthy way to lose weight, stay fit and avoid artificial additives and preservatives. Homemade juices can include both fruits and vegetables. From apples and oranges to tomatoes and celery, the following article provides you with all the information you need on juicers, juicing and juices.
When choosing a juicer, do some research into how much heat they produce as they juice. Heat can kill the nutrients that you are trying to preserve. If the juicer produces enough heat you will be losing many of the benefits that you were drinking it for so make sure to find out before you buy.
Learn to love wheat grass if you can. Start your wheat grass relationship off very slowly as it is an extremely strong tasting plant. The nutrient benefits are out of this world but some people think the taste is as well. Use strongly flavored fruits and small amounts of wheatgrass and work your way up to larger amounts over time.
You don’t have to spend a fortune on fresh juicing produce as long as you shop in season. Berries are great in the summer, but will cost you an arm and a leg to buy in the winter, so skip them until the prices drop again. Apples last all winter, so feel free to buy a few bushels and keep them in the garage.
Substitute meals on occasion with your juicing. There are multiple servings of fruit and vegetables going into your mix and this can equate to a very healthy meal. Occasionally substituting a juice blend for a meal will reduce the amount of nontraditional ingredients you are consuming from processed foods and you will get more than enough nutrition.
Juicing is an excellent way to lose weight in a safe and healthy manner. Before meals, drink juices that include vegetables that require more calories to digest than they contain, like carrots, cabbage and broccoli. This will help curb your appetite and speed up the weight loss process. Adding spices like cayenne or cinnamon, will stimulate your metabolism.
It’s always better to use organic fruit when making juices, but since they are pricy, you can’t always get organic fruit. When using non-organic produce, there might be harmful pesticides that you don’t want to put into your drinks. So, make sure you peel the fruits so you don’t ingest the pesticides.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you need to give yourself variety. This is important because just about anybody will lose interest if they are consuming the same thing every day. Mix it up and keep it exciting!
It’s best to avoid mixing fruits and vegetables in the same juice. Your body uses different enzymes to break them down, and so mixing them together makes your body have to work harder to get the nutrients it needs. Apples are an exception that can be mixed with almost anything, so you can toss an apple in with whatever you are juicing.
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.
After using nuts in your juicer, save the pulp to add to nut butter. Raw foods are so good for you, and making your own nut butters is as good for you as making your own juices! Almond, cashew, or even peanut butter is better when it’s not laden with sodium and preservatives!
In regards to juicing, it is important to consider the fact that vegetable juice tastes sweet but at the same time will help you keep your blood sugar under control. This is especially important for both those that enjoy sweet foods and for those that have an issue with their blood sugar levels.
A great juicing tip is to – know how thin or thick – you want your juice to be. Juicing bananas or avocados for example, will make a puree, which might be way too thick for what you want. Putting these foods in the blender first, will help thin them out.
One of the secrets to aging, is knowing your limits. As we get older, certain things become more difficult or inappropriate for us. Rather than trying to hold on to these things, we need to let go and allow ourselves to see that though we have gotten older, we have entered into a new and exciting time of life. Embrace where you are on your journey.
Do not delay in serving your juice, after it has been prepared. Serve your beverage as soon as you finish preparing it.
Do not drink your homemade juice too quickly. Since you are skipping the step of chewing the vegetables, the juice needs time to mix with your saliva to aid in digestion and to prevent too much sugar from entering your bloodstream at once.
When using fruits to create your juice, it is important to remove seeds and pits, if there are any. For example, you must remove pits from peaches and seeds from apples. Adding these items can quickly deteriorate the quality of the blades in the juicer and possibly, even break the juicer. Furthermore, certain seeds like apple seeds can be dangerous because they contain trace amounts of cyanide.
Homemade fruit juices, vegetable juices and mixed juices are nutritious, delicious and, best of all, completely natural. Juicing gives you the freedom to make your own unique blends, as well as all of your family’s traditional favorites. As the above article has illustrated, juicing is limited only by your imagination. Bottom’s up!
