Miranda Kerr does it, Gwyneth Paltrow does it. Juicing is not just a trend – it’s here to stay! Make juicing this month’s lifestyle change.
Squeeze Me!
Juicing has many health benefits, such as helping you absorb more nutrients from vegetables because it pre-digests them for you. It also gives you a chance to gain more vitamins in fun ways, especially if you battle to eat your required five fruits and veggies a day. Making your own juices is also greener, because you don’t purchase pre-packaged juices whose containers need to be thrown away and you can juice fruits and vegetables that are about to expire to prevent waste.
Juicing 101
Before you get your juice on, there are some things to bear in mind.
- Only make as much juice as you will consume immediately. Exposure of the juice to air and bacteria can compromise your health and also lower its nutritional value.
- Clean fruits and vegetables before using them so you remove dirt and pesticides. E. coli is an example of bacteria that needs heat to be killed off, but using heat can zap the nutritional content of your produce, so make sure you wash fruit and vegetables very well.
- Go organic! Non-organic produce doesn’t have pesticides and so it contains more antioxidants that fight free radicals and toxins in the body.
Before You Start
Although fruits and veggies will have starring roles in your delicious juicing productions, you can also add other ingredients, such as wheatgrass and parsley. However, there are some things you shouldn’t try to juice, such as avocados and bananas which don’t have juice. However, they can be used as additions to thicken or sweeten juice. Don’t blend citrus peels, because they are bitter. Remove hard pits of fruits such as peaches, plums and cherries. You might wish to remove apple seeds too as they contain a small amount of cyanide that the body can only detox in small amounts. If you love your leafy greens but you’ve noticed they don’t have much juice in them to squeeze out, try rolling them up to make them thicker.
Tips ’n Tricks
- If your juicing attempt doesn’t bring out the best flavours, try adding lemon, cucumber or apples.
- Some ingredients are potent, such as mint and ginger, so use them in small doses because they will go a long way.
- Make it look good. You don’t want a dull or grey juice that looks unappetising so think about what colours will work. Solid colour juices are always a winner. Mix strawberries and beetroot, or apples and pears.
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