Making your own fruit and vegetable juices at home is an inexpensive way to stay healthy and easily consume important nutrients. Whether you are making juice at home for healthy vegetable juices or for tasty fruit juices, these tips will help you make the best tasting and healthiest juices possible.
At the beginning of a juicing program, make juices out of fruits that you already enjoy eating. This will ensure that you enjoy the juice while still receiving some health benefits. If you start juicing using fruits you’ve never tried before, you may not like the juice and you’re unlikely to continue making them, meaning you won’t gain any benefits.
If you are worried about getting enough protein in your diet, add spinach and broccoli to your juices. Both of these vegetables provide enough vegetable protein for the short-term to satisfy your body’s needs. Most people get more than enough protein in their daily diet, and don’t need to worry about adding protein sources such as soy to their juice.
When attempting a juice-only diet, it can be helpful to remove all processed foods from your house first. Having a box of crackers, a jar of peanut butter, or some candy bars staring you in the face while you can only have juice is an easy way to cut your diet tragically short.
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.
Be consistent and do a little juicing everyday. The more you do, the more you’ll want to juice and gradually, you’ll make juicing a bigger part of your day. If you make juicing an infrequent occurrence, not only will you get less nutritional benefit but you’ll also lose the will to keep going.
When figuring out your recipes and buying produce at the market, remember that approximately one pound of vegetables and fruit will lead to one cup of juice. Softer fruits will yield about as much juice as is equal to their weight as they won’t lose much pulp, while harder vegetables will produce a lot of pulp and produce less juice.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is to be sure to listen to your body as far as how it reacts to certain types of juices. This is important to consider both in the case of positive and negative effects that your juice can give you, ranging from allergic reactions to clarity of mind.
Keep your juicing regime simple. If you make it too complicated you’ll be less likely to stick with it. Instead of using elaborate juicing recipes with several different types of produce, just stick with 2 or 3 vegetables. Apples blend nicely with many different vegetables and lend a bit of sweetness too.
Did you know that vegetable juice helps to keep blood sugar levels from spiking? It’s true! It doesn’t have a lot of sugar, and half as many calories as fruit juice. It also helps you feel full for a long time, curbing any snacking cravings you might have. Try a mix of carrot and parsley to end any temptations!
Watch how your own system reacts to the juice drinks that you create. Certain ingredients in the juice may not agree with you. When you experience bloating or discomfort, isolate certain ingredients to determine which ones need to be eliminated or lessened. Use smaller quantities of this ingredient to get used to it.
When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that the best way to keep pulp from your juice is through a coffee filter. This is good to keep in mind because not only are they cheap but they do a great job!
It’s best to avoid juicing fruits and vegetables that have a low water content. Avocados and bananas, for example, are quite dense and don’t have much water in them. They will clog up your juicer and you won’t get much juice out of them. If you really want to include them, blend them first and then mix them with juices from other produce.
To entice kids to join you in your juicing adventures, start with smoothies. You can add honey, yogurt, or even fruit sherbet. Always start off with at least one vegetable or fruit in the smoothie, so that when you try adding different items it won’t taste much different than the first smoothie you’ve given to them.
If you want to have a juice that tastes like a commercial smoothie, add some vanilla! Skip the extract and go for the real thing – scrape a vanilla pod and enjoy the smooth, creamy flavor it imparts on the final product. If you really want to fulfill the smoothie experience, add a little non-fat, unsweetened yogurt to your drink.
If you’re juicing for health, or doing a juice fast, you MUST use organic produce. Pesticides and heavy metals in the soil used to grow normal fruit and vegetables will negate any cleansing you’re trying to accomplish, wasting your money and time. Buy organic to ensure that the only pesticides used are organic and fine to ingest.
Follow the tips above to easily make great tasting and healthy fruit and vegetable juices at home. Once you replace snacks and unhealthy beverages with pure fruit and vegetable juices, you will notice how much better you feel. Make fruit and vegetable juices at home for a high energy meal.
