Jucing basics

We are still in the midst of the early-in-the-new-glorious-year-health-craze. I thought I’d continue on a light note and offer my advice on juicing since I’ve been juicing for about 5-6 years now. Juicing has become a integral part of my routine of staying healthy and in shape, as juicing has aided me in boosting my immune system, toning my body and detoxing.

I’ve been a newbie, and I’ve done some juice cleanses, meaning I’ve sufficed on juice for a couple of days. So I complied a list of what I wished I knew before i started out, based on what I’ve leaned along the way.

• If you want to learn how to choose a juicer, see my previous post on the subject.
• Depending on what juicer you have, you might want to mix softer veggies/fruits with much firmer veggies/fruits to get all juice out of them, and avoid that they just get slushed.
• Some juicers (like the one I currently have, a Philips HR 1861) – I recommend being a bit careful with harder vegetables in, like beets. I now chop them up at least in quarters, before putting them in my juicer – even though whole beets fit inside the pipe . Beets can be really hard, and one really hard beet cracked the plastic on my juicer. So I rather be safe then sorry.
• If you have an masticating juicer – cut the fruit and veggies in smaller pieces, prior to juicing.
• Remove the skin from citrus fruits, there is only one exception for this and this is if you are purposefully juicing organic lemons to reap the benefits of the peel itself.
• For creating actual juices I recommend to mix  just a few different fruits and veggies. Try to hold back at 3 or 4 different ones, if you are using really flavorful veggies or fruits. (lemon, ginger etc, is not included)
• Lemon is great to add as a antioxidant/preservative  but also helps bring the different flavours in a juice together. Calculate one quarter to every portion of juice (2-3 dl / a bit more then a US cup).
• Juices can be made in batch, the day before. I like to batch make my juice, add some lemon and store the juices in the fridge in mason jars, if I’m doing a cleanse or similar. I prefer mason jars since I can easily stir in powders or anything else I want to enhance my juices with.
• Enhance juices with different raw powders that go together with your juice. I stick to one type of powder for my juices, i.e I never blend in more then one type of powder. Raw powders to add to juices: macca, wheat grass, chlorella, spirulina, kelp, etc. They all have different nutritional properties. Choose an certified organic and raw source.
• Add chia-seeds to your juices if you want a juice that keeps you fuller for longer, or you just want to start to get into the routine of adding chia-seeds to your diet.
• I clean my juice machine parts from time to time by soaking the portable parts  (NOT THE MACHINE) in hot water and apple cider vinegar. Then I scrub the parts to really get all fibers etc away.
• I store my fruits in a large bowl in room temperature for a couple of days prior to juicing.
• You will get the hang of how you like your juice, once you start experimenting. I usually use this formula: 2/4 of the veggie/fruit I want as a base, then 1/4 each of the other two ingredients, plus any supporting ingredient, like lemon or ginger.
• Fruit juices are great, but vegetable juices are even better. I If you want to start to transition from pure fruit juices to vegetable juices, do it in stages. These are some great combinations for a newbie;
  • Apple, carrots and ginger
  • Apple, carrot, celery, ginger – start with one stalk celery, and work your way up.
  • Grapefruit, ginger and beet – start with half a beet, then work your way up to 1-2 (to many beets take over the juice, also it may cause dizziness, be careful)

I’ll probably write more about juicing further down the line, but I think these tips are handy to know before you start your own juicing journey.

XO,
Veronica