In the last year juice bars have popped up all over large cities and small main streets. The benefits of juicing have been raved about in health magazines, online, and late night infomercials all claiming to sell the “best” juicer on the market. It’s no secret that juicing is all the rage so you may be wondering if its time for you to jump on the band wagon and embrace this popular liquid diet. Follow our short guide to get all beginner information on this trend including juicing equipment and our favorite juice recipe.
To Juice or not To Juice? That is the question.
Juicing allows you to take all of your daily fruit and vegetable servings and shrink them down to about two glasses of juice a day. Depending on the combination of produce you throw into the machine you can end up with a delicious drink that is packed with tons of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Juicing is especially great for picky eaters who like few, if any, vegetables. Throwing spinach, carrots or kale into juice is hardly detectable to the palette but is great for you and allows you to bolster up on your daily nourishment. Since juicing essentially takes pounds of produce and condenses them into a convenient beverage you’ll be able to consume all of these beneficial nutrients quickly and easily. The benefits of juicing are that of having a well balanced diet that includes eating the appropriate amounts of fruits and vegetables. If your diet is poor, integrating juicing will have clear benefits including better overall health and a healthier appearance (think shiny hair and a glowing complexion).
Juicers break up the cells of produce and separate juice from fibers and pulp. The juice is extracted and gets poured into a cup while the pulp is deposited into a separate compartment that can be cleaned out later. By removing the fiber and pulp beforehand your body is spared the task of separating the two which means it can digest and absorb the good stuff more easily. The result is a good amount of liquid with very minimal pulp left over.
The pulp, however, contains a lot of fiber which is important for digestion. Those who juice are encouraged to save the pulp and incorporate it into other meals and baked goods so that you can reap all of the benefits. Carrot pulp can be mixed into carrot cake or pancakes. Fruit pulp can be mixed in with muffins and other sweet doughs. Other veggie pulp can even be mixed in with dips or sauces to up their nutritional value while barely changing the flavor.
Very Berry Morning Blend
- 2 cups blueberries
- 15 strawberries
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1 handful of kale or spinach leaves
The best part about juicing is that all you need to do is throw the ingredients into a juicer and you’re done. This drink is full of flavor and hides the flavor of kale so well that you won’t even notice it’s there.
