Proclaimed to be one of the healthiest habits one can have, vegetable juicing is an excellent way to fuel up, slim down, and treat yourself. Packed with important nutrients that help improve your body’s functions, natural juices can make a wonderful snack option if you are struggling to shed off excess weight, giving you endless possibilities for creating combos of vegetables and fruits to suit your taste. But despite being a pitch many celebs love, a lot of people make mistakes when juicing, which obviously reduces the potential benefits of this practice.
Check out our effective juicing tips and tricks, plus some of the best recipes for juicing from juice addicts just like you.
1. Find the Best Formula for Juicing
When it comes to vegetable juicing, finding the best formula can yield tastier juice, a more visually-appealing color, and also better nutritional values. According to Serious Eats, healthy juice should mix up different tastes, from sweet to tart to earthy and herbaceous or spicy. With a general formula like this one, possibilities for juicing are endless. We listed a couple of our favorite vegetables and fruits from each taste category below:
• Sweet: pineapple, apples, grapes, pears, berries, mangoes, oranges, melons
• Greens: lettuce, kale, spinach, broccoli, dandelion, chard, beet greens, mustard greens, arugula, sorrel
• Herbs: parsley, basil, mint, cilantro
• Tart: limes, lemons
• Spices: cinnamon, hot peppers, ginger
• High-yield (produce a lot of juice for their size): celery, fennel, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes
• Roots: turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets
2. Prepare Produce for Juicing Ahead of Time
Many of us fail to juice due to lacking the time needed for peeling, cutting and coring the vegetables and fruits. If time is not sufficient, have the produce for juicing cut up the night before if you want to drink a glass of juice in the morning or at lunch. All About Juicing suggests that you store the ingredients in a zip-lock bag or sealable glass container once you finish cutting and chopping them, and keep them in the fridge to help preserve freshness.
3. Clean Your Juicer Machine Once Done
One of the most common mistakes people do when juicing is not cleaning their juicers on time. The pulp and remaining juice will get sticky, which will make it difficult to clean the machine afterwards. Cleaning should be quite simple given that you will probably have to only rinse machine components with water, and perhaps add a squeeze of dish-washing liquid to help remove sticky pulp. Moreover, cleaning your juicer machine after every use will ensure that it lasts for much longer, and that it yields the same great results every time.
4. Drink Juice As Soon As Possible After Juicing
According to All About Juicing, juice will gradually lose its nutrients as time passes, not to mention that it will likely develop a different color as it oxidizes – especially when using ingredients like apples. It is best to drink the juice as soon as possible after juicing to ensure that you will be taking in the maximum amount of nutrients it can yield. Remember that all-natural juice does not contain any preservatives, which means that it will go rancid very quickly.
5. Avoid Adding Artificial Sweeteners
It is commonly agreed that natural juice is not always absolutely sweet, which can sometimes make it less enjoyable to drink. Reddit user “chefnewman” suggested adding artificial sweetener to the combo to make it taste better, but this is rarely a good option. Artificial sweeteners can alter the natural taste of vegetables and fruits, not to mention that they pack extra calories that will result in gaining weight. A good alternative is organic honey or agave syrup, as they are both naturally sweet, and will not have a significant impact on the natural taste of the juice.
5 Best Vegetable Juice Recipes to Try
Whether you want to start a juice detox, or simply start drinking one or two glasses of all-natural juice every day, there are many possible recipes you can try out. Check out our top picks below.
1. Green Juice Cleanse
Detoxifying your body is a must to getting rid of harmful toxins and fighting free radical damage. This green juice cleanse recipe has been proposed by Reddit user “PotViking”.
Ingredients
• 1 small beet (without greens)
• 1/2 apple
• 1 small handful of spinach
• 6 fresh leaves of kale
• 1 small piece of ginger (about 1 inch in size)
• 1/2 small orange (or 1/4 lime)
Directions
Place all ingredients in your blender, and mix well until smooth. Garnish the juice with fresh mint or kale leaves.
2. Energy Booster
If you want to have more energy throughout the day, perhaps this vegetable juice recipe will help. Packed with tons of nutrient-dense ingredients, this juice will boost your energy levels and make you feel instantly refreshed. The recipe has been proposed by Reddit user “WanderingBison”.
Ingredients
• 10 to 12 mint leaves
• 3-4 leaves of kale or chard
• 1 cucumber (peeled)
• 4 stalks of bok choy
• 1 Granny Smith apple (peeled and chopped)
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1 bag of spinach
• 1 lemon (peeled and deseeded)
• 1 mandarin orange (peeled)
Directions
Put the celery, apple, kale or chord, cucumber, mint leaves and bok choy in the blender, mixing well until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the spinach, lemon and mandarin orange, and keep mixing. Add water as needed to thin the juice, and store it in a glass container in the fridge.
3. Green Goddess
If you are looking for a juice that is all-natural, green, and also very tasty, this green goddess is certainly the best option you have. With a dose of vitamin K, iron, and vitamins C, A, and E, this healthy juice will be fun to make with kids.
Ingredients
• 1 green apple
• 1/2 cucumber
• 6 chard leaves
• 1/2 – 1-inch piece of ginger
• 1-2 cups of green grapes
Directions
Throw all ingredients in the blender, and mix well. Top with a slice of cucumber or apple.
Recipe source: greenjuiceaday.com
Final Thoughts
Although juicing might seem easy at first sight, there are several aspects you need to keep in mind to ensure that you will be getting the right amount of nutrients in a glass of juice. Make sure to look for different recipes and never stick to the same old ones. Not only will this help add variety to your juicing experience, but it will also allow you to consume vegetables and fruits you wouldn’t normally eat, and successfully eat the recommended 6 to 8 portions a day.
Hello, I’m Scott – a juicer and blending enthusiast. I hope to inspire you to make one positive step towards your juicing or blending journey through visiting this site.
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