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.
If you are planning on juicing citrus fruits only, or primarily citrus fruits, consider purchasing a juicer that is designed just for citrus. Many juicers have trouble with the amount of pith in a citrus fruit. In addition, juicers with metal surfaces will become corroded over time after repeated exposure to citrus fruits.
If you must store your juice in the fridge, add a tablespoon of lemon juice. This small amount of lemon juice shouldn’t have a major effect on the flavor, but it will keep this juice from becoming discolored as it sits, creating a more appetizing effect. Always try to make your juice just before you drink it, for maximum health benefits.
Do not forget to remove hard pits from fruits like peaches and cherries before sending them down the juicer. These pits can destroy your juicers blades turning your happy purchase into a giant paperweight. Don’t get into such a flow in your juicing that you forget to make the fruits safe for juicing.
Juice your softer fruits first and then send down your harder items. The hard textured fruit will do the job of cleaning the fruit that was left behind by the softer items. This means more juice for you and less clean up as well. Follow that trick and you’ll usually get the maximum amount of juice in your glass, not left in the juicer.
Be aware that citrus fruits do not always work well in all juicers. Because of the consistency of the pulp in the fruit the juicer can get clogged with the pulp or rind. If using a standard juicer, peel the fruit and cut into small pieces; otherwise get a citrus juicer that you will use for these types of fruit specifically.
Juicing will lead you to more ingredients than just produce! Try spices like cayenne or cinnamon, or nutrition-packed additions like spirulina. You can even put a little honey and yogurt in once in a while for a sweet, smooth treat. Make sure to use only non-fat, unsweetened dairy to keep the resulting produce healthy.
Using wheat-grass in your juice is an excellent way to add a ton of tasty nutrients to the final product. Start with a little bit and increase how much you push through the machine until it’s all fed into the juicer. Follow with a hard fruit or vegetable to clean out the machine.
Reading the instruction manual that came with your juicer will help you make the best juice possible. The manual will advise you of which fruits or vegetables that may require the skin to be removed. It will also tell you which produce does not juice well, such as bananas and avocados.
Organic produce should be your goal when purchasing produce for juicing. Not only will organic foods be sweeter and have a bolder taste, but they also have a higher nutritional value thanks to the soil that they are grown in. The lack of chemical pesticides also means that they will be healthier for you to ingest.
Cucumber juice has excellent health benefits for both your hair and skin. Cucumber juice has a lot of silica in it. Tendons, ligaments, bones, muscles and connective tissue all benefit from a healthy intake of silica.
Think about drinking your juice just before a meal to help you feel full faster, limiting your intake of solid food. The juice will digest quickly, giving you a boost in energy and providing you with the servings of fruit and vegetables you require. You’ll end up eating less solid food, so try to include whole grains as it will increase your fiber intake.
If you have a large batch of juice and need to store the juice for a while, adding drops of lemon juice is a good idea. They will act as a natural preservative and help the juice stay fresh. Also remember to keep the juice in a container that is air tight and refrigerated.
It’s a great idea to plan out your meals for the week, including your juices. You can figure out which vegetables you’ll eat when, whether it be solid or juiced, so you know exactly how much of everything you’ll need to buy. This will also save you money as you can buy in bulk for multiple meals.
Save money on juicing by including cheaper base ingredients in all of your recipes, like apples or carrots. If you have fast-growing herbs like parsley in your garden, include them in every juice during their growing season. This can reduce your costs significantly every week, even in the wintertime, by watching what is available on sale.
Turn to juicing to help lower your cholesterol levels in a safe, medicine-free manner. Make sure to be tested regularly and stay under the care of a medical professional while attempting this as treatment. Produce to use are apples, blueberries, garlic, kale, or kiwi, which all have nutrients which will reduce bad cholesterol in the blood.
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.
