Drinking fruit or vegetable juice can be very nutritious. However, juice that’s purchased in the grocery store may only have a small percentage of actual fruit and/or vegetable juice in the bottle. It may also have a large amount of sugar. That’s why juicing at home is the best way to insure that you are getting fresh and nutritious juice.
Juicing is a great way to get nutrients into your body. Cooking vegetables especially, kills off nutrients, but juicing raw fruits and vegetables can give you more of the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that you need.
Juice is much easier to digest than the actual whole fruits, vegetables, and other foods. Even though foods may be cooked , the juice will get absorbed faster because it’s liquid. So, your body has immediate access to the nutrients.
Children may be fussy eaters, so juice is great for them. Also, the elderly might have problems chewing and digesting fruits and vegetables, so juice will give them the nutrition they need.
Both fruit and vegetable juices may contain prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotics feed the “good” bacteria that’s in your digestive tract. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are also good for your gut.
Types of Juicers
The simplest type of juicer is a citrus squeezer. These come in different styles, shapes and sizes, and are used for squeezing juice out of oranges, lemons, and limes.
There are also several types of mechanical juicers we’ll explain here, including Blender Juicer, Centrifugal Force Juicer, Masticating Juicer, Twin Gear Juicer, and Triturating Juicer.
Blender Juicer
A blender juicer combines a blender and a juicer. It has extractor blades that extracts the juices, and then the blender action combines them all together. The most well known example of these is the NutriBullet, that has been seen on many infomercials.
The typical drink made with these is to place a small amount of greens in the bottom of your blender pitcher. Then on top of those you place different fruits and vegetables to sweeten up your drink. You then add water up to a certain level and run the machine for about a minute. If you forget the water, you end up with a lot of mush after blending! The big selling point of these machines is that you don’t have a mesh screen full of pulp to clean.
The fact that water is added means the extractor blades will spin the fruits and vegetables rapidly around the inside of the pitcher, and pulverize them as they get added to the water. You end up with a very nutritious smoothie using whatever fruit/vegetable combination you want.
You can drink your smoothie directly from the pitcher or pour it into a glass. When you’re done, all you have to do is rinse out the pitcher and blades, so cleanup is very easy. NutriBullets are available from 600 to 1200 watt sizes.
Centrifugal Juicer
A centrifugal juicer is one of the most common types of juice extractors, and is also called a fast juicer. With this type of juicer you place fruits and vegetables into a wide chute and push them down with a special attachment. You don’t have to do much pre-cutting, because the chute is wide enough for most fruit/vegetable items.
A spinning basket forces the fruit/vegetable pieces onto a blade. The liquids are pushed against a filter and the pulp is separated from the juice which comes out into a pitcher, or even straight into a glass. Some higher priced models use a “cold spin technology”, which means vitamins and minerals aren’t damaged by heat.
The models that spin fast and produce heat, cause a froth on the juice. This froth can actually be tasty, but the juice you make is better if you drink it immediately. It won’t keep in the refrigerator more than a day or two, and won’t taste as good as freshly made.
The pulp ends up in a separate container and is usually very moist, which means there is still juice left in it. So, this means it’s not very efficient or economical. If you’re paying more for organic produce then you might be wasting some money.
These juicers aren’t good at extracting the juice from leafy vegetables such as spinach. It helps to roll them up tightly before putting them in the juicer.
Centrifugal juicers are best at juicing hard fruits and vegetables such as apples, carrots, parsnips, pears, and ginger. They aren’t very good at juicing soft fruits such as berries.
These juicers are fairly inexpensive, and have your juice ready right away, without much time and effort.
Masticating Juicer
In contrast to the centrifugal juicer, a masticating juicer is called a “slow juicer”. They use an auger gear which runs slow and crushes fruits and vegetables. Since they don’t produce heat, vitamins and minerals are preserved. The juice can also be stored longer in the refrigerator.
With these juicers you’ll have to chop up fruits and vegetable into smaller pieces, because the tube going into the juicer is narrower than a centrifugal juicer. Your pulp is separated and the juice passes through a fine mesh filter.
Masticating juicers tend to be louder than centrifugal ones, but now there are quieter models available. However they take longer to take apart and clean, and then put back together.
Some more expensive models may be easier to take apart and clean, and may also have the ability to grind nuts and seeds. They can also process frozen fruits.
Twin Gear Juicer or Triturating Juicer
A twin gear juicer is basically the same thing as a triturating juicer. It’s usually a horizontal machine that uses two rotating gear augers that pull in the produce and crush and grind it up.
Everything gets pushed through a screen. Using two gears results in more nutrients being extracted from your fruits and vegetable. They can extract about 30% more juice than a masticating juicer. Also, like a masticating juicer, juice can be stored longer.
They work good with hard vegetables and can make things like nut butter, baby food, pasta, oats, and soy. They work slowly, but are quiet. The newer models are fairly easy to clean.
Twin gear and triturating juicers are considered the top of the line as far as juicers go. They can be very expensive, costing hundreds, and even into the thousands of dollars. So, even though they’re great for home use, are reliable, and last many years, they are mostly used commercially – such as in juice bars, because of the cost.
Buying a Juicer
First, decide how much money you’re willing to spend. A good way to think about this is – have you decided that you really want to get healthy and cut down or even eliminate fast foods and “junk food”? Do you have a spouse or kids that you want to feed healthy, natural food?
If you’re serious, you’ve probably decided that juicing is going to become a daily habit for you and your family. A Nutribullet is probably the most inexpensive way to “test the water”. You can try the combination described above, mixing a small amount of greens with some fruit.
The greens have a bland taste, so you can experiment to see which fruits will make your drink sweet enough. The cleanup is really easy, so this should get you in the habit of juicing every day.
Next, you can try a blender juicer. However, if you want to get the best quality juice, you should consider a masticating juicer. Think of the price as an investment in your (and your families) future health.
Things to consider when looking at juicer models:
• Look for a juicer with two different speeds, so you can juice different things like greens, spinach, and wheatgrass.
• Consider your available counter space when looking at the model dimensions.
• Are there food processing functions, like making sorbet, nut butter, nut milk, ice cream, and pasta?
• Cleaning time and how easy your model is to take apart and put back together.
• Does the model you want have a good warranty?
How To Make Juice
First, you have to prepare the produce. You should wash it with fresh water, or even use vinegar or lemon juice. For organic produce washing isn’t as important, but for others there could be pesticides on the skin. You don’t have to peel fruits and vegetables to juice them. On most models you can put them in with the skin on, and the skins contains lots of nutrients.
Depending on what model juicer you have, you’ll have to cut up the produce. However, with some models you may not have to do much cutting. With some machines you can insert a whole cucumber, apple, or carrot.
As mention above, only mix a small amount of greens with fruit, so your drink isn’t bland. Many people don’t realize that carrot juice is sweet. So, you can often get your drink sweet enough just by adding carrots and an apple. Experiment with other fruits to get the taste you want. Try melons and different kinds of berries.
Juicing Mistakes
A lot of people, maybe kids especially, just want to juice fruit. These can be delicious juices, but they’re high in sugar. These all fruit juices get absorbed into your body quickly and can cause poor health and weight gain. It’s better to mix in vegetables for a healthier juice.
It’s better to drink your juice right after making it. Make only enough that you and family members will drink. Even with the masticating and triturating juicers, where you can store the juice longer, it still make turn slightly brown in the fridge. This is from natural oxidation, just like when a cut apple goes brown. It won’t hurt you, but it doesn’t look real appetizing.
Don’t throw away your pulp. Once you find the recipes you may find you can use it for a smoothie base. Or, for example, carrot pulp could be used to make a carrot cake
Try to get in the habit of cleaning your juicer immediately after you use it. If you don’t, certain ingredients make get stuck on and be harder to wash off.
Juicing For Fat Loss
With juicing you can get the nutrients your body needs and lose weight at the same time. Juicing for fat loss, and adding specific juice mixes to your natural home remedies, will help you to feel better and lose weight at the same time.
Using a juicer that allows you to keep some of the fiber will give you many benefits. First of all, food goes through your digestive system slower and helps you feel full. Fiber also helps you control weight gain, regulate blood sugar, lower your diabetes risk, and lower cholesterol.
Here are some great fat burning juices:
Celery Juice
Celery juice is about 95% water and full of fiber. It’s also anti-inflammatory and a great source of antioxidants. Since you might not like the taste of it by itself, you can mix it with carrot and apple juice to sweeten it up.
Carrot Juice
Carrot juice is low in calories and full of fiber, so it’s great for weight loss. Drinking carrot juice in the morning can keep you full until lunch and help avoid unwanted snacks. Carrot juice aids your liver in bile secretion, to help burn fat and promote weight loss. Try adding some ginger, apple, and orange to your carrot juice to spruce up the taste and create a wonderful detox drink.
Pomegranate Juice
Pomegranate juice is low in calories. It’s an antioxidant and studies have shown that it may help prevent spikes in blood sugar levels. It’s also great for your skin and contains conjugated linolenic acid, which aids the fat burning process and boosts your metabolism. If you don’t like the taste, you can add some pineapple, kale, apple, and berries to your juice mix.
Cucumber Juice
Cucumber and celery juice are high in water content and fill you up without adding a lot of calories. Try adding a small amount of lime, carrot, kale, and a mint leaf, for a juice that’s full of fiber and will keep you refreshed.
Watermelon Juice
Watermelons are very low in calories and have a high-water content, so they make a perfect weight loss juice. They are also rich in L-Arginine which can help to burn fat. You can drink watermelon juice on its own or add it to other vegetable juices. Try adding a little lime and some raspberries to your watermelon juice.
Cabbage Juice
Cabbage juice helps relieve indigestion and bloating. It clears out your digestive system and helps get rid of wastes quickly, so it’s good for weight loss. Some people might not like the taste of cabbage, so you can add carrot, beetroot, lime, and apple to your juice.
Pineapple Juice
Pineapple juice can help reduce belly fat. It contains the enzyme bromelain which helps with pain and swelling. It also helps break down proteins and works with other enzymes to digest fat and suppress appetite. It’s also catabolic, which means it uses up more calories than are actually in the fruit! Add pineapple juice to a green juice to sweeten it up.
Cellulite Smoothing Juice
Exercise is the best way to burn fat and cellulite, but here’s a juice recipe: Add a few sticks of celery and 1 lemon (this is for getting rid of fluid and excess toxins under the skin), a bunch of kale and 2 grapefruits (this keeps skin clear), 2 oranges and 1 piece of ginger root (to boost blood flow).
Detox Juice Recipes
For an immune system boost combine red apples, red grapes, and lemon. Red apples are rich in antioxidants and help digestion. Red grapes contain resveratrol which can improve heart health and adds sweetness to this drink. Lemon gives you added detox benefits.
A great cleansing juice to try is ginger, beetroot, pineapple, and pear. Ginger is great for reducing inflammation. If you don’t like beetroot, substitute cucumber. Instead of ginger you can try turmeric, which has a slightly milder taste. Turmeric helps with many different things including skin disorders, arthritis, digestive problems, heart health, allergies, respiratory infections, liver disease, depression, pain, and inflammation.
Make a simple juice combining carrots and oranges. It will make you feel refreshed, help with blood pressure, get rid of bad cholesterol, and make your hair shiny and your skin glow.
So there you have it – some juicing for fat loss and detox juice recipes to try which will help you reduce sugar cravings, burn fat, and lose weight. Your cells will be so happy to be flooded with a lot of vitamins and minerals from delicious juices. You should also be slimmer, more energetic, and in much better health.
Juicing Recipe Books
There are hundreds of juicing recipe books and juicing recipes that can be found online. There’s so much content related to juicing that it’s easy to find something you like and get inspired by new ideas.
There’s are also lots of user-generated recipe sites created because of all the interest in juicing. They’re usually dedicated to “do it yourself” juice making and give lot’s of specific instruction on ingredients and how juices should be prepared. If you enter “juicing recipes” into Google, YouTube, or Facebook, you should be overwhelmed with information.
