“Oooooohhhhhh, the new juicer is heeerrreeee,” I crooned as I came out of my ice bath into the kitchen to find a large box from Amazon.
Within 15 minutes, the juicer was out of the packing, on the counter, and churning through some fresh produce.
The first batch of juice we made was pretty standard in terms of ingredients: carrots, apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries and oranges. With the first sip, I was hooked on the earthy freshness of juice that is less than 5 minutes old.
That first sip was almost a month ago. So, what have we learned after 4 weeks of juicing?
For starters: We’ve been missing out. Juicing is incredible.
It also appears that the juicing community is a bit of a cult. Once I announed (a la Facebook and Twitter) that John and I had started juicing, juicing comrades replied from all corners of our social network to tell me they, too, loved the power of juicing.
Even if I’m a bit late to the party, I’m grateful I’ve succumbed to the juicing juggernaut.
If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, or if you tried juicing a few years ago and gave it up because you thought it was too “messy,” today’s juicers may convince you to reconsider.
After several weeks of research, we opted for the Breville 900-watt variable speed, with pulp extraction. Said simply: it has several speeds that help you adjust to the softness or firmness of the produce, and you don’t get any pulp in your juice.
When picking out our juicer, I was careful to read the many reviews that others have left. I found them very useful, and so far, the Breville lives up to its solid reputation. For the price ($199 on sale from Amazon), this juicer is worth it. It offers ease of use, and incredibly fast clean up. (And this is coming from one of the messiest cooks around…)
Thanks to juicing, John and I have more than doubled our weekly intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Here are some things we’ve learned so far.
Be creative.
Each day, we create a new juice. The juicer came with some recipes, and I also bought a book about juicing (The Complete Book of Juicing), and these are definitely useful resources, especially for learning about specific vitamin, mineral or antioxident content. But, we’ve found that we also enjoy making our own concoctions. If you vary up your ingredients daily, you’ll be sure to ingest a whole spectrum of valuable nutrients.
And, you’ll be surprised at how wonderful some of your favorite fruits and vegetables taste in their juice form. For example, I love any juice that has beets in it. And, if you mix the beets with celery, the earthiness is positively intoxicating. I also recommend including some type of greens in each juice, such as spinach, kale, beet greens, collards, etc. In general, a tasty juice results from a combination of vegetables with some fruit to sweeten. We opt to go heavier on vegetables than fruits to cut down on sugar.
Learn what vegetables or fruit have strong flavor.
Being creative is great. However, it has led to some juices that were not as yummy as others. Mostly, this was due to adding too much of a powerfully-flavored vegetable for fruit. For example, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, garlic, and canteloupe–to name a few–each have a wicked strong flavor in a juice. Use these ingredients with caution.
Along the way, you will no doubt learn what your preferences are, and how to add different types of produce to create a balance that works for you.
Enhance nutrition.
Juice offers a great opportunity to consume plenty of nutrient-dense vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidents without too many extra calories. As I mentioned above, The Complete Book of Juicing has been helpful to identify specific nutrition contributions for different types of produce. For example, John’s parents were recently sick with the flu. So, we made them a juice that provided nutrition for helping to fight the flu or a cold. Granted, this was not the best tasting juice ever, but it included specific nutrients to help them get well.
By drinking a glass or two of fresh juice each day, John and I have more than doubled our weekly fruit and vegetable intake, which means we have added more high quality nutrition to our diet. While we continue to eat vegetables and fruits in their “whole” form, drinking them also contributes to improving digestion, increasing energy levels, lowering blood pressure, and preventing disease, such as heart disease or cancer (see The Complete Book of Juicing for data).
Drink it as soon as you make it.
We drink the juice as soon as we make it (or within an hour or so of making it), as this is the best way to ensure that you get the maximum amount of nutrition from the elixir. According to The Complete Book of Juicing, produce can lose up to half (or more) of its nutrients just hours after the fleshy bits are exposed to air. And, if you cook that very same produce, it can lose up to 80% of more of its nutrients. Yikes! (Let’s not even talk about how much nutrition is lost in the canning or freezing process…).
Don’t throw the pulp out!
We’ve found several uses for the pulp. Sometimes, I use it for whole wheat muffins, or other baked goods. It’s a great way to add moistness without adding butter or oil. If you already bake with applesauce (or something similar), the pulp can be used the same way. I’ve also added some of the leftover pulp to savory meals, such as braised chicken or stuffed pork roast. And, even if there isn’t something to cook, you can add pulp to your garden compost pile.
I’m a juicing newbie, but in just four weeks, I understand why Jack LaLanne (RIP!) touted its benefits for so many years.
Please join the conversation: Do you juice? What tips/tricks do you have?
Cheers!
