“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
-Hippocrates
I’ve been juicing on and off for about 6 years. Sometimes I will go months without juicing, then I will begin again. I have my ups and downs. I have spent countless hours researching the health benefits from juicing and let me tell you, they are endless. I have experienced them first hand. When I am juicing, I feel so much better. I have more energy, my moods are elevated, and I am more alert and focused. Today I want to share some of the health benefits with you and get you motivated to improve your own health & try juicing as well.
What is Juicing?
Juicing is the process of extracting juice from fruit and vegetable plants. Cooking and processing food destroys micronutrients by altering their shape and chemical composition. Juicing protects those vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. It also removes damaging toxins from the body. Juicing is the fastest way to absorb nutrients into your body.
Benefits of Juicing
“There is lots of research that shows the healing properties of juicing. Not only will juicing facilitate weight loss, increased energy levels, strengthened immunity, strong bones and a glowing complexion, it may also reduce chances of heart disease, cancer and strokes, three of the leading causes of death. A growing body of research suggests that most vitamin supplements don’t help prevent chronic disease. A synthetic vitamin or mineral is a laboratory simulation of the real thing. Natural, plant-based vitamins and minerals are more easily and completely absorbed by the body.” Source
Why go Organic?
“Conventional produce is laced with toxic industrial chemicals and additives because of the way it is grown, packaged, produced and manufactured. Its nutrient density (the amount of good stuff you get in the food you eat) is much lower than organic food while all of those industrial toxins act as poisons to the enzyme systems which life depends upon.” Source. Its important to use organic produce. If you cannot afford the extra cost of organic fruits and veggies, grow your own organic garden & follow the dirty dozen rule. As a rule, always purchase these fruits and veggies organically. Remember to shop your local farmers market!
THE DIRTY DOZEN
- Peaches
- Apples
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Pears
- Grapes (Imported)
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Potatoes
Where to buy your produce?
There are many places to shop for fresh produce. The freshest place will be in your back yard, by growing your own organic garden. Second, local farmers markets (usually open from April – october/november) are a great alternative to growing your own food. Supporting our “local” organic farmers is always a good thing. There are also CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) programs that you can join. Sometimes they will deliver right to your door or you can pick up your veggies from a designated spot. With CSA’s, you work at the farm to care for the garden and help harvest the vegetables, or you can pay a certain amount of money and just reap the benefits. Finally, the grocery store has fresh fruits and vegetables. Just remember to buy organic. Also, shopping twice per week ensures you have the freshest produce for your juicing needs, if you are shopping at the store.
In order to be successful with juicing, you must have a fully stocked refrigerator, full of fruits and veggies, at all times.
Tips on getting started:
1. Buy a juicer. I use the Breville Juice Fountain. Its easy to use and easy to clean.
2. Clean out your fridge. If you are going to adapt a healthier diet and begin juicing, you need to eliminate the processed and toxic food.
3. Go grocery shopping. Remember to buy organic. I shop twice per week for fresh produce.
4. Prepare your juice bags twice per week. I wash all produce that I will be juicing for the next 3-4 days. Below I share my “go to” recipe for juicing.
5. Juice at least once per day, 2-3x is even better. I juice in the morning and blend a green smoothie in the afternoon.
6. Get creative with juicing. Look for new juicing recipes to keep it fun. One of my favorite juicing books is The Big Book of Juices.
7. To stay motivated, watch a juicing related DVD. One of my favorites is Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (you can watch it on netflix). It’s a total wake up call!
My “go to” juice:
1 Green Apple (cored)
1 Cucumber
2 Carrots (with tops)
1 Broccoli stem
2 Handfuls of Kale
1/2 Lemon (peeled)
*Wash and place in large ziploc baggie. Store in fridge until ready to juice. Drink immediately after juicing.
Below are my kitchen tools. I juice and blend my fruits and veggies. As I mentioned before, I use the Breville Juice Fountain as well as the Vitamix blender.
If you prepare your produce twice per week, juicing only takes a few minutes each morning. It takes about the same time to cook eggs & toast, but juicing is much healthier for you.
Make sure to put a grocery bag in the pulp catcher. It’s easy clean up.
Mmmm… As they call it “liquid sunshine” There’s nothing healthier than a fresh glass full of green juice.
Clean up with the Breville is super easy. I use a scrub brush filled with soap to wash it out. Then I leave it to air dry for a few hours.
That’s juicing in a nutshell. Its pretty straight forward. If you put in a little time & effort to care for your health each week, your body will thank you. I would love to hear about your juicing experiences. Do you juice? What’s your favorite recipe? Would you like to see more about Healthy Living, juicing, smoothies, or using pure essential oils, etc. on the blog?
Tags: healthy living, juicing
Blog, healthy living, juicing, March 2013 Posted in
32 comments
32 comments on “Juicing 101”
Toni, I have the same juicer and love it. Here’s my recipe:
1 Handful of Parsley
1 Green Apple (cored)
1 Small Beets (with tops)
1 Cucumber
2 Carrots (with tops)
1 Piece of Fresh Ginger (about the size of my thumb, peeled)
2 Handfuls of Kale
1/4 Lime (unpeeled)
I will definitely try this recipe. 😉 Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Toni! This is just what I needed. I stopped juicing a few months ago and this is motivating me to get started again. I have the same juicer and I love it!
I love juicing I juice every day! My go to juice recipe is 4 apples, 2 handful of spinachs, 2 handfuls of kale, 1 cucumber, 2 carrots and 2 stalks of celery. I have never had so much energy in my life. My body actually craves this in the morning now. Thanks for this awesome post I look forward to many more healthy living posts. I make a smoothie in the afternoon as well my recipes vary as I make a different every day. I was wondering what your go to smoothie recipe is? I am very interested in hearing about essential oils!!!
I have been looking into juicing and am confused as to which way to go…a traditional juicer or a vitamix. I see the benefits are different based on the juice or the vitamix using the skins and everything. Curious as to what you think since you have both.
They are 2 different ways to eat. I love them both equally. 😉 To start, you may like smoothies.
Is that your breakfast then?
Hi Toni! I’m relatively new to your site. I just found it a few weeks ago and have learned so much and had some fun with organization projects you suggested. I thought it was so serendipitous to find this post today because I’m a big juicer too and have been blogging about that recently, as well as the Reboot that I’m currently doing. I loved that documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I’m using the same juicer as well. Since my posts are more experiential, I may link to your How-to post on my blog. Everything you do is so beautifully done! Thank you!
I think it depends I do not like pulp so I use a juicer rather than a blender. Just my personal preference. I juice two times a day between my husband and myself we have lost 55 pounds since August 2012 when we really started. He has MS and for the first time in 15 years he had no new lesions on his last MRI. We feel awesome. I saw Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead also. That is what started it. I had breast cancer and the meds made me gain a bunch of weight and become pre-diabetic. I turned all that around and take no meds now.
Toni, thanks so much for this segment. Yes please do more on healthy living, eating, essential oils etc… I am going to look into the juicer you recommended. I have a Vita Mix. I love it. Is it ok to make the “liquid sunshine” in a blender? Thanks!!
Love this post Toni! We do lots of smoothies, but haven’t branched out into the juicing…yet!
what do you put in a smoothie that makes it different from juicing?
I use my quizenart blender hope i spelled that right i use purée butten works perfect i love smoothie i use oranges spinach strawberries etc. whatever on hand delicious !
I saw Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead a few months ago. Does the juice drink serve as a meal replacement? I tried the Green Drink at Whole Foods as a meal, but was soon starving!
I definitely love juicing, and so do my kids (4.5 & 2.5). I never thought to separate everything out and put in baggies – that would definitely be a huge help! Of course, when I juice, I have to do everything times 4, so it gets a little time consuming – but prepping everything else in advance, that is a must try! Would love to have you share this with what i am eating http://www.townsend-house.com/2013/03/what-i-am-eating_15.html
I have been juicing for almost a year and love it too! Once you get in the habit it really does make you feel better.
I purchase my produce from Sprouts. They have great produce and great prices! I have heard good things about juicing…
Thank you so much for sharing this!!! I really want to start juicing. Is this your whole breakfast? Seems like it wouldn’t fill you up for long. 🙂
I just wanted to say that a recent review of a couple hundred studies on organic foods found there is actually no nutritional difference between organic and non-organically grown foods!
There are still lots of good reasons to buy organic meat, dairy, and produce – reduced exposure to pesticides, reduced exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, encouraging more sustainable farming practices, and more ethical treatment of animals, to name some. But people who can’t afford (or find) organic veggies don’t have to worry that they aren’t getting as many nutrients, because the farming method used to grow produce don’t appear to affect the nutritional value.
Your blog is outstanding!
First the organization tips.
Then, the bookclub.
Now, the juicing!
You are giving us so much! Thanks a lot!
Jeannine
I love my vitamix. It’s so versatile from making soup to peanut butter to smoothies. I haven’t yet juiced with it. You can use the milk bag to strain it if you want a traditional juicing experience. I have thought about the Breville after watching fat, sick, and nearly dead. So far though the Vitamix has my heart!!! It’s def an investment.
I already own a Breville, which I purchased after watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, but have not been very good about juicing. Tried this recipe on Sunday, and had it again yesterday and today, first thing in the morning. Excellent recipe! Thank you!
Hi! Love the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I have yet to get a juicer due to cost, but I intend to get one soon. Right now I’m using my magic bullet and am blending my veggies and fruit together. I know it may not be the same as juicing but I am feeling really great and have lost a few lbs in the few days I have been doing it. The best part is I’m not hungry! I quickly steam kale and spinach till they are bright green then cool them and add them to the mix. I don’t notice any taste difference. I’m amazed at how many fruits and veggies I can eat in a day! Your blog is great, thanks for all your info!
I’m getting so confused. I recently purchased the NutriBullet. I’ll do apples, bananas, spinach & kale for my kids & I. So, do I need a juicier???
When you juice, the pulp can be saved (it can be frozen until needed) and used in brownies, meatloaf or smoothies to add fiber and flavor. This is a suggestion from my daughter.
I like the idea of juicing, but juice also typically has much more calories and sugar than the whole fruit – I realize that veggies take up part of this. For those who have to watch sugar intake, eating a whole piece of fruit is better than juice drinking the juice – you get all the fiber and feel fuller more quickly than you do with the juice. I do realize that by adding vegetables you can offset some of the sugar. I am going to stick with eating the whole food for now.
Hi Kelly,
The juice can’t possibly have more calories and sugar than the whole fruit/vegetable…where do they come from? I think you mean that it’s easier for people to TAKE IN more calories and sugar when drinking juice because it isn’t as filling and is, for some people more enjoyable than eating the whole fruit/vegetable, so therefore they have more.
I read this post when it came out and had wanted to see the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead as you recommended. I finally watched it about two weeks ago and got a Breville Juicer a week ago and love it! I am surprised how delicious juicing actually is. I would love to read more about it on your blog!
I love to juice and have not found it to be expensive! I started creating Faces from my fruits and vegetables before I juiced them. From that I create a book of juicing recipes called Faces of Juicing. While I played with my food and made faces while in chronic pain with rheumatoid arthritis. FacesofJuicing.com even has a watermelon juice without any watermelon, check it out here: http://facesofjuicing.com/watermelon-juice-without-any-watermelon/
Thanks for such detailed post about juicing and related tools. I’ve just get involved with juicing and loved to know more about this healthy way of living. My little girl does like the smoothies I made for her so much that she wants to have it daily. lol.
I recently did a book review on Ultimate Juicing Guide. It has a ton of tips and recipes for people who want to start juicing. Check it out at ultimatejuicingguidereview.com