Health: Juicing

Growing up, my mom used to juice almost everyday. Recently I decided to get back into juicing and so here I am.

I found a juicer at ALDI's and have been enjoying this. One thing I really struggle with is getting all my veggies. This is one of the reasons that juicing is so great for me.

There are all different types of recipes, but you can do whatever you like. I usually always add a fruit like grapefruit or orange. They have such a strong taste and it covers the other veggies I don't like.

What is juicing good for?

Dr. Mercola says:

1. Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet.

2. Juicing allows you to consume an optimal amount of vegetables in an efficient manner. If you are a carb type, you should eat one pound of raw vegetables per 50 pounds of body weight per day. Some people may find eating that many vegetables difficult, but it can be easily accomplished with a quick glass of vegetable juice.

3. You can add a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. Many people eat the same vegetable salads every day. This violates the principle of regular food rotation and increases your chance of developing an allergy to a certain food. But with juicing, you can juice a wide variety of vegetables that you may not normally enjoy eating whole.

What type of Veggies should I use?

Dr. Mercola says: Use pesticide free veggies.

It is wise to choose organic whenever possible. However, some vegetables are worse than others. Below are the vegetables that are the most pesticide loaded ones according to the Environmental Working Group.

So it would be wise to only purchase these vegetables if they are organically grown. The worst ones are listed first.

1. Celery
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Collard Greens
5. Lettuce
6. Carrots
7. Cucumber (not as bad if you peel the skin)

How soon do I need to digest the juice? Can I store it? 

Dr. Mercola says:

Juicing is a time-consuming process, so you'll probably be thinking to yourself, "I wonder if I can juice first thing in the morning, and then drink it later?" This is not a good idea. Vegetable juice is HIGHLY perishable so it's best to drink all of your juice immediately.

However, if you're careful, you can store it for up to 24 hours with only moderate nutritional decline. This is really helpful if you are bringing your juice to work with you so you can consume it during the day.
How to store your juice:

• Put your juice in a glass jar with an airtight lid and fill it to the very top. There should be a minimum amount of air in the jar as the oxygen in air (air is about 20 percent oxygen) will "oxidize" and damage the juice.
• Purchase a food vacuum pump like Food Saver with a Ball jar attachment. You can pour your juice into a pint jar and put the lid on and use the Food Saver to suck out the air in the jar to vacuum pack it. This will remove most of the oxygen that will damage the juice.
• Immediately store it in the fridge and consume it when you are ready. It is best to drink it as soon as possible and in any case within 24 hours of juicing.

Most people juice in the morning, but if that does not work out well for your schedule, please feel free to choose whatever meal works best for your lifestyle.

Well I hope these tips help you. Tomorrow, I am going to give you a another thought from Dr. Mercola and some recipes the next day following- Enjoy your present :-)