Juicing Fruits & Vegetables for Health

Juicing vegetables keeps time with our lifestyles today in that you don`t have to spend the bulk of your time chewing all those vegetables to get the nutrients you need. You just simply drink them down in a matter of minutes. Vegetable juice makes it easier for your body to absorb all the available nutrients of the vegetables, a process that practically pre-digests the vegetables. The nutrients of the vegetables go into your body not down the toilet compared to chewing your vegetables.

Today, there are several excellent juice products located in the grocery store's refrigerator section. So, you don't even have to juice your own fruits or vegetables anymore. But, it's better to juice your own. I always read the labels and make sure the quality is worth the price. Some juices are cold-pressed, which is awesome. The fruit or vegetables are juiced with a hydraulic press generating a pressure of thousands of pounds. That way, the extraction of the juice is at a maximum, and more juice is drawn from the source. Another added benefit, heat is not prevalent and neither is oxygen. That means nutrients are not lost like in the traditional methods of juicing.

Fruit and vegetable juice is extremely perishable and it`s best that you drink the juice right after juicing your fruit or vegetables. The longer you delay the fewer nutrients available in the juice. However, sometimes you need to juice fruit or vegetables beforehand. In that case, store your juice properly up to 24 hours to control the nutritional loss. Airtight opaque containers work best to prevent light from getting into the container. Make sure you fill the container to the top to prevent air from getting in the container as well. You have to take into account that air oxidizes juice and the light removes the nutrients from the juice. That is why you need to make sure you store your juice in the right type container in the refrigerator, right away.

Some vegetables are better to juice than others. You might think that carrots and beets are the best vegetables to juice, not so. Carrots and beets both contain very high sugar levels. That is not good because similar to fruit juices, they raise the body's insulin levels. For nutritional value, the best vegetables to juice are the green leafy vegetables. However, your taste buds and stomach will most likely reject them at first. So, start with more tolerable vegetables such as cucumbers, fennel, and celery. They are a great combination of taste and digestion. When you feel comfortable with this combination, then start adding healthier vegetables like lettuce, kale, spinach, and cabbage. You can even try adding a little cilantro or parsley.

Sweet fruits are the best fruits to juice. That includes berries, apples, pineapples, pears, mangoes, grapes, oranges, and kiwis. Out of that bunch, I juice mangoes, pineapples, berries, and apples first and foremost. In general, fruit juice is a cleanser and filled with antioxidants. Some of them are anti-inflammatory like pineapples, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and oranges.