Juicing can sound slightly sadistic.
But it's actually a great way to eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables! Not only is it fast and efficient, it will save you time and is a quick method of getting your five a day.
I've known about juicing for a long time.
But I'm surprised I've only got around to it recently.
I guess for a while I've been happy to blend or make smoothies with a smoothie maker or a blender.
But last week, my other half introduced me to its wonders.
Now I just can't get enough.
Juicing for joy Since then we have been experimenting with various raw fruits and vegetables to see what works best.
I'm happy to say that it's possible to juice just about anything, including sliced up watermelon, whole apples and pears and all manner of fruits and vegetables which traditionally need slicing or de-pipping.
A good juicer will do it all for you and save you time in the process.
How it works To juice, you must first buy a juicer.
The good news is they are relatively cheap (a good juicer can be purchased for around 50 -100 from any good retailer).
Secondly, once you've read all the instructions, you'll want to give it a go.
This is where the fun begins! Choose a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables.
To start with you might want to choose flavours you can be sure of such as oranges or apples.
But as you get going with it, you'll want to try a variety of different flavours.
It's very easy to make a quick and nutritious juice in the morning.
Simply ensure the juicer is plugged in as per the device's manufacturer instructions and then place a jug at the other end of the chute (where juice will come out).
Then put the fruits/vegetables into the basket and pulp using the stick to press the fruits down into the juicer, which will then cut/slice and squeeze the juice into a separate jug.
It's as easy as that.
Benefits Here are some of the great benefits of juicing: - Easy on the digestion system.
As juice requires virtually no digesting, you will still get the full range of nutrients without having to chomp down on hard fruits - great if you have sensitive teeth or dentures for example.
- Juicing helps the body to absorb all nutrients from vegetables as the nutrients are already 'pre-digested' for us.
- You get more than your five a day.
As you have fun trying out different flavours of juice, you'll get a variety of densely packed vitamins and nutrients - more so than consuming the fruit and vegetables in their natural state.
- Cleansing for your liver.
Juicing can be detoxifying and help in removing the build-up of toxins which accumulate in the liver.
As many natural fruit and vegetable juices contain antioxidants such as Vitamin C, E, beta-carotene along with B vitamins which are vital for liver cleansing - These are just some of the primary benefits of juicing, but it can also aid the body in many other ways by supporting the immune system.
It is also beneficial at promoting healthy skin, eyes, hair and nails, providing increased energy levels and in the case of vegetables juices, can even help to release and alkalise the body system.
As if all these great benefits aren't enough, after juicing a fruit or a vegetable, you can then reuse the pulp and repeat the process to get even more juice! So none of the fruit goes to waste.
Recipes You really could spend hours trying out various juices.
The best way is to get a recipe book to help inspire some creative and healthy ideas to get you started on the right path.
In general, any brightly coloured vegetable is going to be highly nutritious for you.
Here is a colour code of fruit and vegetables by some of their health benefits.
- Green fruits and vegetables such as kale, spinach and cucumber - great at detoxifying the liver - Blue and purple fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, aubergines and plums - great at helping to protect the immune system - Orange and yellow fruits such as oranges, bananas, nectarines - full of the benefits of Vitamin C and can help with promoting calcium to give healthy joints and bones amongst other benefits - Red fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and apples - are great at helping to lower blood pressure Hopefully this gives you a general idea of what juicing can do for you, not just in terms of using up leftover vegetables, but also for the fantastic range of health benefits it can provide.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis purposes or to guide treatment without seeking the professional opinion of a health professional.