juicing Archives

Juicing for Kids

Children can often develop a taste for sweet drinks and many children consume packaged, sugary fruit drinks. These fruit drinks don’t have the nutritional benefits of fresh juices and you might wonder how children can be weaned away from packaged juices. It’s easier than it sounds, particularly if you are able to make juicing a family affair and develop healthy juicer recipes.

Starting Out

The best way to start children with fresh juices, especially those who are accustomed to drinking packaged juice is to mix fresh juice with the package juice until they become used to it. Then you can decrease the processed juice until they are having a complete raw juice experience. Even with the high sugar levels in fresh fruit juices, it is still offers a far higher level of nutrition than processed juices. It’s even better if you can use organic fruits to make healthy drink recipes.

Adding Vegetables

You can try adding green vegetables to fruit juices after your children have become accustomed to drinking natural raw juices. As they become more familiar with the new tastes, you can start to show them how you are adding in a leaf or two of various greens to make new healthy drink recipes.

Let Children Participate

Once juicing has become an established practice, it is likely children will become curious about juicing of their own accord. If they are old enough, there is no reason why they cannot participate in the fun. It is natural for children to be fascinated by appliances with buttons and if properly supervised, they will enjoy juicing and learning about healthy juicer recipes.

Safety is Always a Priority

While there are generally built in safety features on modern juice extractors, safety will always be a priority and good supervision is key. You should always make a point of unplugging the juicer when you are not actually making juice.

Tips to Help Children Started with Juicing

The earlier you can involve your children with juicing, the better and youngsters as young as two years of age can perform simple tasks such as putting kale leaves into a bowl of water and swish them around. A four year old child is able to peel an orange (using fingers) while a six year old is able to pit cherries and even slice cucumber into chunks while being supervised.
Other tasks they can do include turning on the switch to operate the juicer as well as dropping produce in the chute or feed tube. They can also switch between high and low speed and see what happens to the produce. As always, appropriate supervision is of paramount importance.

Using Games to Stimulate Interest

This is a great way to keep children motivated about juicing after they have become accustomed to a variety of new tastes. A good one is to start out with a regular juice, for example using apples, blackberries and a lemon that your children are already familiar with. Ask them to cover their eyes, and then add in three pieces of a vegetable, such as spinach, parsnip or cucumber. Next, serve up a small glass of juice to each child and see if they can guess the vegetable you have added in.

You can always add in more vegetables to the same juice and see if they can recognize what you have added. If they are stuck, you could always try placing small pieces of some vegetables on the countertop to give them a clue.

Juicing for kids is definitely a great activity and while they won’t be doing a juice fast, fresh juice is always a good way for a sick child who isn’t eating, to still ingest necessary nutrients and liquids. Juicing as a family is also fun and is the perfect activity to encourage children to learn about making good nutrition choices and creating healthy drink recipes.

Blending versus Juicing

Blending vs Juicing, which is right for you?

There is a world of difference between blending and juicing as any juicing aficionado will tell you and of course, there are an almost unlimited number of appliances out there which claim their machine is best. They are two entirely different processes though and generally, an appliance which focuses on either one or the other will provide you with the best results. As with most things, it’s best to be clear about what you want to achieve before you start out. Whole food blending vs juicing is not really a debate because the process is so totally different.

Blenders

The purpose of a blender is to blend/mix soft foods and liquids. However, they come in a variety of sizes, brands, price points and speeds. In a nutshell, you cannot use a blender to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. They are however very useful for fruits like bananas or cooked apples for example, if you want to puree them and maybe mix with a liquid in order to make a drink. They are also perfect for blending cooked vegetables and stock from which you might want to make soup.

Say you could take your blended bananas and mix them with milk/fruit juice/ice cream/yogurt for example and create a smoothie. Or you could make apple sauce. The point is that you can do a lot of really useful things with a blender, but extracting juice from fruits and vegetables is not one of them. A blender can really come into its own though when you use the juice you have extracted with a juicer, to make all kinds of smoothies.

See a list of the best selling blenders

Juicers

Again, these come in a range of sizes, types, brands and price points but their function is to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. If you are thinking about blending vs juicing vegetables, stick with juicing them if you want juice. When it comes to juicers, there are basically three types which you can use to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. They are masticating, centrifugal and citrus juicers and they each use a different process to extract juice.

Anyone thinking of blending vs juicing health would benefit from a detailed look at all three types because while they all extract juice from produce, different people prefer it to be done in different ways. Some people who are totally serious about juicing will have all three types in their juicing arsenals for the best results. They will also likely have a blender too, but not for extracting juice.

Have the Best of Both

Both blending and juicing are really great for utilizing fresh produce and you can use some of your vegetable juice for as stock for making soups in your blender. You could also use your fruit juices for making a variety of smoothies and other delightful cocktail type drinks and you will soon see that both appliances are excellent in the way they can complement the purpose of the other. So long as you understand that blenders blend and juicers juice, you can’t go wrong.

Regardless of whether you are considering blending vs juicing vegetables, whole food blending vs juicing, or blending vs juicing for your health, the bottom line is you are either blending or juicing and you will need to use the appliance which does the required task. Having a blender and a juicer is the best way to go because it will enable you to have a lot more variety in what you do with your fresh produce as well as increase the range of recipes you can ultimately make. In fact, a blender and a juicer are two of the most useful appliances you could consider owning, if you don’t have them already.

Best Juicer for Leafy Greens

How to Choose the Best Juicer for Leafy Greens

Juicing is recognized as a suitable way to provide a super nutrient boost to your diet and the health benefits of juicing are becoming more widely recognized. However, juicing leafy greens for health is probably not quite as well known and this article seeks to address that. If you are going to start juicing greens, you will need to have the correct type of juicer so we can also point you in the right direction with this as well.

Benefits of Juicing Leafy Green Vegetables

The leafy greens most commonly used are spinach and kale, although both of these are best used in recipes that include other fruits and vegetables. Spinach and kale are packed with nutrients that can help to counter some of the primary health concerns that seem to plague the 21^st century so let’s look at both of them in a little more detail.

Spinach

Spinach is a leafy green that is best known for its high concentration of iron, which is of course essential for red blood cells to do their job properly in ensuring oxygen is distributed throughout your body. It is excellent for treating anemia caused by a deficiency of iron, as well as aiding hypertension and circulatory weaknesses. Spinach is also very high in fiber so is useful as a constipation aid.

Kale

Kale is a superfood that has become known for its antioxidant properties, having a high concentration of carotenoids and flavonoids, which have become known as a way of preventing cancer. This in itself has been responsible for a rise in its popularity but it has other health benefits as well. It also assists in reducing cholesterol.

Kale is also high in vitamin K which assists to retain calcium in your bones so that it is useful in preventing osteoporosis and the calcium that can be found in kale is easier for the body to absorb as well. The other benefits of calcium include maintaining acid-alkaline balance as well as assisting the body to maintain its immune system.

By juicing leafy greens, you are essentially maximizing the ability of your body to benefit from chlorophyll, improving red blood cell production and cell respiration. They are potent with mineral nutrients and far too strong to consume as juice on their own. Because of this, leafy greens should be added to other vegetables and fruits, to produce a juice that is boosted by the special properties of spinach and kale.

Types of Juicers

There are a few different types of juicers available and in brief, they are the centrifugal juicer, the masticating juicer and the citrus-juicer. Centrifugal juicers slice and spin the fruits and vegetables to extract their juice. A masticating juicer literally chews and grinds the produce via an auger, to extract juice. A citrus juicer is designed for citrus fruits only and presses juice from citrus produce. Dedicated juicing aficionados will often have one each of these, so as to create an individually tailored juicing experience. The best juicer for greens is the masticating juicer because they do the best job in terms of juice extraction, especially for leafy greens.

The Best Masticating Juicers for Juicing Greens

There are several masticating juicers currently on the market and the best juicer for greens are the Omega 8006, the Super Angel Deluxe, the Green Star GS1000 and the Champion G5-PG710. While these masticating juicers all basically do the same thing, there are differences between them in terms of functionality, performance and price.

For example, the Champion G5-PG710 is less expensive than the Green Star GS1000 but doesn’t handle large chunky pieces of produce very well, nor does it juice wheatgrass very well. whereas the Green Star GS1000 does. The Super Angel 5500 is a top of the range model and has two augers for premium juice extraction while the Omega 8006 falls into the medium price range for masticating juicers. The Omega 8006 and Champion G5-PG710 have small feed chutes too, so you will need to put more time into preparing your produce.

All these masticating juicers can be used to produce nut butters as well, so there is an element of versatility across all the models. When it comes to juicing greens though, they are all good for juicing leafy greens, although if you like to juice a lot of wheatgrass, the Champion G5-PG710 is likely not the best choice you could make.

When it comes to juicing greens, opt for a centrifugal juicer at your peril. You are far better off choosing a masticating juicer and there are plenty of happy juicers out there who will readily vouch for a masticating juicer as being the best juicer for greens. While the actual juicing process takes a little longer, a masticating juicer will extract more juice and provide you with more value for your money over the short and long term life of the juicer.

Beneficial Nutrients from Juicing

Beneficial Nutrients from Juicing: The Facts

Juicing Nutrition Facts

Overview

The beneficial nutrients that can be obtained from juicing are many and varied. Additionally, they are touted as being one of the best ways to generally improve your health and aid with weight loss. Cooking is known to reduce the nutrient value of foods. Additionally, our bodies have been known to wear out with the effort of digesting processed and unhealthy foods. How do we know which nutrients are released by juicing and what benefits they provide? We’ll take an in-depth look at the beneficial nutrients you can obtain by juicing your own fruits and vegetables. Additionally, we’ll learn how you can make sure you are receiving the best benefit from your produce.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients and they support the ongoing healthy functioning of the body. Vitamins are organic and particularly susceptible to destruction by heat, acid and air, therefore cooking can easily reduce their effectiveness. Minerals fare a little better because they originate in water and soil where they are absorbed by fish, fluids, animals and plants which we in turn consume.

This raises a question about the nutritional value of processed foods. Studies have shown the nutrient value is reduced as a result of the processing. One of the reasons juicing is so popular is because freshly extracted juice from organic produce retains the vitamins and minerals required for bone renewal, effective functioning of the nervous system as well as heal wounds, prop up the immune system and repair cellular damage.

Water Soluble Vitamins

Biotin, riboflavin, folic acid, thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin B5 and vitamin C are some of the more important vitamins. Their function is to product energy, make collagen, release energy as well as create cellular tissue and proteins.

Fat Soluble Vitamins

These are better known as vitamin K, vitamin D, vitamin A and vitamin E and their purpose is to maintain the viability of the nervous system, lungs, eyes, gastrointestinal tract and skin. Again, fresh juicing of raw fruits and vegetables provides these vitamins while they are still in an active state.

Important Minerals

Some of these include calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, phosphorous and sodium. Their role is to ensure the appropriate balance of water in the body is maintained, ensure bone health as well as nurture healthy skin, nails and hair.

The Benefits of Juicing Fruits and Vegetables

Enzymes

The best way to describe these is as biological proteins which break down the food we ingest so that metabolism and other cellular activity can occur. There are metabolic enzymes, digestive enzymes and food enzymes. It is the food enzymes that occur naturally in raw food which are released during juicing. They assist digestion and help to absorb other foods

What Juicing Does to Vitamins, Minerals and Enzymes

In a nutshell, juicing separates out the nutrients from indigestible fiber so that the body is flooded with easily digestible nutrients. Colon tissue absorbs the nutrients into the bloodstream so that all areas of the body receive a share of them, leaving you nourished and energized. Digesting juice requires little energy, yet you immediately receive an intense nutritional hit. The absence of fiber in the juice also aids in the nutritional lift.

Raw and Fresh are Best

Enzymes are destroyed by air and heat above 114 F. Therefore, vegetables and fruits which have been juiced should be consumed immediately so that the nutritional benefits may be obtained. Enzymes can be thought of as living food because they are responsible for the rejuvenation of all living elements in the body. Enzymes are the driving force behind the hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions which naturally occur on a constant basis throughout the body. The importance of maintaining enzymes can’t be emphasized enough. They are essential for food digestion and absorption in addition to the important production of cellular energy. Enzymes and vitamins which have been heated have little or no nutritional value. You should use caution when selecting a juicer which might heat the juice, deleting the nutritional value.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are generally known as the fighters of free radicals or unstable molecules. Free radicals or unstable molecules may occur as a result of a mutation and result in cellular damage. The body naturally produces an antioxidant as it gives up some of its own electrons to prevent the free radicals from multiplying. Another way to think of it is like breaking a chain reaction. The beneficial result is that the free radicals will stop multiplying. Antioxidants are not nutrients as such although they do occur naturally in foods.

Some common antioxidants are carotenoids, flavonoids, quercetin and catechins. These occur naturally in apples, tomatoes, kale, green tea blueberries and onions. These fruits and vegetables are commonly used for juicing so as to boost antioxidant activity within the body. Again, raw and fresh with immediate ingestion is the best way to capture the benefits.

Conclusion

You can see there are many facets to juicing and that the nutrient properties of fresh, organic juice which is not exposed to heat and air are many and varied. Many people use fresh vegetable and fruit juices to improve their health and for many, it is preferable to consuming chemically manufactured drugs to deal with health issues. It is also worth considering that in an age where cancer is prevalent, freshly pressed juiced is one of the few ways that cancer sufferers can obtain the nutrients they need.

References

http://www.health.harvard.edu/special_health_reports/vitamins-and-minerals-choosing-the-nutrients-you-need-to-stay-healthy

http://www.livestrong.com/article/271987-what-are-the-benefits-of-green-juice/

Recipes with Juicer Pulp

What to Do With Pulp From a Juicer

Juicing is a great way to improve your nutrient intake! However, the act of extracting juice from fruits and vegetables means that significant quantities of fibrous pulp are left over from the process. Some people prefer to put the pulp in the trash and others like to use it as compost, but a growing trend involves using the pulp in recipes for cakes and muffins. This ensures that every part of your fresh produce is used without resorting to wasting any. You don’t need special recipes with juicer pulp, but rather, think creatively about existing recipes you have and how you can adapt them.

Cakes

Recipes with juicer pulp are easier to make than you might think. If you like carrot cake, you can use the carrot pulp from your juicing to create a delicious carrot cake. You would usually need to grate up some carrot to add to the other cake ingredients, but you don’t need to do this if you have carrot pulp on hand from your juicing.

You don’t need to confine yourself just to carrot cake either. Plain tea cakes can be turned into fruit tea cakes with the addition of fruit pulp. All that is required is to place an initial layer of fruit pulp onto the bottom of your cake pan, evenly spread, prior to adding the tea cake batter. This is an ideal juice pulp recipe and apple or pineapple pulp works very well for tea cakes. The cake batter cooks into the fruit pulp layer and when the cake is done, you simply turn it out onto a wire rack to cool and invert it so that the bottom of the cake with the fruit pulp now becomes the top of the cake for serving.

Fruit Ices

In hot weather, you can make ice blocks or cubes out of the fruit pulp. These make a healthy snack for adults and children in the hot weather. The fruit pulp ice cubes are also a great way to keep your fruit punch cooled and can add a lot of flavor and texture to plain iced water.

Muffins

Another juice pulp recipe involves muffins and these small baked delights lend themselves perfectly to using fruit and vegetable pulp. A plain muffin mixture can be turned into a variety of inventive creations with the addition of pulp, nuts and spices. For example, a little carrot and ginger pulp makes a savory muffin, while apple and cinnamon make a sweet muffin. The pulp from berries is ideal for mixing into muffins and they are always a popular option. Finely chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans also add another textural element and blend well with carrot pulp and cinnamon.

Conclusion

There’s no need to throw out all your fruit pulp from juicing because you can use it for baking projects and you can freeze it. If you really want to increase the value of your fresh produce and like the idea of recycling the pulp, start thinking about the recipes with juicer pulp. They are only as far away as your creativity!

Why a Centrifugal Juicer Could be Best for You

Is a Centrifugal Juicer a Good Choice?

When it comes to juicing, there are a few different types of juicers to choose from and depending on your personal preferences, the overall performance and functionality of the best juicers, as well as a range of lifestyle and juicing specific factors, finding a juicer can be a little difficult. With so many juicers on the market, you need to develop some purchasing criteria to find the best juice extractor to meet your requirements. Juicing is currently one of the most popular health improving activities on the planet, so it’s worth looking at why a centrifugal juicer could be best for you.

For many people, centrifugal juicers will always be their juicer of choice and they will make this choice for a variety of reasons. We will take a look at why a centrifugal juicer could be a better option for you as opposed to a masticating juicer. People will often opt for a citrus press as an additional juicer, just for citrus fruits, to use in conjunction with their main juicer of choice, albeit a centrifugal juicer or a masticating juicer. Sometimes, a good quality food processor will have an attachment for juicing citrus fruits and this will also complement your main juicer.

Why Choose a Centrifugal Juicer?

Price

Centrifugal juicers have a lot going for them, not the least of which is the cost. They tend to be a little cheaper than masticating juicers and for many people this is an important purchasing criteria. It is important to realize that not everyone can afford a masticating juicer and if this is the case, then the best juice extractor is always going to be a centrifugal juicer. Those on a budget can still enjoy the health benefits of home juicing without a big price-tag and it is certainly true that regardless of the type of juicer you use, home juicing provides a better quality juice than the majority of store bought juices.

Oxidation

Many masticating juicer aficionados claim that centrifugal juicers cause the juice to become heated during the juicing process, largely because of the fast spinning juice extracting process. When juice is heated, the process of oxidation can occur which simply means that major nutrients, such as enzymes and vitamins, are in fact destroyed. Masticating juicers do not suffer from this, however the oxidation debate as it relates to centrifugal juicers is an ongoing one. It is also one of the key marketing elements for those who prefer to use a masticating juicer.

Breville has tested the juice temperature of juice from their popular line of centrifugal juicers, the Breville Juice Fountain and found there is no significant temperature variance between juice extracted from masticating juicers and their centrifugal juicers. This being so, anyone who prefers centrifugal juice extraction does not need to worry about oxidation and nutrient stripping. That said, the debate still goes on, although many people would simply prefer to move on with the business of juicing and enjoying the many benefits of doing so.

Speed

This is probably one of the main reasons why centrifugal juicers are popular and often considered to be the best juicers. These days, busy lifestyles are the norm and people simply do not have the time to use a masticating juicer which takes much longer to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. Centrifugal juicers are lightning fast and you can be enjoying a glass of fresh juice in literally seconds. The speed of the juice extraction meets the lifestyle requirements of busy people. Busy people simply do not have the time to wait for the extraction process of a masticating juicer.

For anyone with a family, the whole family can be enjoying their juice of choice very quickly before heading out for another busy day. The centrifugal extraction process involves cutting, shredding and spinning your prepared produce until you have your glass of juice ready and waiting for you. Powerful high speed motors achieve this and while there is a little noise involved, people are happy to trade off the minor inconvenience for the speed at which their juice is extracted. It is also true that most people don’t actually notice the noise because it is over so quickly.

Conclusion

So you can see that there is a lot going for centrifugal juicers and the many reasons why people believe they are the best juicers on the market. The best juice extractor is always going to be the one that meets the needs of those who are using it. This will be different for everyone depending on individual lifestyles, performance and functionality of the juicer, as well as price of course. You only need to read the reviews of the many satisfied customers who have purchased centrifugal juicers to realize that they are the perfect option for busy people with families. Speed really does matter when it comes to juicing and is possibly the main reason why a centrifugal juicer could be your best option.