3 Tips for Juicing Wisely

As the weather warms up and is beginning to feel a bit more like spring, I find myself getting back into my daily juicing routine.

There’s nothing like a fresh infusion of easily assimilated vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to energize and nourish your body while helping to protect it against premature ageing and disease.

Incorporating juice into your diet is a great tool for giving your digestive system a much-needed break so your cells can go to work detoxifying and repairing themselves.

To learn more about the wonderful health benefits of incorporating fresh vegetable juice into your routine, and grab some yummy juice recipes, make sure to read this post where I covered the topic extensively.

As I’ve become somewhat of a “veteran juicer” over the years, I realized that there are a few things about the way I juice that have become second nature to me, and might not be so obvious to people just starting out.

So today I want to share them with you!

3 Tips for Juicing Wisely

1) Choose Organic

This is a time when you definitely want to opt for organics since you’re consuming the juice in concentrated amounts. Some of the most heavily sprayed, pesticide-laden produce are among the ones commonly juiced. For example, celery, cucumber, apples, and kale are on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list of most heavily sprayed produce. This is a handy guide to have in your back pocket when grocery shopping, especially if you’re on a budget, so you’ll definitely want to check it out if you haven’t already. If you’re going to use non-organic produce at least peel the skin off if possible – as in the case with cucumber and apples.

2) Juice Mainly Vegetables

While fruit can be a nice addition for added sweetness, especially as your palate adjusts to the taste of juiced greens, aim to make your juice predominately veggie-based with no more than 1/3 juice coming from fruit, or 3:1 veggies to fruit. Too much concentrated fruit sugar can cause blood sugar imbalances, not to mention it’s a major yeast-feeder. If you’re consuming mainly green juice with little-to-no fruit, you likely won’t have to worry about these issues. It’s when you’re juicing a lot of fruit and sweet vegetables like beets and carrots that problems can arise. Also, remember that you can lower the glycemic index of any fruit or sweet veggie by cutting it with greens.

Most people can benefit from an all greens juice cut with lemon or just a little bit of apple. My average vegetable juice is usually a combination of celery, cucumber, leafy greens, ginger and lemon (as pictured above). I rarely juice fruit, except on occasion. If you already have blood sugar problems, to begin with then this is the type of juice I recommend you stick with.

3) Drink it on an Empty Stomach

When you’re infusing your body with easily assimilated vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes, all of these healthful substances can go straight to work where they’re needed most repairing and detoxifying the cells of your body. That is until you impede the process by throwing food into the mix! Call me a juice snob but it always bewilders me when I see someone drinking their juice while eating a meal, because I know they’re not giving the juice a chance to work to its full healing potential. Not to mention that consuming large amounts of liquid with food is just a no-no in general.

Since juicing on an empty stomach is best, the ideal time for most people is in the morning before consuming solid food. Fresh vegetable juice is a great tool for breaking your overnight “fast” and extending your body’s cleansing capabilities, all while providing deep nourishment to the cells and tissues of the body. Once you consume your fresh juice try to wait at least 20 minutes before consuming anything else to reap the most benefit from your juice.

Don’t forget to check out this post to learn more about juicing, plus grab some delicious juice recipes!

Have a question about juicing? Ask me in the comments below!

All love,

Elaine