Juicing!

Last week I wrote about making shakes. This week I’m doing the same thing, only different! This week is all about juicing. I love my veggies, but I just can’t seem to consume enough of them and since I want to increase my vegetable intake, I decided to investigate Vegetable Juicing. I have to say, that my initial thoughts upon contemplating the word “juicing” turned immediately to either steroids or the old Wheat Grass/Carrot Juicer I used to have to use way back in my first job as a waitress at the Garden of Eatin’! As I’m not into any of those things, I never really thought that Juicing could be anything I’d want to get into, but here I am!

Step One – Acquire a good juicer.

I’ve discovered that my normal blender just doesn’t cut it (literally!) when I want to juice more than a bit of fruit and coconut milk. I have a citrus juicer, but that’s not appropriate for vegetables (and boy, is it messy!), so I went exploring to see what was available that might be appropriate. If any of you dear readers have experience with these or other products, please chime in!  A great choice seems to be the Vitamix mixer which is, shall we say, not cheap. A less expensive, although less powerful, option is the Healthmaster. Both of these allow you to use the whole vegetable, rather than just the juice (with the pulp separated out as a byproduct to throw out) because they are actually blenders, not juicers. There are three kinds of juicers: centrifugal, twin-gear, and masticating. The centrifugal juicer spins the food to separate the liquid from the solid, and results in a smooth juice. The Twin-gear juicer squashes the food in between gears to squeeze the liquid out, and Masticating juicers push the food against a mesh which then squeezes the liquid out. There are MANY kinds of juicers available, some less expensive than these two and some more expensive, so you’ll have to do a bit of your own exploration to determine what might suit your budget and your juicing plans.

Step 2 – Start Juicing!

There are many ways to start life as a juicer. Dr. Joseph Mercola has a great guide to juicing which includes how to progress from “easy to tolerate” veggies to other, more nutrient-dense veggies here.

Best Green veggies to juice include:

Celery
Fennel (anise)
Cucumbers
Leeks
Asparagus

Green leafy vegetables:

Red leaf
Green Leaf
Romaine
Endive
Escarole
Spinach
Cabbage
Chinese Cabbage
Bok Choy
Parsley
Cilantro
Kale
Collard Greens
Dandelion Greens
Mustard Greens

Best red/yellow/orange veggies to juice include:

tomatoes
peppers
carrots
parsnips
radishes

Some important tips are:

Don’t throw away the pulp! You may not be able to consume ALL of it to start with, but it’s an important part of the vegetable and contains plenty of fiber, so start with a little and find the amount that suits you best. If you keep ALL the pulp in, you get a very thick concoction that doesn’t pass well through the tiny opening of a portable drink bottle and might actually require a spoon!  I actually like to vary how “thick” my drinks are.

Make it when you’re going to drink it. Most veggie juices don’t last very long when exposed to air, so don’t plan on making it in the morning and drinking it in the afternoon.

Vary what you juice. Don’t get stuck on the same things over and over – there are so many things you can juice, so many ways to combine ingredients, and it’s really better for you all around if you have some variety.

Go easy on the sweet things. Carrots and beets are very popular, but that’s because they are high in sugars.

Throw in some fat. You can add oils (Omega 3s to balance out your Omega 3 and Omega 6 ratio), coconut milk (everything is better with coconut milk!), and nuts & seeds (macadamia nuts are yummy, as are pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds). Seeds might need to be ground up first, depending on your mixer.

How about a dollop of protein? I have my trusty EggWhites from EggWhites International; you could, if you are still eating Dairy, add a scoop of Whey-based protein powder.

Go wild! Add more weird stuff! You can toss in herbs, spices, a clove of garlic, lemon juice, ginger, vanilla, a spoonful of Chlorella or Spirulina.

Here’s a great recipe from HealingDaily.com, which has a ton of juicing recipes here (not all are Paleo-friendly so read carefully!).

Super 8 juice

1 kale leaf
1 collard leaf
small handful of parsley
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot, greens removed
1/2 red pepper
1 tomato
1 broccoli floret
celery stalk for garnish

Step 3 – Expand your horizons!

There are many good books and websites that are all about juicing. Go exploring, read their ideas, try some of them out, and see what you like. Remember, most of those sources are not coming from a Paleo perspective, so you’ll have to wear your critical reading hat and ignore or modify recommendations or ingredients that don’t suit the Paleo lifestyle; nevertheless, there are some great sources of information and inspiration available, including these:

JuicingBook.com

Herbal Home Remedies

Health Benefits of Vegetable Juices and how to prepare them for juicing

Let’s hear some “juicy” comments today, all right Chix?

Hope you all have a wonderful day

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