A Simple Guide to Healthy Juicing

I’m gonna start out right away by telling you that I’m no juicing expert.

No sir-ee!

I’m more someone who is a little juice-curious, probably a bit like you. Sure, I’ve played around with juicing in the past, done a couple of juice fasts and felt the benefits, but it’s not something I’ve ever delved into all that deeply.

I have however, done just enough to grasp the basics, and I kinda feel that’s all you really need. Anymore than that, and sometimes I think you risk over complicating things.

So today I thought I would share with you my simple two-step guide to healthy juicing.

No frills – just basic info that you can apply to your life to get the best out of your next juicing experience.

Step 1 – Pick The Right Juicer

If you wanna start juicing, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a quality juicer, and from my understanding, there are two main types. You’ve got your centrifugal juicers, and your slow juicers.

1. Centrifugal juicers are the most widely available. They produce juice by chopping the produce up and spinning it through a strainer basket. Or something like that…

Pros – they’re really quick and easy to use.

Cons – they tend to leave behind quite a bit of pulp, and can be a pain in the ass to clean, from my experience. Some say they also cause the juice to oxidise more quickly, but I don’t know how true that is…

2. Slow Juicers (or masticating juicers) are less commonly found, but are becoming more popular.

As opposed to a spinning disk, they work by crunching your ingredients down to a pulp via a single gear.

Pros – they generally produce more juice per ingredient, and because there’s no heat involved, the juice is less likely to oxidise, which may preserve the nutrient content.

Cons – as the name suggests, slow juicers are generally slower than centrifugal juicers, and a little more pricey.

As I said, I’m no expert juicer, so I’m not really qualified to comment on which is a better choice for you. It’s up to you to weigh up the pros and cons, and pick a juicer that meets your needs.

If you’re only going to make the odd juice now and again, a cheap centrifugal one might suffice. If you’re looking to use a juicer more long term though, it might be better to invest in a slow juicer.

Step 2 – The Winning Juice Formula

So once you have your juicer sorted, it’s time to get making some tasty juice.

I like to keep things simple, so I usually follow this basic formula, picking one or two ingredients from each section and adding them together.

Base + Greens + Purples + Extras = Winning juice

The Base

Carrots, Apples, Oranges, Celery, Courgettes, Cucumbers, Mangoes.

These are foods that generally have the highest amount of juice in them. They also happen to be some of the cheapest, which is nice.

The Greens

Spinach, Kale, Chard, Beetroot, Watercress.

Essential ingredients. They may not yield a whole load of juice, but there’s a shed load of goodness in what they do give out.

The Purples

Berries, Grapes, Beets.

Full of flavour, and packed with antioxidants and health promoting micronutrients.

The Extras

Turmeric, Garlic, Ginger, Lemon.

Some optional extras, just for that added health kick.

Bonus Tips!

Juicing really can be as simple as that if you want it to be. For an added bonus, here are a few other tips that may come in handy:

• Dilute your juices with water to make them go further.
• Sip slowly through a straw to protect your teeth and give your digestive system a good headstart.
• Mix and match, go crazy, and find juices that work well for you.

And that’s really all there is to it…

The only thing that’s left for you to do is get out there and start juicing!