Juicing

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  My two daughters gave me some wonderful gifts.  One of the gifts is a Jack La Lanne's Power Juicer.  We have been experimenting with fruits and vegetables in creating different juice combinations.  Juice is so good for you however the juices in the store usually contain added sugar and are not 100% juice.  My mother has a juicer and so does my son.  He has been juicing for my three granddaughters.  The youngest is three years old and asks for carrot to be added into her juice.  I agree with her that carrot does add a sweet taste.  Juicing is a great way to get vegetables into your kids.  It is a way to avoid all the processing.  Cooking and processing foods destroys many key nutrients in foods.  Your health will be improved when you eat more whole organic fruits and vegetables and avoid processed foods.  Juicing helps with this as you can drink the fresh juice as you make it. 

It is suggested that we eat an average of 6-8 servings of vegetables and fruits everyday.  This can be very difficult for me and I am sure for you as well.  I know that I do not eat that many everyday and have been trying to increase my intake.  I still plan on eating whole fruits and vegetables however juicing will also help me reach my daily goal and improve my overall health.  It will allow me to include a wide variety of vegetables in my diet that I would not normally eat.   I don't like my juice real sweet so I plan on using more vegetables than fruits. 

It is important to note that juicing is not a diet plan.  There is very little protein and almost no fat so its not a complete food.  It should be used in addition to meals and not in place of them.  It is best to include juice with meals or as a between meal snack.  One thing that I can say is that I will not be creating any juice combinations that smell or taste bad.  Juicing should be tasty and enjoyable not cause an upset stomach or multiple trips to the bathroom. 

There are a lot of inexpensive juicers on the market.  If you are like me and don't eat enough vegetables or fruits you may want to give it a try.

One last thing that is beneficial about juicing is the ability to use the pulp from the vegetables and fruits in many recipes.  As I try some new recipes including the pulp I will post them with pictures on the recipe page.