Juicing for Health: How to use natural juices to boost energy, immunity and wellbeing. Caroline Wheater
consistency and flavour of fresh juices is very different from juices you can buy in the shops. They may seem odd at first, but you’ll soon begin to prefer the texture and taste of juices made at home. They can be very thick, and are always much stronger-tasting than you will be used to. Some of them can look rather an odd colour (e.g. potato, grape, orange), and some of them are so vivid (e.g. red cabbage, red pepper, strawberries) you won’t be able to take your eyes off them! The key is to stay open-minded and not turn up your nose at natural fruit juices just because they don’t look or taste like the processed, packaged juices which are more familiar.
Unpalatability
If you find that certain juices really do taste unpalatable, try adding them to a ready-warmed soup or stew, to mask the flavour (cooking the juice will remove some of the nutrients).
Dilution
Children should always drink juices diluted, but if adults prefer them that way that’s fine too. You can dilute juices with still or sparkling water, milk, soda, even lemonade – however, you’ll find them easiest on the digestive system if you just use still water.
BUYING FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
What to Look For
Produce bought for juicing should be as fresh and as high a quality as your budget will stretch to, ensuring a better-tasting and more nutritionally complete juice. Watch out for mature and ripe produce, which will contain more vitamins and minerals. For example, although the mature outer leaves of a cabbage or lettuce may look unappealing, they contain the most nutrients and are therefore very valuable in juicing terms – just think, you won’t actually have to chew on a leaf! The riper, more mature fruits and vegetables will also be easier to juice, and easier for your stomach to digest. Avoid buying produce that looks as though it has been sitting around for too long, is bruised, going droopy, or losing its colour. Juicing uses up a lot of fruit and vegetables, so it’s probably best to do a bulk buy every three or four days to stock up on juicing ingredients.
The Benefits of Organic
Organic fruit and vegetables tend to be more expensive than standard varieties, but are now widely available. But why choose organic? First of all, their proponents say that they taste better, and second comes the reassuring fact that they have not been exposed to any chemical treatments. No chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or growth inhibitors (used while produce is in storage or transportation). This means that there will be no chemical residues, however small, lurking in the skin or outer layer of the produce. In addition, organic produce is not waxed; standard cucumbers, oranges and lemons often are. Organic produce often seems much riper too.
If a fruit or vegetable has thick rind or skin it doesn’t really make much difference, because the residues won’t penetrate the inner flesh, and you will probably have to remove the rind/skin to juice the contents. The problem comes with thin-skinned produce like carrots, cucumbers, peaches and apples, which we might scrub, but don’t usually peel. We could be ingesting an invisible layer of chemicals and wax without even realizing it. So why not peel everything? The best reason is that a significant amount of nutrients usually lie in the thin peel, and we would lose out by throwing it away. Buying organic means that you don’t have to worry about any of this and can juice whichever peel you like.
Now let’s look at some practical tips on which fruit and vegetables to buy and how to prepare them for juicing.
Prepare to Juice
Juicing is a bit like a voyage of discovery, and it’s the kind of activity that you can easily adapt to your own likes and dislikes. Here are descriptions of a range of fresh juices, including how to prepare the fruit and vegetables, their vitamin and mineral content, and an approximate calorie count per 100g of each fruit and vegetable (equivalent to 3–4fl oz/80–115ml of juice). You can enjoy these juices on their own, or try out the recipes beginning in Chapter 4, as you please.
FRUIT
Apple
Apple goes well with just about anything, or enjoy it as a single juice. It has a lovely flavour, a brownish colour if you use the pips, and is quite sweet. It is the only fruit juice that can happily be mixed with any vegetable juice.
PREPARATION
Cut into quarters; removing core is optional. Do not peel.
VITAMINS
Rich in beta-carotene, folic acid, C, small amounts of B1, B2, B3, B6, biotin and E.
MINERALS
Rich in calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, small amounts of copper and zinc.
CALORIES PER 100 G
46
Apricot
Light orange in colour, apricot has a summery aroma – and is a delicious sweet mixer. Tastes and looks lovely with frothy lemonade.
PREPARATION
Cut in half and take out stone. Do not peel.
VITAMINS
Rich in beta-carotene, B3, B5, folic acid, C, small amounts of B1, B2, B6.
MINERALS
Rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, small amounts of copper, iron and zinc.
CALORIES PER 100 G
28
Avocado
Avocado does not juice well, because its flesh is too oily. However, it does make an excellent blender, to be mixed with other fruit juices, especially if you want a high-energy drink.
PREPARATION
Simply chop in half, peel away outer skin and remove stone. Then mash and blend with juice.
VITAMINS
Rich in beta-carotene, B3, B5, folic acid, biotin, C, E, small amounts of B1, B2, B6.
MINERALS
Rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, small amounts of copper and iron.
CALORIES PER 100 G
223
Banana
Banana juice is absolutely delicious, with a creamy consistency. Unfortunately, it’s terribly wasteful – you only get a dribble of juice from a whole banana. As with avocado, it’s better to blend it mashed with other more easily obtained juices.
PREPARATION
Peel and mash, ready to blend with juice.
VITAMINS
Rich in in beta-carotene, B3, folic acid, C, small amounts of B1, B2, B6, E.
MINERALS
Rich in calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, small amounts of copper, iron, manganese and zinc.
CALORIES PER 100 G
79
Blackberry
Sweet, dark purple and pungent, a lovely mixer juice for an autumnal cocktail. Free, too, if you can pick fresh blackberries from the hedgerow.
PREPARATION
None needed – just a quick rinse under the tap.
VITAMINS
Rich in beta-carotene, C, E, small amounts of biotin, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6.
MINERALS
Rich in calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, sodium, small amounts of copper and iron.
CALORIES PER 100 G
29
Blackcurrant
One of the sweetest berries around, with a raw-cane sugar taste. A good mixer but too strong to be drunk on