By Angel Munro
Regular juicing in addition to a balanced diet has many benefits. The recommended daily intake of fruit & vegetables is 2-3 serves of fruit & 7-8 serves of vegetables (a basic guide is 1 serve= 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables or cooked fruit or 1 cup of salad vegetables or raw fruit). This recommendation has shown to reduce the risk of chronic diseases as well as optimising gut and immune health in individuals. However, this can sometimes be a hard goal to reach in a day, which is where juicing can be a saviour in helping to reach those recommendations. In addition, juicing can increase the availability of some minerals, especially zinc & calcium.
Juicing tips
What Juicer to get:
The best juicer to buy is the one you’ll use. Seriously, there is no point waiting until you can afford the best fandangled juicer. Just get one that you can afford, that you find easy to use & that you can fit in a cupboard or on a bench somewhere. Mine is a cheap Breville juicer that I’ve had for years now & it works just fine.
Storage:
Juice is best consumed immediately but it will store in the fridge in an airtight bottle for up to 72 hrs, having a citrus in the juice of even a slice of lemon will help maintain freshness. Again, of course it’s great to make it & drink it straight away but if you know that you’re not going to get around to it at 7am before you leave for work then make a big batch & drink it over a couple of days.
Combinations:
Adding fruit to vegetable juices makes them more palatable, however you don’t want to add more that 2 pieces otherwise the sugar content will be too high. Aim for 80% vegetables & 20% fruit. Choosing fruit & vegetables that match in colour works best. For example, beetroot & green vegetable makes a murky coloured juice that’s not as nice to drink, so match up green vegetables with cucumber, apple, citrus, pineapple etc.
Adding things like ginger, turmeric root, garlic, mint & lemon adds nutrients, medicinal properties & flavour.
Here are a few combinations that I’m loving....
Carrot, fresh turmeric root & orange. Orange foods feed the sacral chakra supporting movement, creativity & pleasure.
Beetroot, apple & lemon. Red foods nourish the root chakra, providing an anchor to the earth, grounding us & making us feel secure in the body that we walk on the earth with.
Kale, pinapple, cucumber, lemon & ginger.
Green foods facilitate love, compassion & gratitude.