We have all heard of people juicing to loose weight. Juicing can be so much more! There are juices to gain energy, to improve brainpower, to boost immune system, to aid digestion, and improve their skin. While the results of juicing may vary from person to person, there are certainly some benefits to juicing.

 Benefits of juicing

Many find it is easier to digest fruit and vegetable juices than eating them whole.

Juicing provides natural enzymes found in fruits and vegetable that are frequently destroyed during cooking. It allows an endless combination of fruits and vegetables for a taste variety while providing a concentration of nutrients. Juicing is great especially for children and busy families. Juicing is one of the easiest ways to incorporate the recommended number of servings ( RDA says 5-11 servings!) of fruits and vegetables into your diet.

• Take in more veggies and fruits than by eating them whole
• Allows you can absorb more beneficial enzymes and phytochemicals, would not get as much of by eating raw fruits and veggies
• Is easy on the digestion system, nutrients go straight into your system without taking energy to digest
• Provides the natural enzymes found in fruits and vegetable that are frequently destroyed during the cooking process
• Provides sustained energy throughout the day-no peaks and crashes!

Juicing for kids

• Provides endless combinations of fruits and vegetables
• You can ‘hide’ veggies in a fruit drink, if your kids don’t like the taste of  vegetables
• Don’t give to babies- they should drink mothers milk or formula
• Kids 3-12 dilute with water 1:1 ratio and no more than 5 oz a day

Juicing vs. blending

Difference: Juicing takes the raw fruits and vegetable and concentrates the juice form them- leaving behind the pulp and fiber.  You can then get a greater concentrate of the beneficial enzymes and nutrients, but there are benefits to the fiber of veggies and fruits as well.

The Juicers

1. Centrifugal juicers: fairly inexpensive, but because of high rpm, juice can get foamy and oxidize rapidly- thus destroying healthy enzymes. It is fast and easy, and easy to clean as well. If you’re going to drink your juice quickly, this is a great choice. Not good for wheatgrass.
2. Masticating juicers: work like our teeth, they have an auger that grinds up the food into a pulp, which is then squeezed up against a mesh screen. They produce more juice and run at lower RPM (less oxidation). some don’t work well with leafy greens, sprouts and they are expensive- ranging from $200-$300.  They are slower and harder to clean than centrifugal. Great for wheatgrass
3. Triturating Juicers (twin gear): Most versatile and also most expensive (from $300-$600). They are the efficient juicer and run at lowest RPMS. You can put practically anything in them- including nuts to make nut butter. Clean up is more involved.

Great websites for comparing and where we got a lot of this info:

• savvyvegetarian.com/articles/juicer-buying-guide.php
• all-about-juicing.com/green-smoothies.html
• juicing-for-health.com/guide-on-juicing-for-kids.html