As with all things it is always smart to question how healthy something really is, and when it comes to healthy eating and drinking there can often be a lot of controversy. Even though juicing is generally seen as a good thing, there has also been some bad press that may make people question it. So, let’s explore this fundamental question “is juicing good for you?” a little more closely.

The Good

The upsides of juicing are excellent. One thing that all studies conclusively show us is that lots of fruits and vegetables in our diet is vital to good health and those that eat the most fruits and veggies are the least likely to suffer with heart disease, cancer and other types of degenerative diseases. This is because fruits and veggies are loaded with nutrients that we need for optimum health such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants. It is antioxidants in particular that defend us greatly from disease because they reduce oxidative damage to our cells that can lead to premature aging and degenerative diseases.

When we drink fresh made juice we are increasing our intake of antioxidants dramatically for two good reasons. First, we are consuming more fruits and vegetables in one serving of juice than we would most likely eat in a day. We can expect to use 5 to 10 servings of fruits and veggies on average for a single serving of juice. Second, and this is an important point, a juice extractor “frees” considerably more antioxidants from fruits and veggies for us to digest than we could be chewing them. Antioxidants are bound to the fiber in produce and some of them are released by chewing, but the rest just pass straight through us with the fiber. However it is important to state that eating whole fruits and veggies still provide us with LOTS of antioxidants, juicing increases this number extensively.

To cut a long story short, fresh juice is essentially concentrated liquid nutrition.

The Downside

If you have heard that juicing is not so good for you, this is for two reasons – the sugar content of fruit juice and the lack of fiber. These are fair criticisms of juicing and can be remedied if we juice responsibly. While a juice extractor does pour forth an abundance of vitamins, minerals and antioxidant, it discards fiber – but not all. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble fiber. Juicing completely discards insoluble fibers which are important for moving food through our intestines and keeping us regular. Soluble fibers, such as pectin, are not completely eliminated, a small amount of it does make it through. These soluble fibers help to lower our LDL “bad” cholesterol levels by absorbing cholesterol in the small intestine before it gets a chance to move into the bloodstream so that we just, well, poop the cholesterol out! This is why studies show that giving apple juice to patients that was made with the whole apple is more effective at reducing total cholesterol levels than apple juice made with peeled apples. The peel contains more fiber than the pulp.

So, it is vitally important that we don’t swap out eating whole fruits and veggies for drinking juice, but that we do both – drink and eat them. This way we got an abundance of nutrients and plenty of fiber too.

When juicing it is recommend to stick with vegetable juice most of the time because vegetables contain way less sugar than fruits do. Vegetable juice will not adversely effect your blood sugar like fruit juice can. A glass of fruit juice will spike your blood sugar. For this reason it is better to have a fruit juice just before a solid meal so that blood sugar levels can get evened out with a healthy meal. Used as a snack by itself you may find that fruit juice may leave you feeling hungry as soon as the blood sugar spike drops. The other thing is that whole fruits do not affect blood sugar in the way that fruit juice does because fiber slows down the rate at which sugar moves into the blood stream.

So, while fruit juice is very nutritious we have to take into account that it is sugary and use it wisely.

Conclusion

To conclude the question “is juicing really good for you”? The answer is – juicing is great for you, especially as part of a healthy diet and if you stick with mostly vegetable juice.


To your health
Darren Haynes


Generic
1) Juicer Recipes
2) Fruit Juice Recipes
3) Vegetable Juice Recipes
4) How to Choose a Juice Extractor?
5) Health Benefits of Juicing

Orange juice is an awesome way to obtain your day-to-day needs for vitamin C, however some types of orange juice feature more vitamin C compared with others.

One of the most understated facts regarding orange juice that the content of vitamin C in different types of orange juice varies dramatically, even as much as 100%. Some types of orange juice contain up to twice as much vitamin C as others. If you’re searching for an orange juice that supplies the most vitamin C, here’s some important things to bear in mind.

• Oranges that are grown in areas with cooler night have more vitamin C. Such oranges are easily identified since they will feature no green pigments in the peel.
• Organic oranges feature higher vitamin C levels than conventionally grown oranges. A key difference between conventional and organically grown oranges is the conventional methods use pesticides that contain nitrogen. Nitrogen based pesticide sprays reduced the amount of vitamin C that develops in fruits.
• Oranges that are grown in desert areas generate more vitamin C compared with oranges that grow in rainy areas. Antioxidants are a natural part of a plant’s defense against drought and heat, so oranges trees exposed to these harsher conditions create more vitamin C rich oranges, since vitamin C is an antioxidant.

Even though grower would most definitely provide a differing opinion, generally speaking, oranges grown in California contain more vitamin C than Florida grown oranges, and Texan grown oranges contain less of this vitamin than Florida oranges. Oranges that are grown in Morocco, Israel and Chile are the better international options for vitamin C content.


Fresh-Made, Packaged and Frozen Orange Juice

• How orange juice is packaged makes a huge difference in its vitamin C content. Fresh squeezed orange juice will always contain the most vitamin C undoubtedly, yet some commercial orange juices contain more nutrition that others.
• Frozen orange juice in a can preserves more of its vitamin C content than orange juice stored in cartons or bottles.
• Orange juice packaged in resealable bottles maintains more of its vitamin C than juice stored in cartons. It’s important to always reseal the cartons properly to prevent exposing the juice to the air, oxidation kills vitamin C.
• Orange juice stored in cartons have around 25% less vitamin C content than juice stored in bottles, and up to 50% less of this vitamin than orange juice that is frozen because it is pasteurized.
• Orange juice that is canned and just hangs out on the kitchen shelves for months or even years unrefrigerated contains the least vitamin C content of all.

Conclusion
Ok, so to cut a long story short and answer the question ‘which orange juice has the most vitamin C?‘ – fresh made orange juice!

What is juicing?

To cut a long story short, juicing is a process that extracts the juice from the pulp of fruits and vegetables. Juicing (or ‘juicin’) is also a term used for people who take steroids, but that is not the type of juicing we are talking about here! Mostly people use electric juice extractors at home for making juice easily, but there are also industrial manually operated machines that you will often see at juice bars, especially for making orange juice.

Fresh Juice Vs Commercial Juice

It is important to point out that there is a big difference between the nutritional quality of fresh made juice and commercial juice that we see at the store. Commercial juice is significantly inferior. It is heat treated, filtered and pasteurized, processes that destroy antioxidants, vitamins and beneficial enzymes. In addition to this they often feature added sugars, colorings and preservatives – all things that are counter-productive to health. This processing also tends to increase the acidity of the juice. Some people find that while a glass of store-bought orange juice can bring about an episode of heartburn, a glass of fresh made orange juice delivers no such adverse effects (I am one of them).

So while the health benefits of fresh juice are extensive, the benefits of commercial juice are brought into question.

Benefits of Juicing

What is unique about fresh juices are the sheer levels of nutrients that they supply and the easily digested liquid format that they come in. It is as close to injecting nutrients directly into your veins as you can get without the needles! For example, a glass of carrot juice for one person requires about 8 – 10 carrots to make, a lot more than we would eat in one sitting, or in one day for that matter. And the vast amount of nutrients supplied by this juice require almost no digestion, they are more or less absorbed straight across the gut wall into the bloodstream. If we take into account that many people have under optimal digestive abilities as a result of eating less not so great foods, juicing really helps to deliver nutrients throughout the body that we may otherwise be deficient or sub-par in.

We can’t talk about the health benefits of juicing without talking about antioxidants. Fresh juice stands tall when it comes to antioxidant content and here’s why. Antioxidants are bound to the fibers in fruits and vegetables and when we eat them we can only release so many of them for digestion. However, a juice extractor breaks down the fibers extensively to release an abundance of these otherwise inaccessible antioxidants. If we couple this fact with the fact that we need to use at least a few pieces of fruits or vegetables to make one juice, we can see just how antioxidant rich a fresh juice is! A high intake of antioxidants is associated with less incidence of cancer, helps combat inflammation, slows down the aging process and helps protect us against heart disease and its related disorders like high blood pressure and atherosclerosis.

To get started with the health benefits of juicing today check out our article that clearly explains how to buy the right juice extractor for you – click here.


To your health
Darren Haynes

1) – You have heard that orange juice you can buy at the store is fortified with extra calcium and are checking up on this. If this is the case, then your right, there are many commercially available orange juice products that contain extra calcium. One study shows that the calcium in fortified calcium orange juice products is highly bio-available (meaning we absorb and use a lot of it, rather than pee it out). The same study also shows that the calcium in fortified apple juice is even more bio-available than that in orange juice. Either way, both are great sources of dietary calcium.

However, there are a few things to note. Commercial fruit juices (as a rule) are a mere shadow of fresh-made juice in terms of overall nutritional content (with the exception of what they are fortified with). The processing methods (heating and filtering to remove bacteria) needed to give commercial juice a shelf life destroys the majority of antioxidants found naturally in orange juice, of which vitamin C is a good example. Also, commercial juice often delivers additional sugar and chemicals along with the calcium. In my opinion, fresh is always better for these reasons.

2) – You like making fresh juice and you want to know how much calcium it contains. First of all, I am happy to hear you are going for fresh juice!

Orange Juice And Calcium – The answer is that 1 cup of fresh raw orange juice calcium content is 27mg according to the USDA nutrient database.

To your health,
Darren Haynes


Source:
J Am Coll Nutr. 1996 Jun;15(3):313-6.
Calcium absorption from apple and orange juice fortified with calcium citrate malate (CCM).
Andon MB, Peacock M, Kanerva RL, De Castro JA.

So why would people eat carrot tops if they are mildly toxic? Another good question and the answer is that carrot tops are extremely nutritious. Some sources say that the carrot tops are even more nutritious than the actual carrot. So one thing is for sure if you, if you do juice them it will greatly enhance the health benefits of your carrot juice recipes. However, I will leave the choice to you.

Vegetable Juicer Recipes
Juicing Recipes
Juicing Carrots

Photo by Finsec

Choosing Juicing Carrots
To make the best raw carrot juice ensure you pick the freshest of carrots. Avoid carrots that are limp, rubbery and excessively cracked, these are all signs that the carrots are old. If the carrot tops are wilted this is another sign of old carrots. A fresh vibrant carrot should be firm, bright colored, relatively straight and of smooth texture. The more orange the carrot is the more of the potent antioxidant beta-carotene it contains. Beta-carotene is the plant pigment that puts the orange color in carrots.

If you want the sweetest carrots then choose those that are the thickest. The inner core is where most of the sugars are stored. So the thicker the carrot the thicker the core, the more sugar the carrot will supply.

Is it OK to Juice Carrot Tops?
There is a divide about this subject because the carrot tops are both mildly toxic and extremely nutritious. Some say the carrot top greens are even more nutritious than the carrot. There are people who juice carrot along with their tops or even use the green tops in their salads and report no side effects. I will leave the choice to you. Personally I lean towards caution and don’t use the tops in my carrot juice recipes. As an extra note the tops don’t contain sugar like the main body of the carrot and taste very sour when juiced.

Organic Carrot Juicing
It is important to point out that non-organic carrots are usually plastered in pesticides. These pesticides can contain toxic heavy metals like lead and arsenic as well as as a plethora of other harmful (and carcinogenic) chemicals. I therefore highly recommend using organic carrots whenever possible. If you are using non-organic for juicing carrots then It is a good idea to peel them first. The majority of the pesticides are found in the skin.

Carrot Juice Recipe
Juicing Recipes

In health
Darren Haynes

Picking Lemons for Juicing
When choosing lemons for juicing look for those that are bright yellow throughout with no green coloring in the skin. This will ensure the lemons are ripe and ready. Avoid lemons that have any wrinkling or mold in the skin, these are both signs that the lemons are over-ripe and old. Lemons that feel heavy for their size indicate a higher pulp and juice content and will therefore produce more juice. Lemons with thinner skins will contain more pulp and therefore more juice. Eureka and Lisbon varieties are great juicing lemons because they contain a high water content. Juicing lemon that has been stored at room temperature also produces a higher juice yield than refrigerated lemons.

Can you Juice Lemon Peel?
You sure can but it is not to everybody’s taste! The peel will taste extremely sour, even more so than the pulp of the fruit and without providing any sweetness. The peel is, however, very nutritious and does not contain harmful substances like the peel of its citrus brothers oranges and grapefruits.

Personally speaking the peel is too intense juiced for my liking but I do juice the pith and other white membranes. The pith (the white part between the skin and the pulp of the fruit) is less sour than the yellow outer skin but also very nutritious. The pith is densely concentrated in bio-flavonoids and vitamin C.

Lemon Juice Recipes
Juicing Recipes

Darren Haynes

The question might also translate as “which apples are the most nutritious?” Although all apples are a great source of nutrition, I have asked myself the very same question. The only answer I have found resulted from a Canadian Governmental study conducted in 2005. The study revealed that red delicious apples contain the most antioxidants compared with 7 other varieties. The study also illuminated the fact that the skin of apples are the most bio-flavonoid dense area of the apple too. For that reason I always juice apples with their skins on.

Another great reason for juicing apples with their skins on is fiber content. Even though most of the fiber in produce is discarded during the juicing process, some still makes it through. So ‘cloudy apple juice’ (this refers to apples juiced with their skins on) will contain a little fiber as opposed to clear raw apple juice, which will contain a negligible amount of fiber. Cloudy apple juice looks less appealing and is not to everyones taste, but it is nutritionally superior.

Avoid juicing the pips in apples, they contain cyanide.

Organic Apples?
To cut a long story short – YES – use organic apples whenever possible. Non-organic apples are one of the most extensively sprayed fruits when it comes to pesticides. Many pesticides contain the toxic heavy metals lead and arsenic plus a plethora of other harmful (and often carcinogenic) chemicals. So if you juice apples that are not organic, I will reverse my previous advice of juicing apples with their skins on. Just for the simply reason that the skins are where most of the pesticides reside.

For juicing recipes visit apple juicer recipes

Here are some great tips and advice for getting the best out of your fresh homemade orange juice recipes.

Picking Oranges for Juicing
When picking out oranges for juicing at the store or the market there are a few things to consider.

1) Smaller oranges tend to be juicer.

2) Oranges with thin skins also tend to be juicer.

3) Oranges that feel heavy and firm for their size are juicer

3) Organic oranges are higher in antioxidants.

Tips for Juicing Oranges
To pith or not to pith, that is the question? My answer is pith and pith some more. The pith is an outstanding source of antioxidants. There is as much vitamin C in the pith as the pulp of the orange. The vast majority of bioflavonoids in oranges are right there in the pith and other white membranes. Bioflavonoids are powerful antioxidants that can help protect us from cancer, heart disease and other degenerative disorders. So I always put as much of the pith through my juicer as I can. I even scrape it off the inside of the peel. Which brings me to another important point – don’t juice the actually skin, only the white pith between the skin and the orange.

The skin of oranges and grapefruits contain a substance that is indigestible and also harmful to us in large doses. However this only applies to grapefruits and oranges (including all their varieties like tangerines, tangelos and mandarins) but not to other citrus fruits like lemons and limes. The peels of lemons and limes are safe to consume.

Juicing the pith will produce a frothy juice that is a little less sweet, but it will produce an orange fruit juice that is decidedly higher in nutritional value. If it is not to your taste, not to worry, oranges juiced without the pith are still a great source of nutrition and extremely good for you.

Need some recipes? visit orange juice recipes

Darren Haynes

Bananas are a big hassle to juice. They have a very low water content compared to many other fruits. Therefore putting a banana through your juicer will produce very little juice and start clogging up your machine. I don’t know how many bananas you would need to juice to make a banana juice worth drinking, but I can tell you this. It would be A LOT and would require many cleanings of your machine just to produce it. That is not an experiment I am interested in undertaking. Just juicing one banana was a bad enough experience.

In light of this I have put together one equation. Bananas = Blenders.

What is it with you humans and all this juicing?

Darren Haynes