Are You Juicing?
Written by Nuno Costa
Why yes . . . I am juicing.
No! Not that kind of juicing. If you thought I was going to be talking about steroids for performance gains, I have something even better to tell you about. I am talking about juicing vegetables and fruits – oh yeah! If you want to have more energy, chase optimal health and make sure you are getting your daily vegetable intake, then I think juicing is for you!
When I first heard about juicing I was a little reluctant to really give it a chance. After all, I follow paleo pretty closely and have seen phenomenal results, and Paleo man probably didn’t juice his veggies. So why would I want to to consider juicing?
Well for one – you may or may not be getting enough vegetables in your daily intake. “What is a reasonable amount of fruits and vegetables”, you may ask? I checked a few sources online and it seems as if the appropriate amount is going to be between 5-19 servings a day. Check out the links below where I found the information for more details.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-full-story/
http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/f/servingfruit.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55983
These 5-19 servings a day may seem impossible for some people, but if you weigh the benefits of getting that many vegetables into your system you ought to be doing everything within your powers to do so.
The other primary reason for juicing is to ensure that you actually absorb all the nutrients you ingest. Too many Paleo eaters are ingesting great foods, but are unable to absorb all of the fibrous fruits and veggies they eat. Juicing can help you absorb nutrients from the vegetables you eat by making them easier to digest. If you have ever eaten 19 servings of fruits and vegetables in a day, you probably know what I am talking about and understand the need to make digestion a bit less arduous.
Another huge benefit to juicing is adding a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. The picture you see above is of beet leaves, an apple, carrots and kale – all organic or homegrown. In this small cup of juice I pretty much crushed a good amount towards my 5-19 daily servings. But please don’t consider this a meal replacement. This was something that I drank while eating a large salad with a generous serving of chicken.
Do a little research on the right kind of juicer – it doesn’t have to be the most expensive one out there as long as you find something that works for you. You can pick up a few recipe books, but my advice is to go to town on experimenting with different vegetables.
If you are already juicing I would love to hear what your favorite mix is, so please post to comments to share with everyone.
Happy Juicing!
Do you simply drink all of that juice at once, or do you store some for later consumption? If so, any idea how long the juices keep their nutrients in the fridge? My roomate and I have been storing the juice in mason jars and have 1-2 jars a day….nothing older than 48hrs old.
Interested in your thoughts and recipes!
Ben
is there a difference, in terms of getting your nutrients, between juicing and blending. I have a juicer but hate that it takes a lot of veggies to get a glass of juice. (and not sure what to do with the rest other than toss it out)
Great article! I recently have started making juice from time to time. I use my Vitamix and strain the juice from the pulp (and actually eat the pulp separately…I kind of like it).
I use:
1/2 a lemon (peeled, but throw the rest in)
1 apple, cored
2 or 3 big handfuls of kale
1/2 a cucumber
Sometimes a bit of parsley
Great article, Nuno! Here’s one of my regulars (I actually make this in a blender, not a juicer): – 1 large bunch of spinach (or kale….but beware, kale will make the end-product very bitter) – 8-10 shavings of fresh ginger root – 5-7 mint leaves – 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary – 3-4 pieces of broccoli – 1/3 tsp. turmeric (careful on the turmeric…it is very potent) – dash of cayenne pepper – 1/2 tsp. cinnamon – 1 banana – 1/2 tbsp. flax seed – 1/2 an avocado – 1/2 cup water When I give out this recipe, oftentimes people… Read more »