Why Juice?
Juicing is a basic healing tool, that enables us to consume a massive amount of vitamins, minerals and enzymes quickly and easily. It's like a multivitamin on steroids!
When we flood our bodies with nutrients, it's able to effectively restore and heal.
Digestion is hard work and if our digestive system is now working well, we are not able to breakdown and absorb enough nutrients through our regular diet alone.
The juicing process removes the fibre (which makes up a large portion of the plant). What remains is the powerful, easy to digest, nutrient dense liquid.
Anyone would find it difficult to eat two sticks of celery, a cucumber, beetroot, ginger, 2 cups spinach & piece of pineapple on top of their breakfast. However, with juicing it's easy!
Don't I Need Fibre?
Your body needs fibre to help food move along the digestive tract and promote healthy gut bacteria.
Fibre is good for preventing constipation, lowering excess cholesterol, estrogen and controlling blood glucose levels.
If you are eating a wholefood, plant-based diet, then you won't have to worry about a lack of fibre in your diet. Juicing is the ultimate vitamin and mineral supplement and complements a healthy high fibre diet.
How to choose a juicer
There are two styles of juicers.
- Slow, Cold Pressed Juicer
- High speed fast / centrifugal juicer
Slow / Cold pressed juicer - High quality juice
These extract the juice slowly, with no heat. The fruit and vegetables are crushed with an auger or pressing style mechanism, which helps retain maximum vitamin and enzyme content.
Juice lasts longer and can be stored and drunk 2-3 days later with good nutritional value.
They are usually more expensive than the high-speed centrifugal juicers and generally take longer to use.
Fast / Centrifugal juicer
These have superfast spinning blades that chop up the fruit and vegetables.
More heat is generated in the process, so vitamin and enzyme content are said to be lower. Juices should be drunk within 30 minutes of making, as the nutrients will start to decrease.
However, some people choose to store it in the fridge longer and still achieve healing. Drinking any juice is better than none at all.
Fast juicers are generally cheaper and take less time to use.
Other factors to consider
Ideally, slow pressed juicers are better, because the quality of juice is higher.
However, if you are time poor, then avoid them because it could deter you from using it. Like the name suggests, slow press juicers can take longer to use because they crush the ingredients slowly.
Many of these slow press machines have a small feeding shoot that requires the fruit and vegetables to be cut up small to fit in. It may take an extra 15 minutes or more to make a juice, whereas a high speed juicer will take a matter of seconds so are excellent for the busy person.
There are some slow / cold press juicers on the market now, that you can put a whole apple in, which reduces the preparation time. These are a good option, however they can be expensive.
I have both styles of machines. If I'm going to make a juice and drink it pretty much straight away, I use my high speed centrifugal juicer, because it saves me time in the morning.
When I do a cleanse and drink more, I use my slow juicer, so I only use it once in the morning and store the rest in the fridge.
So you see, they both have their pros and cons. It's up to you, to decide what best suits your lifestyle. And at the end of the day, whatever machine you're using "Any Juice is better than NO juice at all".
Juicing is a tool I include in the Cooling Habits Program, to find more click here.