Fresh-pressed juice does a body good, but that’s not all- it also contributes to healthier, clearer, smoother skin. Juice made from freshly-pressed fruits and veggies is a highly concentrated and absorbable from of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes that hit your blood stream and start nourishing your cells within moments of taking your first sip. Incorporate fresh juices into your diet and before you know it you will be amazed by the gorgeous, glowing radiant face reflected back to you when you look in the mirror.
Whether you’re new to the juicing scene, or a seasoned veteran, here are a few helpful juicing tips:
- Juice Only Organic: Fresh-pressed juice is a highly concentrated from of nutrition. If you use non-organic produce for your juice, then you will also be getting a highly concentrated from of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals used on non-organic produce. For this reason it is especially important to use only organic produce when juicing.
- Make Fresh-Pressed Juice Your “One a Day”: 1-16oz glass of fresh juice contains 3-6 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables---that’s a lot of nutrients! Make juicing part of your morning routine or make your juice in the evening for the following day.
- Storage: If you are not drinking your juice immediately after it’s made, you can store it in mason jars in the fridge. When filling your jar with juice, fill it as high to the top as possible. Air leads to quicker oxidation, therefore the less air that is in the jar, the longer the juice will last. If stored properly, fresh juice will typically retain its nutritional value for 3 days.
- Invest in a Good Juicer: A good juicer will provide your body with the highest quality juices. We like the Omega 8006, which uses a single auger to cold-press fruits and veggies (as opposed to centrifugal juicers that can lead to rapid oxidation because of the heat they generate). The 8006 is also very easy to clean, which makes at home juicing easier and more appealing.
- Use a Variety of Ingredients: In order to ensure that you are getting a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals, infuse your juices with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. As a general rule of thumb, try to make your juices using no more than 20% fruit. Another way you can add variety to your juices is to incorporate spices into them. Our favorite spice to incorporate into fresh juice is Saigon Cinnamon, which helps stabilize blood sugar---and it tastes great too!
- Buy Juice Only if it's Made Fresh: Sure, you can buy juices labeled as "freshly-pressed" at just about any natural grocery store these days, but unfortunately these juices just aren't the same. By law, any fresh juices that are bottled and sold must be pasteurized. These juices are pasteurized using a newer method called HPP (High Pressure Pascalization), which destroys fragile nutrients, enzymes, minerals and vitamins in the process- and hey, if those are depleted then what's the point of paying a hefty premium ($8-$10 per 16oz bottle) for a bottle of freshly-pressed juice? If you are going to buy fresh juice instead of making it yourself, opt for buying it straight from a juice bar where it can be freshly-pressed right before your very eyes.
