Making juice for the first time can be an overwhelming experience if you’re not prepared. This blog post will show you the ins and outs so you can make juice with ease!
Have you heard the story of how I first started juicing? About thirteen years ago I bought an inexpensive juicer after watching Jack LaLanne’s juicing commercial. He was so excited about making juice and his energy was so contagious I went out right away to purchase the juicer.
But…
I had no idea which foods to put in the juicer. So it sat on my counter, looking all pretty and days passed. Weeks passed. I was paralyzed by the thought of making the juice. What if I failed? What if I hated it? Finally I put the juicer away in the cabinet so I wouldn’t have to look at it.
But…
I did really want to make juice. So I pulled the juice maker out of the cabinet. I remembered that Jack juiced apples and carrots and that’s where I started. It was delicious.
Getting Started Making Juice
Are you just getting started with juicing? Maybe you’re like me and you’re procrastinating because you don’t know where to begin. Or maybe you’re on the opposite end of the spectrum (like many of my readers) and you’re itching to throw every vegetable and fruit you have into your first juice. This “everything but the kitchen sink” approach gives many people an upset stomach or diarrhea. I know because I’ve received countless emails from people who have done just that.
Yes there is a middle road and it is easy to follow.
Simple Juicing Guide
To me it doesn’t matter which brand or what type of juicer you use when you first get started. It only matters that you DO get started! The best way to begin using your machine is to juice one or two foods at a time. Simple juices have many health benefits.
Juice #1. Fruits are easiest to start with, so choose two of the following: 2 apples, 1 orange, 1 handful of grapes. Juice the two you’ve chosen. This is all you need for your first juice. Make note in your mind of the taste. Is it sweet, tart, heavy, or light?
Juice #2. Use the same two fruits as in juice #1. This time add one half of a cucumber to the juice. Cucumbers add a crisp refreshing taste to the juice and help to hydrate the cells in your body. You may notice some complexity to the taste of the juice as we begin to add other foods.
Juice #3. After you are accustomed to the taste of juice #2 you can begin to add vegetables. Let’s make a new juice. Start with 1 apple or 1 orange, and 1 whole cucumber. Now add 1 or 2 carrots and 4 romaine lettuce leaves. These new ingredients will add a bit of sweet earthiness to the juice. If the taste is too strong for you, either add a small amount of filtered water or a few ice cubes.
You Did It!
Once you are accustomed to the taste of the juice with green veggies, you can sneak in a few more! Add a handful of spinach, a few leaves of kale or a small wedge of cabbage. A couple of stalks of celery can be added or you can use the celery in place of the carrots. If the taste is too heavy add one half lemon. Lemon is often used to brighten the taste of green juices and cut back on the bitterness.
Finally, when you feel comfortable with the combination above you may start adding herbs such as ginger, garlic, parsley, and cilantro. Herbs help the detoxification process by stimulating the immune system, building up the blood and chelating toxic chemicals to remove them from the body.
From this point you can begin experimenting with your own recipes. They can be simple or complex. It’s all up to you. I like to recommend at least a 70% vegetable ratio to 30% fruits (unless you are making an all fruit juice). As you begin to develop a taste for vegetable juices you will naturally cut back on the fruits. So bring out your juicer and become your own juicing chef!