Juicing 101: Juicing Basics | Beginner’s Guide to Juicing

As a health-conscious person, you might be thinking about drinking well along with eating well. Juicing is the only way to ensure robust drinking but it can be a little challenging for beginners. I am here with a juicing 101 guide to help you start your healthy drinking journey. 

My beginner’s guide to juicing will provide you with all the juicing basics you need. I will tell you what you need and how you can start juicing. I will also inform you on how you can choose a suitable juicing diet, juicer, and juicing recipes for you. But before we start, let me introduce you to juicing. 

What Is Juicing?

In easy words, juicing is a procedure where all the liquid parts of fruits and vegetables are extracted excluding the fibers. The liquid part of any vegetable or fruit contains all of its nutrients. You will only receive high nutrient liquid while the solid part will be excluded from a juice.

Juices are an astounding source of hydration because they let you consume all vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and anti-inflammatories.

Juicing has been practiced for centuries because of its additional benefits. It was a tough procedure back then due to the lack of technology. In modern times, it has become so easy with juicer machines and easy access to information on the internet. 

Health Benefits of Juicing 

Before starting your juicing journey, you need to know its benefits. Here are some of the most common benefits you will get from juicing:

• Add more vitamins and minerals to your diet without eating too much
• You can absorb more nutrients without having to consume fibers
• Improved cardiovascular system 
• Lower blood pressure 
• Helps you lose weight
• Reduces body inflammation 
• Reduces dependence on caffeine 
• Reduces toxins and helps to increase immunity 

Why Juicing Instead of Consuming Raw Fruits & Vegetables? 

Juicing helps you consume a large portion of nutrients and vitamins in a small serving. Consuming a few raw carrots, apples, kale, and spinach will make you feel sick. But if you were to drink their extracts, you would easily drink it all within one or two servings. This means that you can get a lot of variety into your diet by juicing. 

Most of the juicing recipes contain a vast quantity of fruits and vegetables that you won’t be able to consume in raw form. This will allow you to get a wider range of vitamins and minerals in your daily diet. You can also use different flavors in your juice. Using flavors will help you consume rich nutrient fruits and vegetables that you don’t like in raw form. 

Is Juicing Good for Everyone? 

Yes, juicing is ideal for everyone. Kids, elderly pregnant women, and everyone else can benefit from juicing. However, if you have a restricted diet plan then you should consult your doctor before starting juicing. 

Kids enjoy juicing for the taste and flavors they get. Parents can ensure that their kids are getting all the necessary vitamins and nutrients by adding them to juices. Kids are often picky eaters so; they often lack antioxidants and vitamins from the fruits and veggies they don’t like. Parents can add these fruits and veggies to their kids’ drinks to ensure they get enough nutrients for healthy growth. 

Elderly people who have digestive issues also find juicing very helpful. They can consume their necessary produce without upsetting their stomach. People with dental and tonsil problems can also drink juice to get their necessary nutrients without hurting themselves. 

Types Of Juicing 

Here are the two easy ways to include juice in your diet

Juice Fast

Juice fast is a short time method to remove toxins from your body. Doctors often prescribe 3 days, 7 days and 10 days of a juice cleanse plans for people with digestive problems. Therefore, the juice cleansing method can help you remove all types of waste and harmful toxins. 

Before starting juice detox fasting, you have to make sure that you are not affected by any major health issues such as diabetes and pregnancy. 

Juice Feast

Juice fest is a very easy diet plan that can be used by anyone. This method means adding a glass of fresh juice to your everyday diet. This will ensure that you are getting enough vitamins, antioxidants, and nutrients. 

Juice feast can improve your immunity system and increase your energy by repairing your body’s oxidative damage.

How To Juice: Juicing 101

Juicing method is similar for every recipe and production. There are several types of juicers but their overall procedures are the same. I have seen a lot of beginners mixing up the process. To clear your confusion, Here I am giving you a short brief on how to juice before going into detailed steps:

• Assemble your juicer machine as instructed in its user manual. 
• Prepare the produces required for the juicing recipe.
• Turn the juicer on and put your produces in it.
• Adjust the speed of the juicer according to the size of your produces’ chopped pieces. 
• Once done, stir the extract and drink it as soon as you can.
• Disassemble and clean your juicer.

The above steps look quite easy, don’t they? But you have to make some other decisions depending on your juicer and recipe. You need to know what produces and how you have to prepare them.

You also need to know which juicer would be good for you. In the following article, I will show you a step-by-step guide so that you can master juicing right away. 

Juicing Essentials 

These are the essential things you would need to start juicing:

• Fruits & veggies to juice
• A juicer 
• Juicing recipes 

Now that you know what you’ll be needing, you should also know how to choose and prepare them. I am going to inform you about how you can choose and prepare the right fruits and vegetables to start juicing. I am also providing guidelines to choose the best juicer and recipes for you.

The Best Fruits & Veggies to Juice

Randomly mixing two fruits or vegetables to get a good flavored juice might turn up badly. You need to know which fruit/veggie produces which flavor. The following fruits and vegetables are the ideal choice for making fresh juice of their flavor category:

• Sweet: Mango, apple, orange, berry, grapes, etc.
• Tart: Lemon
• Herbs: Mint, Cilantro, Basil, etc.
• Greens: Lettuce, Beet Greens, spinach, dandelion, mustard green, etc
• Roots: Beets & Carrots. 
• Spices: Pepper, ginger, cinnamon, etc.

High Yield Fruits: Watermelon, tomato, cucumber, fennel, etc.

There are many other fruits and vegetables that you can produce juice. You just have to make sure that the fruit/veggie you are choosing contains enough water. After choosing your product, you have to prepare them before putting them into a juicer. 

Here is a guide to preparing your product before making juice:

Washing

You have to wash your produce to remove any dirt or pollutant that might harm your health. You can easily wash your produce by rinsing them under clean water and gently rubbing them with your hand. Root vegetables and fruits need more than a gentle rub for being dirtier. You can wash root products by scrubbing them or using a vegetable brush.

Peeling

Peel off any thick skin from your produces because they might harm your juicer. The thick skin of fruits and vegetable don’t contain many nutrients or anything so you can certainly peel them off. 

Produces with thin skin such as apples, grapes, and pears don’t need peeling. You can put these products in the juicer without peeling off their skin.

Removing Large Pits

Some produce has large pits such as peaches, cherries, etc. You should remove pits before you juice your produce.

Cutting To Smaller pieces

After washing and peeling, you have to chop your produces into smaller pieces to reduce pressure on your juicer. However, some juicers have big feeder tuber which can easily slice whole apples and carrots. You can find out the capacity of your juicer by reading its user manual. 

Balance Fruits With Vegetables

If you don’t want too much sugar on your drinks, you can maintain the 80/20 rule for your drinks. You can mix 80% vegetables with 20% fruits to keep your drinks’ sugar content low. 

Choosing The Best Juicer

With all your produces ready, you are now set to choose a juicer for your juicing journey. Here are some of the main factors you should consider while buying a juicer:

• What Produces You Are Planning to Juice – You need to know which type of fruits and veggies you are going to juice. If your plan includes more soft produces then you can go for centrifugal juicers. If your plan includes more hard produce then you would need a masticating juicer.
• Quantity Of Juice You Will Make Every day – Making a lot of juice will take too much time in masticating juicers. Centrifugal juicers take less time and they can juice more produces at once. 
• Ability To Juice Leaves – If you have leafy vegetables in your diet plan then you need to go for juicers that can crush leafy veggies. Masticating juicers are better than centrifugal ones in terms of juicing leafy greens.
• The Amount of Time It Takes to Assemble, Disassemble, And Clean – People who are new to juicing should take a look at how many parts their juicers have. The more parts it has, the more amount of time it will take to assemble, disassemble, and clean.
• Feeder Size – Feeder chute size describes how big produces your juicer can chop. It also plays a good role in the amount of juice you can make. Using a juicer with a small feeder will require your produces to be cut into small pieces before juicing.
• Extra Features – You can also look for additional features in your juicer if you want. Many modern juicers provide features of making oil & butter, crushing coffee and ice, grinding, etc. You can look for the features you want according to your diet plan.
• Your Budget – Compare juicers to different brands and features within your budget. You will be able to get the best value for money by comparing a lot of models.

Types Of Juicers

I have seen a lot of people being confused about several juicer types. Two types of juicers are widely used. Here are the types of juicers and their facilities:

Cold-Pressed/ Masticating Juicer

Masticating juicers are also known as cold-pressed juicers which work by grinding the fruits. This machine can juice your greens much more productively than centrifugal ones. Masticating machines work by grinding the greens and breaking them up into small pieces. The small pieces are pressed through a strainer which ensures that all the enzymes are preserved.

Centrifugal Juicer

Centrifugal juicers on the other hand are the most commonly used and affordable juicers. Centrifugal machines can chop your produces into small and fine pieces. Centrifugal machine feeders spin at a very high speed and separate the pulp from the juice.

The only problem with this machine is that its high speed produces heat. The heat produced in centrifugal machines can affect your juice enzymes and nutrients. However, centrifugal juicers are cheaper than cold-pressed juicers.

Juicing Recipes  

Even though you have produces and a good juicer, you need to know good juicing recipes. A proper recipe will help you to make effective juices for weight loss, detoxing, immunity, and energy booster. I am mentioning some common recipes for weight loss, energizers & immunity boosters that can be easily made by beginners.

Here are some easy and rich nutrient juicing recipes for beginners:

Juice Recipes for Weight Loss 

• Mean Green– apple, cucumber, lemon with a little kale and a very little ginger root & celery.
• Sweet beets – apple, orange, sweet potato, lime, and a little cinnamon & beetroot.
• Beginner green– apple, celery, orange, spinach with some ginger root and a very little amount of lemon.
• Anytime cocktail- cucumber, orange, apple, lemon, and a little bit of celery & parsley. 

Juice Recipes for Energy 

• Lemon drop – apple, carrot, zucchini with some lemon & a little ginger root.
• Creamsicle – apple, celery, orange, pear & some sweet potato.
• Green cheer – cucumber, avocado, orange, spinach, and a little mix of lemon & ginger root.
• Rock the beet – pear, raspberry, and some lemon & beetroot.

Juice Recipes for Immunity 

• Green power – avocado, pineapple & orange with a little mix of ginger root, lemon & parsley.
• Morning bliss – carrot, apple, orange with some ginger root, turmeric lemon & celery.
• Lemon ginger – carrot & apple with a little bit of lemon & ginger root.
• Fresh start – an equal mix of apple, celery & carrot.

Drink Your Juice Right Away

I have seen many beginners making the mistake of not drinking their extract right away. You should not leave your extract for a long time since it will go bad or deform due to its contact with air. Homemade extracts do not contain any preservatives.

You should understand that fully natural extracts don’t stay fresh for a long time just like fresh fruits and vegetables. 

However, if you can’t drink your extract right away then you should know how to store your juice. 

Juice Storage

If you are not planning to drink your extract right away then you have to think about juice storage. I also used to make a lot of drinks at once so, juice storage was a big concern for me. 

You can store your drink in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days. The only thing you have to ensure is that the container/bottle/can you use must not leak air. You can prolong your drinks’ shelf life by refrigerating the container/bottle. Freezing your drink will make its shelf-life much longer but it will decrease your drink’s nutrient value. 

Use The Leftover Fruit & Vegetable Pulp

Once your extract is made, you can use the leftover pulp in many creative ways. Here are some easy options: 

• Compost the leftover pulp.
• Use it in a smoothie for extra fiber.
• Use the pulp leftover in pasta, burger, soup, etc recipes.
• Feed it to chickens and other domestic animals.

Beginner’s Juicing Tips

Here are some extra tips for those who are about to start their juicing journey right now:

• Try to use organic and farm-fresh produce as much as possible.
• You should peel your carrots’ thin skin because it might create a bitter taste.
• Along with removing large pits, you should also remove apple seeds.
• Cut your greens in small pieces even if the feeder chute is wide enough. 
• Add as many spices as you want because it will add more health benefits.
• Don’t forget to drink your extract on an empty stomach.
• You can’t make juice of banana. You can only mix bananas with other extracts. 
• Homemade fresh juice will always taste different than store-bought drinks.

Juicing Mistakes You Should Avoid

I will also advise you about some common mistakes you should avoid. I have also learned a lot from my mistakes when I started my juicing journey. Here are some common mistakes everyone makes but you can avoid:

• Repeatedly making the same extract over and over again. Your body keeps asking for new nutrients and enzymes regularly so, don’t get stuck with one recipe.
• Don’t add too many fruits because it will increase your drinks’ sugar content. You can use a 2:1 ratio for veggies and a variety of fruits in the beginning.
• Not drinking your extract immediately will cause the nutrients to break down. Drink your extract as soon as possible after it’s made.
• Don’t avoid washing your juice produces properly. Your juice will contain specks of dirt and debris if you don’t wash your produce carefully. This dirt will harm your health if you drink them. 
• Juice can’t be a meal replacement. Replacing your meal with drinks will only harm your body.

Juices Vs Smoothies – Which Is Healthier & Why?

You can’t compare juice and smoothies because they are different. Juices and smoothies have one major difference which is their pulp. While homemade juices are made by removing their pulps, smoothies still contain all of them. Here are some other differences between smoothies and juices:

• Juices only extract the liquid while smoothies contain both liquid and fibers.
• You can easily digest juice but smoothies take a bit more time to digest.
• Smoothies have a longer shelf life of up to 4 days while juices only last for 2 to 3 days.
• Smoothies can be taken as a replacement for meals while juices can’t replace meals in any term.
• Smoothies contain insoluble fiber and juices contain soluble fiber.
• The soluble fiber in juices helps to maintain a healthy body glucose level. The insoluble fiber in smoothies improves digestive and bowel health. 

You can understand from these differences that there is no winner between juice & smoothies. Both of these drinks have their special benefits. If you are still confused between juices and smoothies, ask yourself what benefits want and you will get the answer.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Ques1: What Fruits & Vegetables Should Not Be Juiced?

Ans: Any produce that doesn’t contain enough water should not be juiced. Pineapple, Avocado, Coconut, etc greens have a lot of vitamins but you should not extract them. Produces that are too hard can damage your juicer. You shouldn’t extract hard products no matter how many nutrients they contain.

Ques2: What’s The Best Time to Drink Juice? 

Ans: The best time to drink your extract is before a meal. Your body can absorb more nutrients from your extracts when you are empty stomach. 

Ques3: Can I Mix Vegetables and Fruits? 

Ans: Yes, it is a great idea to mix veggies and fruits for a drink. Only drinking fruit syrup will cause you to drink too much sugar. Mixing your produces will keep a balance of sugar and nutrients in your drink. 

Ques4: How Much Juice Should I Consume in a Day?

Ans: You should drink at least 1 glass (150ml or 200ml) of fresh extract. Drinking too much will only cause you to pee more because your body can’t absorb a lot of nutrients at once.

Final Words 

Knowing how to make your juice is an art. In this juicing 101 guide, I have explained how important juicing is and how you can start your journey today. You can easily make your juicing diet plan and different suitable recipes for you with our beginner’s juicing guide.

If you love eating and drinking healthy, you can start juicing right now with just a juicer and produces needed for your recipe. Good luck with your healthy lifestyle.