What is juicing?

What is juicing?

Hi everyone! I’m back today to share with you all such a common topic I hear and get asked about all the time… juicing! Let's start by breaking it down to basics first. What is juicing? Juicing involves a process where the natural liquids, vitamins, and minerals are extracted from raw fruits and vegetables, this process strips away any solid matter from the fruits and vegetables and you're left with liquid only.

This liquid isn't just any hydrating liquid; it's loaded with the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, and phytonutrients all in one easy to sip drink. I love juicing for obtaining quick energy, whereas many of you may think coffee or caffeine is a quick fix, an even quicker way to fuel your body with all natural and long-lasting energy is with raw fruit and vegetable juices.

Also note, you don't have to drink juice only for days on end to get the full benefits of juicing, you can simply incorporate into your daily breakfast, or have it first thing when you wake up, or as an afternoon energizing drink! P.s. your body will thank you regardless ;)

JUICES 101 //

• Lacks fiber
• Only contain liquid extracted from the raw fruits and vegetables
• Extremely easy and quick for the body to digest and assimilate nutrients
• Contains the same amount of nutrient density as smoothies
• Best consumed immediately after making, only stores for up to 48 hours maximum
• Flavors of fruits and vegetables (especially greens) will be more pronounced and stronger
• Aids in the bodies natural detoxification properties with the high amount of nutrients in a small volume

DIFFERENT JUICING METHODS |

Cold-pressed: The KING of juicers! Such as the Norwalk juicer- juice. Nashville uses a system just like this one as well!

• Cold pressed juice means the fruits/vegetables juices have been extracted using a pressing method hydraulically which yields not only the most juice, but also the most nutrition
• There is absolutely no heat or chopping done to the raw fruits/vegetables
• Does the BEST job at retaining the most nutrients during the juicing process in comparison to other juicing techniques
• Expensive piece of equipment, but completely worth the end result!

Centrifugal: Most brands you see in stores are this type of juicer.

• Spins at high speed
• The fruits/vegetables that you put down the chute + the high spinning speed separates the juice from the pulp leaving the juice in a bowl and pulp in the container
• Typically will be heated to some degree due to the high speed nature
• The cell walls of the fruits and vegetables are not as easily broken down and may be wasted if you don't "re-juice" again to yield the most you can
• Fairly inexpensive juicer, which can be purchased in many stores

Masticating: Omega, Green Star, and Champion are popular juicers with this quality.

• Just as the word says, this juicer masticates just like your teeth grind and chew food
• Grinds fruits/vegetables and literally squishes out the juice
• It's done at very low speeds and with no spinning action, so therefore you're retaining a bit more nutrition than you were if using a centrifugal
• Works great with dark leafy greens especially wheatgrass
• Clean up requires a bit of time, but it's well worth it (as all of these are!)

High speed blenders and nut milk bag:  Vitamix, Blendtec, etc.

• Uses high speeds to spin, which may heat the product for the amount of time you'd need to completely juice.
• Longer process with filtering out the pulp and using a nut milk bag
• Won't contain as many nutrients as a cold-pressed juice, but still contains a great amount!

I hope this post gave you a little more information and background on what juicing is and the different types/methods out there. Stay tuned for the next blog post where we'll discuss more on juice and health benefits. If you have blog posts that you'd love to hear from me, feel free to comment or post a request on juice. Nashville's facebook page tagging me (@nutritionstripped). 

Have a beautiful day everyone! 

With love and gratitude, 

McKel 

McKel Hill, MS, RD, LDN

nutritionstripped.com