Juicing 101

Because we have had many conversations with folks who say, "I want to juice! Where do I start?" we felt like we needed to put together a "Juicing 101" article.

I have to admit I love talking about health with others who are on that same journey, but admittedly, I am still learning.

       First, about juicing, juicing alone doesn't mean your healthy. There are lots of life changes that make people healthy. In fact, I will not wear the label myself until I actually exercise regularly. However, if you made no other dietary changes other than adding 16-24 Oz of organic vege juice per day, you'd be alot more healthier.

      Also, I want to mention that if strange juice freaks you out, you are not alone. I had a really hard time my whole life with anything other than V8 or and Odwalla- that was as far as I could go. So I am gonna give you a couple tips on an easy start.

What kind of juicer you use does matter, you can take my word for it since I spent the 10 hours researching already, or you can do more research on your own. I suggest a juicer like this: Champion or Omega. We use the Omega J8006. I also try to use the pulp extracted in muffins, meatloaf, and anything else I can creatively come up with.

OK, here's my basic green recipe. (remember, anything 'green' really should be organic)

Gina's Green Juice

2 Medium Organic Apple (yes! organic! They are #1 on the Dirty Dozen List!) 2 Stalks Celery
1/2 Large Cucumber 1 Large Golden Beet + Beet Greens (or Red Beet) 2 Cups Cut Kale (or 4 Large Kale Leaves) 2 Cups Spinach (sometimes we substitute Chard or other greens if we're out of spinach) 2 Large Carrots (Johnny uses 6, which adds about 4 more ounces) 1 Sliver of fresh ginger

     Chop everything to fit in your juicer well, always juice harder items first,  i.e. carrots, beets, etc, apples last. I put leafy stuff in after my beets and before my carrots. That seems to push the most juice out of my spinach etc.

Oh and if you use red beets, you wont have green juice... you'll have brown juice. Tastes the same, looks questionable :)

enjoy!