Whether you’re starting to juice for the health benefits or to lose weight, it helps to have a basic guide on juicing. So, today, I’m going to walk you through how to juice and its benefits, the best juicers on the market, and the best foods to juice. Lets get started!
Benefits of Juicing
One question I get a lot is what’s the difference between juicing vs blending. When blending foods, you’re blending the entire food, which means the fiber is still intact.
However, when juicing, only the juice is extracted from the food, which leaves you with a concentrated, nutrient-dense liquid.
To be clear, I believe both smoothies (blending) and juices have their own set of benefits. The fiber in smoothies is beneficial and can help to naturally cleanse your colon and slow down how fast sugars enter the blood stream, keeping your blood sugar levels balanced. Smoothies can also serve as meal replacements since they usually contain more calories than juices.
On the other hand, because juices extract the fiber, it allows the nutrients in the juice to be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and, essentially, bypass digestion. This can be great for those who are trying to increase nutrient absorption or for those who have digestive issues and/or nutritional deficiencies.
But, you want to make sure your juice recipes don’t contain too many fruit sugars as this can spike insulin and give you a sugar rush/crash. The idea is to make your juice recipes as nutrient-dense as possible and the best way to do so is to include lots of leafy greens, celery, carrots, ginger, lemons, etc. My rule of thumb is to only add 1 fruit per juice.
Best Foods to Juice
When making juice, ideally, you want to stick to fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Step #1 – For the base, choose a fruit or vegetable that has a high water content. I try to stick to ones lower in sugar since I always use one of these as the base of my juice.
- Celery
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Beets
- Tomatoes
Step #2 – Choose a leafy green
- Spinach
- Romaine
- Kale
- Green Leaf Lettuce
- Watercress
- Dandelion Greens
- Mustard Greens
Step #3 – Choose a fruit with high water content (optional)
- Apple
- Grapes
- Pineapple
- Watermelon
- Orange
- Grapefruit
- Kiwi
Fruits that don’t juice well due to low water content, includes:
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Figs
- Eggplant
- Blueberries (can be juiced but won’t yield much juice)
- Cherries (can be juiced but won’t yield much juice)
- Mango (can be juiced but won’t yield much juice)
Step #4 – Add herbs and other ingredients for extra flavor and detoxifying benefits
- Ginger Root
- Turmeric Root
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Mint Leaves
- Lemons
- Limes
Get My 7-Day Detox for FREE below…
Best Juicers
When it comes to buying a juicer, it’s important to understand the difference between centrifugal juicers and masticating juicers.
Centrifugal Juicers
This is the most common type of juicer and the most affordable. Centrifugal juicers chop your fruits and vegetables and extract the juice at a very high speed, separating the juice from the pulp.
High speed (centrifugal) juicers generate heat, which can affect the active enzymes and nutrients in the fruits and vegetables. So, as a result, you’re not getting as much nutrition and health benefits from centrifugal juicers compared to slow (masticating) juicers. But, thats not to say that they’re completely useless because you still get some nutrition from the juice.
So, if your budget is limited, using a centrifugal juicer would still be better than not juicing at all, in my opinion.
Best Centrifugal Juicers at different price points…
- Breville Juice Fountain Elite (top of the line) – $299
- Breville Juice Fountain Plus – $125
- Juicer Machine (best for juicing fruits) – $55
Masticating Juicers
Masticating juicers are also known as “cold press” or slow juicers. These juicers work by slowly grinding the fruits and vegetables to break them up and then press the bits through a strainer.
Masticating juicers extract the nutrients and enzymes from leafy greens much more effectively than a centrifugal juicer and because it creates very little heat, it helps to preserves those enzymes and nutrients, making your juice recipes much more nutrient-dense and healthy.
Masticating juicers are more expensive (although they have gotten more affordable over the years), but your juices will be more nutrient-dense.
Best Masticating Juicers at different price points…
- Omega Extractor Juicer (top of the line) – $349
- Omega J8006HDS (next best omega juicer) – $279
- Aicok Juicer – $139
Printable Guide to Making the Ultimate Detox Green Juice
Feel free to print off the guide below or save it to your phone for easy reference. This is a great visual to give you ideas on how to create the ultimate green juice!
Simple Detox Juice Recipe Ideas
Carrot Apple Ginger Juice:
- 5-7 Large Carrots
- 1 Green Apple
- 1 inch Ginger Root
Ultimate Detox Green Juice:
- 5 Celery Stalks
- 1 Handful Spinach
- 1 Handful Parsley
- 1/2 Inch Ginger
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Green Apple
Minty Watermelon Detox Juice:
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Handful Fresh Mint Leaves
- 1 Lemon
- 2 C. Watermelon
Metabolism-Boosting Green Juice:
- 5 Celery Stalks
- 1 Green Apple
- 1 Handful Cilantro
- 1 Handful Kale
- 1 Lemon
Blood Purifying Beet Juice:
- 2 Fresh Beets
- 1 Green Apple
- 1 inch Ginger Root
- 1 Lemon
Glowing Skin Detox Juice:
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Orange or Grapefruit
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Handful Fresh Mint
- 1 Handful Spinach
Orange Gold Detox Juice:
- 5 Large Carrots
- 1/2-1 inch Turmeric Root
- 1 Green Apple
- 1 Lemon
Whats Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to give a contribution & assist other customers like its helped me. Good job.
Thank you! 🙂
I am a novice (3 days) of juicing came across your website and love the easiness of recipes, colourful, informative. I am so looking forward to becoming healthier
That’s wonderful Karen! You’ll find that juices and healthy smoothies will accelerate the process of getting healthier. I can’t go a day without a juice now Lol! Be sure to subscribe to my email list to receive any new recipes and/or health info.. Also, if you have any suggestions on certain topics you’d like me to cover, feel free to email me admin@kaylachandler.com 🙂
Day 4 my headaches have GONE, I have been a migraine sufferer for years take regular meds but not this week, woke up today and was headache free 🙂 took me a while to work out that my head was light!!! It was quite strange. I am loving the juicing, had your Grren Juice today (infact every morning) so GLAD I discovered your web page. Oh and I have lost 3 pounds
I just started juicing and want to know how much should be left of the item being juiced. Is there a trick to get as much out of the foods as possible. Just seem to get a lot of big chunks in the waste. Can I put it back through the juicer? Are there some good recipes that you can use the extra in?
Welcome to the juicing club Jennifer 😉 Different juicers will extract more or less juice depending on the quality of the juicer. The drier the pulp left over, the better the juicer quality (because it’s extracting as much juice as possible). As far as using the leftover pulp… it can be used to make your own salad dressings – just add to a blender with an avocado, some spices, etc. and you have yourself a salad dressing 🙂 You can also make dehydrated crackers with the pulp – add pulp to blender with your choice of nut or seed along with some herbs for seasoning and put in a dehydrator at 115 degrees for 12 hours… if you don’t have a dehydrator, just put your oven on the lowest heat and crack the door. These are only a few suggestions… I suggest googling how to use leftover pulp from juice.. there are some great ideas out there!
I just started juicing and flowing your recipe chart above to make a smoothie. But when is the best time to drink the smoothie?
Well, a juice and a smoothie are two different things 🙂 It’s best to drink a juice in the morning on an empty stomach. A smoothie can be consumed any time of day. Smoothies are great for meal replacements since they still contain fiber, which will keep you fuller longer than a juice.
hi kayla… i have sone question for replace dinner is it better to drink juice or smoothies ? also when we are doing fitness or yoga after or before drink it?
btw such a great blog i learn many tips in this blog
tq so much
Hi Rita.. a smoothie is always better for a meal replacement since it still contains the fiber and is more filling than a juice. You can drink a drink prior to fitness. I would drink a smoothie afterwards. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hello, i have been on the cleanse for 2 days however i have only been able to drink 16 oz of each juice. I stepped on the scale today and ive gained in the 2 days.. am i doing something wrong
Hi Sophia! You are following the updated version of the 7-Day Detox, correct? You can get it for free by entering your email in the green box at the top of my site. If so, please email me directly and we can discuss some possibilities as to why you may be gaining instead of losing admin(@)kaylachandler.com
I am a juicer newbie. Do I add the whole lemon? Or do I peel it?
If the lemon is non-organic, then always peel it to avoid ingesting pesticides or herbicides. If organic, then you can juice the peel and all. But, only juice it with the peel if you have a good quality juicer. Juicing the whole lemon may be too much on a cheaper/less quality juicer 🙂
Can I use my blender instead of a juicer will it work the same?
It will yield a different texture and a slightly different taste.
I would advise on a slow juicer of sorts, because the Breville (which I use to Love btw), will kill many of the nutrients in the juice and cause oxidation.
I agree! I bought this juicer years ago before I understood the difference 😉
I have never done any juicing or smoothie what is the best gadget?
Thanks,Mary
Here’s an article I wrote on how to choose a good juicer: http://www.kaylachandler.com/how-to-choose-a-good-juicer/
How many times a day do we juice, 3 times to replace meals?and do we eat in between or just drink water?
I would start with replacing 1 meal per day and work your way up to two. But, you’ll still want to get at least 1 whole food meal per day.
How long do juices last once you make them?
When it comes to juicing, it’s always best to drink them fresh. If you’ll be prepping them in advance, I suggest adding some fresh lemon juice as this will help to preserve the nutrients. In this case, you can make them up to 2 days in advance.
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