Start juicing to improve your health

Enjoying fresh juice is part of a well-balanced diet and the best way to enjoy the benefits is by consuming fresh produce juiced yourself. This guarantees that your juice is additive-free and hasn’t been stripped of its natural nutritional value during processing. Juicing offers many life-enhancing health benefits, say the specialists in this field, including a faster, more efficient way to absorb immune boosting nutrients naturally found in fruits and vegetables.

Canada’s Food Guide recommends that an adult male between 19 and 50 years of age consume 8 to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and a female in the same age group consume 7 to 8 servings. If juicing sounds like a manageable and tasty solution for you, here are some tips to get you started:

• Simplify prep time. Wash all of your ingredients first and then remove large pits or tough skins. Stems, peels and seeds can be extracted.

• Make it a head of time. Fresh juice can be stored in air tight containers in the fridge or on ice. If you’re going out for the day, make some juice to take with you.

• Speed it up or slow it down. Set your juicer to a lower setting for softer fruits to make sure you get the most yield. Harder produce such as apples or beets should be processed on high.

• Pair earthy with sweet. Mix leafy greens like kale or spinach with an apple, pear or carrot to sweeten up your mixture.

• Get spicy. Spices have many added health benefits besides flavor. Consider adding some of your favorite spice to kick-up your juice. Ginger and cinnamon can add some punch.

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