As concerns about health and nutrition continue to rise, so has the custom of making fresh-squeezed juice at home. Juicing offers a convenient and healthy way to lose weight, stay fit and avoid artificial additives and preservatives. Homemade juices can include both fruits and vegetables. From apples and oranges to tomatoes and celery, the following article provides you with all the information you need on juicers, juicing and juices.

Remove pits and seeds from your fruits before juicing them. Hard pits, like those found in peaches, will leave unpleasant chunks in your juice and can damage the blades of your juicer. Other seeds, such as apple seeds, may actually contain chemicals that are harmful. It’s best to remove them beforehand.

If you are planning on juicing citrus fruits only, or primarily citrus fruits, consider purchasing a juicer that is designed just for citrus. Many juicers have trouble with the amount of pith in a citrus fruit. In addition, juicers with metal surfaces will become corroded over time after repeated exposure to citrus fruits.

If you are worried about getting enough protein in your diet, add spinach and broccoli to your juices. Both of these vegetables provide enough vegetable protein for the short-term to satisfy your body’s needs. Most people get more than enough protein in their daily diet, and don’t need to worry about adding protein sources such as soy to their juice.

Do some trial and error to find what sort of juice mixes you like. Softer fruits like peaches or strawberries will have a much thicker consistency than harder fruits like apples. Mix them up in different amounts to see what makes the consistency of drink that you like the best. The more you like it, the more you will drink it!

Buying fruit and vegetables for your juicing can be easy by using all five senses to find the freshest produce to bring home. Sniff the item and make sure it smells good, like you would want to eat it. Squeeze it and feel if it’s too hard or too soft. Look it over for imperfections, and then take it home and taste a bit. Enjoy!

When it comes to juicing, one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you will want to keep your juicer out and in sight at all times. This is important to ensure that you use it on a regular basis and that it does not become one of those items that gets stored away in the back of your cupboard.

To get the most nutrition from your juices, be sure to drink them when they are fresh. After juicing, fruits and vegetables are vulnerable to oxidation which will destroy their nutrients. If you have to store your juices for some reason, use air tight containers to reduce the amount of oxidation that will happen.

If you are new to juicing, a steadfast rule to follow is – to go slow! Start with a vegetable that you know you like. After trying that vegetable juice for a few days, you can slowly start to add in vegetables that you are unfamiliar with or not sure if you will like. By taking small amounts at a time, your body will adjust slowly to the different foods and absorb the juice in naturally.

If you want to have a juice that tastes like a commercial smoothie, add some vanilla! Skip the extract and go for the real thing – scrape a vanilla pod and enjoy the smooth, creamy flavor it imparts on the final product. If you really want to fulfill the smoothie experience, add a little non-fat, unsweetened yogurt to your drink.

In regards to juicing, it is important to know that you might experience a slight change in the color of your skin when consuming a lot of carrot juice. This is only temporary and will cause no harm to you.

In regards to juicing, it is important to consider adding ginger to your juice. This is beneficial not only because it can add some good spice to it, but it also has its own benefits of being a natural way to combat having an upset stomach or experiencing nauseousness.

Juicing is a yummy alternative to choking down broccoli or other fruits and vegetables that you just dont’ like the taste of. Include as many veggies as you can into your juice by covering them up with powerful fruit flavors like apple, banana and oranges. The citrus and sweet flavors of these will have no problems masking the other flavors you are not fond of.

Homemade fruit juices, vegetable juices and mixed juices are nutritious, delicious and, best of all, completely natural. Juicing gives you the freedom to make your own unique blends, as well as all of your family’s traditional favorites. As the above article has illustrated, juicing is limited only by your imagination. Bottom’s up!

Juice From The Earth, Instead Of The Can was originally published on Spring