In recent years, juicing has taken the natural health culture by storm. But there's a bit of debate as to whether or not it's the best way to ingest your fruits and vegetables, particularly because the fiber from all the juiced produce gets left out of juice.
As much as I absolutely love the benefits from eating raw fruits and vegetables, I absolutely hate the time it takes to properly chew a mouthful of beets and carrots. It takes me about thirty minutes to eat a plateful of cooked veggies, whereas I've spent over an hour trying to finish a bowl of raw fruits and vegetables.
The great thing about juicing is that it gives you a super compact amount of fresh vitamins and nutrients in liquid form! So not only are those nutrients more quickly absorbed into your body, but they're much easier to get past your tongue as well.
You may or may not relate to getting a tired jaw from chewing raw produce, but if you're a juicer here is something you probably can relate to- having a heap of juiced produce left over when you've finished juicing.
My first six months of juicing I dumped 100% of my juiced produce into the compost and watched as my compost slowly got too big for my garden. Not only was I throwing away ultra healthy fiber, but drinking one juice a day meant that I was going through my organic produce fast (which isn't cheap).
Then one day I had a great idea! I could put that pureed produce in my smoothies! That way I get all the fiber, I'm putting less produce in the compost (saving $$$), and I still get to enjoy my fruits and vegetables in liquid form!
First, I tried directly blending all of the processed fruits and vegetables with water. Not only did I end up with a chunky smoothie, but the flavour was less than desirable. Then, I tried freezing the left over produce in icecube trays and mixing them with other frozen fruits. That gave me a nicely textured smoothie, but I'd made the mistake of using ALL the juiced left overs (including grapefruit, ginger, and tumeric root), which gave me a very bitter tasting smoothie. Through trial and error I discovered that not all juiced produce goes well in a smoothie.
Here's a list of fruits and veggies I've found have a light enough flavor once juiced to work well in smoothies, especially when mixed with non-juiced frozen fruit:
🍓 Strawberries, 🍇 Grapes,🍐 Pears,🍍 Pineapples,🍎 Apples, 🥕 Carrots, Beetroot, Bok Choy, Spinach, 🍉 Watermelon, 🥒 Cucumber, Mint
Some of my favorite combinations using frozen, juiced produce are:
Juiced carrots + pineapple chunks + coconut milk
Juiced spinach + juiced apples + fresh avocado + fresh ginger + orange juice
Juiced beat root + juiced grapes + frozen berries + chilled rooibos or herbal tea
And here's a list of fruits and veggies that keep their strong/bitter flavor after being juiced and are probably better for feeding the compost:
Parsley, Cilantro, Grapefruit, Oranges, Turmeric Root, Ginger, Celery, Bell Peppers, Garlic, Jalapeno Peppers, Lemons, Limes
To make the process of freezing your juiced produce simple, make sure to juice the fruits and veggies you want to put in your smoothies first. That way you can set them to freeze in your icecube trays right away, then carry on juicing the rest. This will save you from later having to pick out what's what in a mixed up batch of processed produce.
I hope these tidbits on making the most of your juiced produce will serve you on your own wellness journey.
P.S. Here are a few informative links if you'd like to know more about the pros and cons of juicing and blending:
Video explaining juices vs. smoothies
https://youtu.be/6EVqYysJMmQ
Article explaining juicing vs. blending
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/juicing-vs-blending#juicing-vs-blending