Health benefits of juicing

Almost two months ago, I received a juicer for my birthday, after wanting one for months! I found a very nice recipe for a detox green juice online and I have been making it for myself before work every morning as a pre-breakfast snack. When vegetables are juiced, the natural sugars in the vegetable are separated from the pulp, which is where the fiber is located. You may feel a "pump" of energy once those natural sugars get into your bloodstream and your glucose levels are raised.

What you'll need:

• A juicer. Any brand should be fine as long as it doesn't feel too 'plasticky' as some fruit, such as apples, are hard to juice and you will need a strong juicer to be able to do so. A flimsy one won't do the trick.
• Cucumber (you go through a looooot of cucumbers!)
• Green apples. Two should be fine
• Kale
• Spinach
• Celery

The cool thing about juicing is that you can mix and match fruit and veg and come up with your own recipes. If you had a rough weekend, this green juice is ideal as there are lot of antioxidants in it. Antioxidants protect your cells from damage by free radicals, which are produced when your body breaks down food and caused by exposure to environmental factors like tobacco smoke.

After you have prepped all of your fruit and veggies and you're ready to start juicing, there are a few items that you need to remember

1. Do not use the juicer for too long as it can exhaust the motor
2. Clean the pulp bin regularly as a build up can damage your machine
3. Make use of the power settings according to the hardness of the item you're juicing

Juicing extracts the juice from fresh fruits or vegetables. The resulting liquid contains most of the vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) found in the whole fruit.

You can store your already made green juice in the fridge to have it a bit later but you will just need to give it a good shake as the juice will separate. This occurs more often with a centrifugal (spinning screen type) juicers since they are less effective at removing the thicker puply layer and also at the fast rate at which they extract

If you have any go-to recipes, please let me know in the comments below!

XO