• It is always best to make juice right before you want to drink it. It is not ideal to make large batches of juice for later use. Fresh homemade juice can oxidize robbing the juice of its beneficial nutrients.
• If possible, use organic produce to minimize the amount of pesticides that may be on your food. If not using organic food, thoroughly wash and peel the food before juicing.
• Buy produce that isn't bruised or damaged. Before juicing, wash all produce well and scrub with a brush. Remove all moldy and bruised areas.
• Orange and grapefruit skins should be removed as they are bitter and can be slightly toxic to some people. However, the white inside of these peels can be left on as they contain valuable nutrients.
• Remove all fruit pits before juicing. Lemon, lime, melon and grape seeds are okay to leave in the food. Also, stems and leaves can be included. However, certain food parts like apple seeds and green carrot tops are mildly toxic. Make sure these are removed prior to juicing. Here are some other toxic fruits and vegetables parts to avoid.
• Most fruits and vegetables will need to be sliced into chunks to easily be fed into your juicer chute.
• Most fruits and vegetables have high water content, up to 85% for some. This is what makes juicing work. However, certain fruits and vegetables, like bananas and avocados, have smaller amounts of water, and thus should be pureed and or blended and then added to the juice previously made with a juicer.

Published 4/18/2010 12:00:00 AM

Tags: Juicing