All about juices

When the hype about juicing started a few years ago, we were not yet part of the juice craze. On the contrary, we were very much questioning juicing and we thought, why on earth would you drink your fruits and vegetables instead of eating them. You barely get any fiber and you drink calories without being full. We think a lot of people are walking around with the same question. It seemed like everyone in the health world was drinking juices and it was inevitable for us to dive deeper into this and learn all about juices. We were really shocked how many health benefits this brings about in your body! So of course better late than never we were also juicing daily. The movie Food Matters was one of the reasons that inspired us and why we started juicing. Our enthusiasm grew as we read numerous books by Jay Kordich, Jason Vale and others.

The idea behind making juice

Have you ever thought of eating 1 kilo of lettuce daily? Well, neither have we. Not only does it take super long to chew and is it hard to get rid of such a mega plate at all, besides that, it’s not super tasty either (unless you throw a delicious caesar dressing over it jammie !) This doesn’t only apply to salads, this unfortunately works this way with all the fruits and vegetables we have to consume daily. Who actually has time to consume a kilo of lettuce? At least we don’t. This is why juices became so important for us to apply in our daily lives. A juice that you can easily drink is gone in no time and has more nutritional value than a regular salad or cooked vegetables. In addition, it is also great for people who do not enjoy eating fruits and vegetables but need these very important nutrients such as children and elderly people.

But why do we actually need so many fruits and vegetables?

A 250 ml bottle of juice has about as much nutritional value as eating 1 kilo of fruits and vegetables! How on earth is that possible!? The reason is because the vegetables and fruits are squeezed completely raw. The ratio should then preferably be 4 vegetables and 1 piece of fruit. Fruit unfortunately also contains sugars and you should not consume more than 1 piece or portion of fruit per juice. Because the vegetables are raw and uncooked they contain much more nutrients than a stir-fry dish or steamed vegetables. So in summary, a juice is superior in quality to eating 400 grams of fruits and vegetables (our recommended daily allowance, RDA)

It is important that the juice you drink is organic so that you get an optimal amount of nutrients and as few toxins as possible. Nowadays, our food chain is incredibly long. This is because fruits and vegetables are often picked not ripe in a country far away, then transported by boat or plane for a few days, then stored in a warehouse for days, then transported again to the supermarket where it sits for a few days and only then does it end up in your refrigerator where it is usually not consumed right away. So hopefully you understand that by the time we finally eat it most of the nutrients are already sadly gone. This can cause us to be and become deficient in many nutrients.

So we need to eat lots and lots more vegetables than the recommended daily allowance to get enough nutrients to stay healthy. But to do that we have to eat pounds and pounds of fruits and vegetables, who is going to do that? Of course no one. By drinking a juice daily, you replenish lost and depleted nutrients in a very easy way, without being too full. You can easily get the fiber that is present in lesser amounts in the juice through other foods. The advantage of having very little fiber in a juice is that within minutes the juice is super efficiently and directly absorbed by your billions of cells. Normally when you eat fruits or vegetables it takes 3 to 4 hours before you digest it and the nutrients are just released. It first passes through your esophagus, stomach and small intestine and therefore those nutrients are less absorbable and some are already lost. This is also the main reason why juicing is better than blending.

Which juicer do you actually need?

We really did an incredibly long search for the best juicers. You end up having to look at price, quality of juice, taste of juice, how much pulp is left, how easy you can clean the device, noise, etc. The first juicer we had before we knew much about it was a standard centrifuge juicer from Philips. We used this one for about 2 weeks before moving on to the next one. We did this mainly because it was very tedious to clean and we wasted a huge amount of fruits and vegetables. Also, with a centrifugal juicer, you don’t get the optimal amount of nutrients that you can normally ingest. The speed of the spinning wheel is so high that it then creates a lot of heat, and because of that heat, many important nutrients, such as vitamin C, are lost right away. However, this is a good juicer to start with because of its favorable price. After this juicer, we introduced the Hurom slow juicer. Actually, we were quite satisfied with this juicer. We had chosen this one because it grinds the fruits and vegetables in a very slow way (hence the term slow juicer) and it also doesn’t get hot, so much less nutrients and enzymes are lost. It also left less fiber in the juice than with the Philips juicer. We used this one for several months. The price is quite high though but well worth it. And finally we moved on to the king among juicers, the Angel juicer. You can really drink this divine juice like water. What a difference in quality! The pulp that comes out of it is as dry as sawdust. You then really get the idea that all the nutrients actually end up in your juice. Even our rabbit doesn’t want to eat the leftover pulp aka dry fiber. You also get so much more juice from the same fruits and vegetables than previous juicers. The taste is also softer and even more nutrients and enzymes are retained due to the unique grinding quality with stainless steel screws. The Norwalk juicer is also great, however, it is twice as expensive as the Angel juicer and the juice quality is practically the same in terms of taste and juice yield. With the Norwalk juicer, unfortunately, you need a little more handling to clean it. If you really want to go professional juicing and you can afford it you should definitely go for the Angel in our opinion. See all the benefits of a slow juicer here.

Flavor combinations

One juice does not taste the same as another. Different combinations of ingredients have completely different effects on your body. If you delve a bit more into certain vegetables, fruits, herbs and superfoods, you can really put together juices for specific purposes. Some fruits and vegetables also go better with each other, and certain fruits and vegetables can also reinforce each other in terms of nutritional value and special nutrients. You can create juices to get more energy, to contribute to brain and nerve functions or to take care of your skin from the inside out and so on. Read more about the benefits of drinking vegetable juice here.

We drink about 2 to 3 240 ml juices a day. We always do different combinations depending on how we feel at the time and what is growing in season. We really believe this can only benefit your health. For example, you could replace your coffee with a juice, which will give you much more natural and healthy energy. It is an ideal snack for in between or to replace a meal while losing weight, because you will be really full. Depending on which combinations you use, a juice is very low in calories and very high in easily absorbable nutrients compared to a bag of chips which is high in calories and very low in good nutrients.

Benefits of juicing

According to Dr. Mercola, the benefits of making raw juice are countless. Very many valuable and sensitive micronutrients are lost once the juice is heated. We should eat about 400 grams of fruits and vegetables a day, but the average Dutch person does not reach this daily. Also, vegetables are almost always cooked so you lose many vital nutrients and molecules such as enzymes. Many scientific studies have also shown that drinking juices can support your energy levels, help your digestion, boost your energy metabolism, support your immune system, is good for your bones, skin, hair and nails and can help keep your blood pressure good. So why should we drink a juice daily and not just easily take a multivitamin pill? A synthetic vitamin or mineral is simulated and recreated in a laboratory and doesn’t look remotely like what is found in your diet. Your body does not recognize it and will try to excrete it right away and some unnatural vitamins can even be toxic to your body. When it comes from nature, growing on a tree, in the ground or in the sea, your body recognizes the food and it is absorbed naturally.

Opinion

We have created a routine with drinking our juices. We drink it slowly and not immediately in 1 mega gulp. This has different effects on the body. When you drink your juice slowly (5 to 10 minutes) and even chew it, it also releases certain enzymes that activate all kinds of processes in your body. Do try to drink the juice right after you make it or within 24 hours at the latest. The longer you wait to drink it, the more nutrients are lost and the more fruit sugars are made. Fruits and vegetables oxidize with oxygen and light, so store it in a cool dark place. On the go, you can take your juice with you, for example, in your old to-go coffee mug or thermos. Don’t have time to make your own juices and still want to enjoy daily fresh and delicious juices? Then you can order and choose these juices in our store. A fresh juice daily is the best gift for your body.