Green juice

When it comes to making green juices, I'd like to keep it simple. When I first started making green juices, the juices I made had 4-5 ingredients in them, with all the different types of vegetables, fruits and herbs . But now, the ingredients are less. Just celery and green apples. That's the most basic ingredients in my green juice.

I LOVE celery. I love them cooked and I even love them raw.  Celery are low in calories....there are only about 10 calories in each stalk. This will help a lot for weight watchers. It's also a stress reliever because the minerals in celery such as magnesium and the essential oils soothes the nervous system and helps us sleep better especially if we were to take them in the evenings.

Celery also regulates the alkaline in our body and protects our body from acidity. This is good as we need to keep those two in balance. It reduces inflammation too. So if someone was suffering from asthma,  joint pains, lung infections or acne....taking celery will bring much relief.

The high water content in celery will aid in digestion. The insoluble fiber makes it easy for eliminating stools. SO if there is a constipation issue, taking celery is the way to GO! haha! This fact might be a shock to some. Celery contains good salts.....it contains sodium, but not the same as table salt. It's natural, organic and essential for our health. It is also known to combat cancer, lowers the blood pressure and many more.

As for green apples.....hmmm, what are the benefits of taking them? Well, for starters, they have more health benefits compared to the red one! Oh yeah! The green ones are high in fiber and help keep the digestive track clean and healthy. Thus reduces the possibility to get colon cancer.

It gives our stomach the sense of satisfaction after eating them, which means we would feel full and not having the need to eat more. It also does not have any bad cholesterol in it. And since it has a very high fiber content, inevitably these high fibers can help reduce the cholesterol that are already present in our body. It reduces liver problems and prevents gout too. It contains antioxidants thus prevents cancer and DNA damage. These green apples also controls our appetite and gives us a lot of energy too. It contains carbohydrates which are good for athletes or people who are always on the move.

Besides from all the great benefits of the celery and apple, I just LOVE the taste of the two of them when combined. The juice has a sweet and sour taste to it and it's refreshing too. I would juice the whole celery stalk each time and would add about 4 green apples to juice along with it and it always turns out tasting amazing. It's definitely my all time favourite juice to make :).

Juicing vs Blending

To juice or to blend? Juicing basically means that juice from the fruits or vegetables is separated from the pulp when using a juicer, and blending means that neither the juice or the pulp is separated or removed from the blender. Everything stays in. So which one will I be getting? That was what kept circling in my mind when I first started thinking about how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet by drinking them. I'm not saying that I shouldn't be eating my fruits and vegetables anymore and turn to drinking them instead but I'm just saying that by juicing or blending them, I'll get maximum absorption of nutrients in my body. Chewing fruits and vegies takes too long to process and basically it means I'll eat them less because I'll get tired of chewing so much of them in a day. I'm very sure that I can eat more vegetables and fruits in a day by drinking them.

 

SO!! It was either to make juices or to make smoothies. I have never blended my fruits and vegetables together before. So I couldn't imagine how I would take it. But I have taken fruit juices before at restaurants and they tasted really good. But would I be able to swallow a smoothie it as easy as I could a juice? So out of fear of not being able to swallow blended fruits and vegetables, I opted to get myself a slow juicer first. Yes, a slow juicer just like the photo you see above. But that was the second one I got after I bought the manual slow juicer like the photo you can see in my previous post. An electric slow juicer is so much more convenient and saves me a lot of time. They are very expensive but SO WORTH IT!!!!

Why a slow juicer and not a centrifugal juicer? Well, I decided to get a slow juicer because after doing much research on the net, I found out that the best juice you'll ever get is by juicing with a slow juicer. This is because a slow juicer can make cold-pressed juices which means it does not expose the juice to heat and oxygen in the process, both of which degrades nutrients in the juice. That's why they call it "cold" pressed juices....because no "heat" is involved. I've tasted juices made from centrifugal juicers before and boy oh boy there is a HUGE difference between the two. Cold-pressed juices are so much more tastier. They don't oxidize as fast as juices made from centrifugal juicers too. So you can keep the juice in your fridge for more than 24 hours and they will still taste great the next day. 

The only thing that bothers me about slow juicers is that, it is not as flexible as a blender. You won't be able to juice certain fruits and vegetables with a slow juicer. For instance.....like bananas, kiwis and other soft flesh fruits and vegetables. If they are too soft, then it's difficult to get juice out of them. Certain herbs like parsley, cilantro would be a waste to juice as they are small and don't have much juice in them. They will just end up coming out from the juicer looking like mashed fruits and vegetables. So, it will be a waste to juice them. That's when a blender comes in handy for these types of fruits and vegetables.

After much research, by Googling, YouTubing, Instagraming etc......I found out about personal blenders. A personal blender is just like the one you see in the above photo. Of course the first thing that I wanted to buy was a high powered blender like Vitamix. I've heard a lot about Vitamix. But the thing is.....it's too BIG! I kept thinking about the space I have at home and where am I going to put it. I knew that it would be wiser to just get me a personal blender for the time being just in case I didn't like how a smoothie would taste. In case I didn't want to continue making smoothies, at least I won't feel so bad, unlike if I were to spend a lot of money on a blender like the Vitamix. Yes, my friends, Vitamix is so much more expensive compared to a personal blender. Booohoooohooooo!!

BUT!!! No more tears as now that I have tried the personal blender, I am super happy about it. Believe it or not, I have to say that it is the most used electrical appliance that I have in my kitchen! I use it everyday. Worth every cent I spent on it. Before I bought this personal blender, I made sure that it is going to work if not as good as the Vitamix, at least let be good enough to blend all the fruits and vegetables to teeny tiny pieces and end up looking so smooth and liquid, so much so that I won't have trouble drinking it. THAT I MADE SURE! Because I'm not going to spend money on something that won't do a good job in making smoothies. 

The best thing about a personal blender is that it's something that you can use to blend anything you want and go off anywhere with it after the job is done. You can take it to work, to the gym or anywhere you fancy. Blend everything inside the tumbler and drink straight from it. No need to transfer your smoothie to a mug or plastic container like you would need to do if you use a normal blender. Since it's small in size, cleaning is a breeze. So convenient.

Another reason for me to like blending more is because I don't wastes anything from it. No pulp is removed from fruits and vegetables, therefore I get more fiber in my diet. I feel fuller every time I take a smoothie. I feel full for hours compared to drinking a juice. Another plus side is that I get to add other ingredients to it like milk, protein powders, nuts, dried fruits and so much more to a blender. You can never do that with a juicer. So I'll get to make more interesting drinks with a blender. It's like making a whole meal from it. If I didn't have the time to cook, then making a smoothie solves the problem.

But having said that, I must say that I do love them both. Both have their own benefits. Juicing removes all the insoluble fiber from fruits and vegetables (meaning the pulp). Although fiber is good for you, because it keeps your digestive track healthy and slows down the absorption of sugar but it also slows down the absorption of nutrients and some nutrients stays in the fiber. If I juice, it means that I extract 70% of the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables and the juice gets absorbed into my body 100% and quickly too. The nutrients get in your body fast, easy digestion but doesn't keep you full that long.

Blending fruits and vegetables means that you get both insoluble and soluble fibers in your diet. Slow release of nutrients and keeps you full longer. So basically, it's all up to me. Do what suits me for that particular time. Or do according to what I have available at hand. Some times, I don't have enough fruits or vegetables for juicing but I can use them for making smoothies instead by combining them with other ingredients. So it's all good no matter what. What's important is that I don't stop making them. Don't ever quit. :)