Top Up Your Fruit and Veggie Intake with Homemade Juice

How many of us eat the recommended seven to 10 servings of fruits and veggies per day? According to recent research, not enough. A 2004 Statistics Canada survey revealed that the average Canadian adult is getting 5.2 servings per day. Further, news sources report that a recent study by the Dietitians of Canada found that of more than 2,000 respondents, nearly a quarter said they had not consumed any fruits or veggies the previous day.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to load up on some of the nutrients we may be lacking: juicing. Although juicing should not be our sole source of fruits and vegetables, as we lose out on a lot of dietary fibre by not consuming the whole fruit, it is an excellent way to fill some of the gaps in our nutritional profile.

Juicing equipment
If you’ve got a juicer collecting dust in your cupboard, you’re all set. If not, don’t worry about going out and buying one; you can get excellent results by using your high-powered blender instead of a juicer. Just add the fruits and vegetables to your blender with a cup or so of water (depending on which fruits or vegetables you are using), blend, and strain through a mesh bag (often called a nut milk bag).

The leftover pulp that remains can be added to your compost (your plants will love it!), or added to muffins, loaves, and other baked goods, as well as soups, stews, and pasta sauces for an added fibre punch.

What to juice?
Don’t be shy: try a variety of combinations to find out which blends you prefer. Common juicing options include apples, beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, cranberry, cucumber, grapes, kale, oranges and other citrus fruits, pineapple, and watermelon. Also, don’t be afraid to try blends of both fruits and veggies, such as delicious apple, beet, and carrot juice.

Get juicing
If combining different produce freaks you out, the following juice recipes will have you juicing like a pro in no time.

• Wonderful Watermelon Juice
• Energy Enhancement Juice
• Immune System Booster Juice
• Blue Banana Smoothie
• Carrot Mango Delight
• Weight Loss Booster
• Ambrosia