Kids love making them, and if you make it yourself, you can be sure it’ll be miles cheaper and healthier than any shop bought brand.
We all need a good daily dose to maintain a healthy gut, but more importantly, fibre also helps to regulate blood sugar levels. Lots of people wonder what the difference between juices and smoothies is? Both are beneficial in different ways. Juicing is an excellent way of consuming far more fruits and vegetables than we would typically eat. The process of juicing strips most of the fruit and vegetables natural fibre, leaving all the remaining nutrients immediately available and easier for the body to absorb, than if you’d eaten them whole. Smoothies retain their fibre, this helps slow down the digestive process and produces a slower, steadier release of nutrients and sugar to the body, keeping blood sugar levels more even.
So when I’m juicing, I always think about what foods I’m going to be eating with it and try to make sure they’re packed with fibre.
For example; at breakfast think oats or wholemeal bread, as these not only provide fibre, but they also help to stabilise blood sugar levels.
Green juices are a perfect choice, as green vegetables combine well with fruit and have lower levels of natural sugars than PURE FRUIT juices.
Babies under six months old shouldn’t have fruit juice. Diluted fruit juice (50% juice to 50% water, or a higher proportion of water if your child is thirsty) can be given to children with their meals after six months, but I’d wait till their at least 1 yrs. Pure unsweetened fruit juices can be a good source of vitamins but do contain natural sugar. Fruit juices are also acidic, and acidic drinks can quickly damage your child’s teeth.
Get the kids involved; juicing is pretty safe, but keep a close eye on them. Let them choose a recipe, pick out the produce in the shop, you do all the chopping and then they can feed the chunks into the juicer.
Start with pure fruit juices before slowing upgrading to fruit and veg mixers. It’s a great way to get their little taste buds used to different flavours.
Eating in season means cheaper, fresher and tastier produce.
One juice or smoothie a day is enough, and don’t forget lots of water.
Serve juice cold from the fridge or throw in a couple of ice cubes.
Jazz it up. We all like colourful and playful drinks, so get some funky jars and colourful straws to top off your new creations.
GOOD TO KNOW
Almost all shop bought processed juice are pasteurised. By heating it up to kill all the potentially harmful bacteria that might be there, the pasteurisation process also, unfortunately, can destroy some vitamins and enzymes, meaning it’s not quite as healthy as it was ‘raw.’
Shop bought juices can also contain preservatives such as citric acid, some even have extra sugar and colouring added to them. Whilst concentrated juices have extra water added to them, as most of the fruits original water content is removed when it’s pressed.
