The Children Want Juice!

If you’ve missed the whole juicing craze, where have you been?! Thanks to the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead featuring Joe Cross on his mission to put his autoimmune disease to rest by eating/drinking nothing but juice, and in the process losing 82 pounds, juicing has taken over the world. And for good reason. Juicing is good. And I don’t just mean it’s good for you, because that is a real bonus, I mean it tastes really, really good!

So what’s the big deal, you ask? How is it different to using a blender? As Tina Pruitt explains

A juicer extracts liquid nutrition from vegetables and fruits, leaving the pulp behind. A blender purees vegetables and fruits into a drink that retains all the fiber of the produce.

Some Benefits of Juicing:

– Large consumption of vegetables.
– Fast nutrient consumption.
– Easy digestion.
– Curbs appetite.
– Great recipes!

Some Benefits of Blending:

– Great source of fiber.
– Regulated sugar absorption.
– Filling and satisfying.
– Easy to add extras supplements such as spirulina, wheatgrass or protein powders.
– Yummy recipes!

My toddler loves the fruit juices, especially ones with pineapple, which turn out so sweet. She likes to help make the greener ones, but isn’t such a fan. I encourage you to try juicing, and make it fun for your kids. Use different colored fruits and vegetables like green apples, red apples, a pineapple, oranges, add a bit of spinach or kale here and there and they won’t even taste it! Use fun glasses, add some ice and a straw, because we know kids are drawn to things that look good! My daughter hates ginger, but when she recently had a runny nose, I was determined to get it to her somehow. I simply juiced the ginger, and added a little to her drinks here and there. She was none the wiser 😉

We purchased an Omega J8006 juicer, which comes with two holders- one for juice, one for pulp. I love this machine, although my only complaint was the fact that the chute was small so you have to chop the fruit and veg up, but a friend pointed out that it meant no toddler hands making their way in. Great point! And it simply has a few pieces to quickly remove and clean, and some juicers are take so long to wash, that it can be off-putting.

I’m in the process of trying out lots of recipes to give you my favorites soon. Let us know if you have some great recipes in the comments below!