To Juice or Not to Juice?

During our recent juicing journey, I have come to learn that you can juice just about anything… except chocolate chips, which my 3-year-old continually asks if we can “juice them” :). In talking to my friends about juicing, the question as to what you can vs. what you can’t juice always comes up. There are far more items you can juice vs. items you can’t juice.

Avoid Juicing

  • Rinds: You should always peel your oranges and grapefruits because they are bitter. If your lemons and limes are organic, you can juice those. If they are not organic, they should be peeled.
  • Bananas: These are best in the blender, in baked goods or whole. They have very little juice and it would be waste of time and produce to juice them.
  • Avocado: These have very little juice. They are best in a smoothie, salad or whole.
  • Rhubarb: Simply does not taste good.
  • Coconut: Very hard on your juicer and will not yield very much juice.
  • Okra: Very slimy and will not yield much juice.
  • Potatoes: Sweet potatoes taste good when juiced. Regular potatoes have very little nutrition and are not sweet, thus it is best to avoid juicing these.
  • Mushrooms: Will not yield any juice.
  • Mustard Greens: Bitter and strong. They will yield juice, but are not enjoyable at all. Other leafy greens taste much better and provide as much, if not more, nutrition.
  • Edamame or Soybeans: Will not yield any juice.
  • Leeks: Very pungent. Best used when cooking.

* Avoid juicing anything that is not organic. It is better to not juice at all than to juice vegetables that are non-organic. When you juice, the contents hit your bloodstream within 15 minutes — juicing non-organic is like giving yourself an injection of pesticides and herbicides.

Fruits to Juice in Raw Form

Apple Melon
Blackberry Orange
Blueberry Peach
Cantaloupe Pear
Cranberry Pineapple
Grape Plum
Grapefruit Pomegranate
Lemon Raspberry
Lime Strawberry
Kiwi Tomato
Mango Watermelon

Vegetables to Juice in Raw Form

Arugula & Asparagus Carrot Lettuce
Beets Cayenne Pepper Onion
Belgian Endive Celery Parsnip
Bell Pepper Collard Greens Spinach
Bok Choy Cucumber Sweet Potato
Broccoli & Cauliflower Jalepeno Pepper Swiss Chard
Cabbage Kale & Fennel Watercress

Herbs to Juice in Raw Form

Basil Garlic
Cilantro Ginger
Dandelion Mint
Dill Parsley
Fennel Tumeric

* You can also juice wheatgrass, which is considered a plant.

FruitJuice

– “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates

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