From Seed to Self: The Benefits of Juicing
Our second post in the From Seed to Self campaign is Julie Vaden of Juicing Couture and Healthier by the Minute!
Meet Julie:
If I could choose one word to suit me that would be Passionate! I love bright colors, big earrings and hats! In general, I love life and want to live it to its fullest!
I have my B.A. In Business Management though I have had the fortunate opportunity to experience the nonstop adventure of staying home to raise two kids. I have always had passion for living a healthy lifestyle and helping others. Meeting people where they are is key and hosting juicing workshops provides others the chance to make the connection between what we put into our bodies and our sense of over all well being. I serve as a Marketing Manager and Contributing Editor for MomaZine, a local online magazine. I write for the Tasty Thursday column, where I post a different recipe each week along with other articles on various topics.
Some of my favorite things include traveling, dancing, meeting people from all walks of life, catching up with friends, enjoying the great outdoors!
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Summer is here and school is out--let the good times begin!
If you’ve ever wanted to start juicing, summertime is a perfect reason to start. So many wonderful fruits and veggies are in season and you don’t have the hustle and bustle of the school schedule and numerous activities! The recipe I prepared was made with my cold press juicer, the Bella Nutripro. The Bella NutriPro does not use high rpms to extract the juice. Cold press juicing basically means the juice is “squeezed” out, some pulp will remain in the juice and the juice will not be “heated” . There are no fast spinning blades, just a single pressing auger to get every bit of nutrient extracted from your fruits and veggies. This auger system makes the NutriPro a perfect candidate to juice wheatgrass and leafy greens such as spinach, kale or Swiss chard. You will have little bits of pulp in the juice but you can use a nut milk bag or fine mesh sieve to strain the juice.
Today’s juice creation is called The Green Scene. It is rich in Vitamins A and C. Niacin is also a benefit of consuming zucchini and Swiss chard. Niacin promotes skin health as well as a healthy digestive system and nervous system. Adding the berries to this juice gives you the benefit of antioxidants which aid in cancer prevention. Feel free to substitute blueberries for the strawberries!
Kick your summer off and get your juicers flowin’!
The Green Scene
Tip: Wash all your fruits and veggies using a 1:3 vinegar/water cleaner. I keep mine in a spray bottle under my sink so I always have it ready. This combination kills all of the bacteria from your food naturally and without scrubbing.
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 8 strawberries (you can leave the hulls on as they are greens and have nutrients as well)
- 4-6 Swiss Chard leaves
- 2 apples, sliced
Thanks, Julie for the delicious recipe and information!
I personally have been using the Bella NutriPro since February and love it. It is more work having to actually cut the fruits and veggies up, but the additional vitamins and enzymes you get using a cold press makes it worth it. If I'm going to go through the work of juicing, I want the full benefits!Even though, I use my Ninja to make smoothies, there is no comparison between a smoothie and juicing. Because a smoothie is blended foods, it still goes through the digestive system, where stomach acids, etc kill a lot of the nutrients. Whereas, juicing, especially with a cold press, is absorbed into your bloodstream immediately. I've been making smoothies for a long time and love them but really never noticed a difference in how I felt. But after just one month of juicing, I felt a huge difference. I wasn't as tired and I just felt healthier overall.
Juicers vs. Blenders from NutriPro Juicers:
"Most Americans don’t eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables, so consuming them in liquid form is a quick, easy way to meet your healthy daily needs. Both blenders and juicers serve up nutrition in a glass, but the types of beverages they produce are very different.Blenders pulverize the entire fruit or vegetable into a thick drink known as a smoothie, which contains the fiber from the pulp as well as the juice. In contrast, cold press juicers, like the BELLA NutriPro Juicer, extract only the nutrient-dense liquid.According to certified holistic health coach and raw foods chef Laurie Erdman, while our bodies do need fiber for a healthy digestive system, the advantage of cold press juicing is that ounce for ounce it yields more concentrated nutrients and enzymes—the fragile proteins that support nearly every body function—that your body can quickly absorb. Fiber can block the absorption of those healthy compounds, slowing digestion.If you drink a cold press juice you’ll get a bigger jolt of energy than you would from a smoothie, since your body doesn’t have to work to separate the nutrients from the fiber. As a result, Erdman believes, juice from the cold press juicers like the NutriPro has a cleansing, detoxifying effect on the body.Nutrients and enzymes are also sensitive to friction and temperature. Because the NutriPro doesn’t have blades or heat up to operate like a blender does, the cellular structure of the produce you juice is not compromised. Cold press juicing allows you to quickly and easily ingest all of the healthy nutrients available in your favorite raw fruits and vegetables."
As you go, you'll figure out what works for you. What I do, is chop up all my fruits and veggies on Monday and stick them in separate plastic containers in the fridge. This way, I don't have to spend the time chopping every morning. I just take out the containers and stick them in the juicer. This makes a huge difference for me on whether or not we have fresh juice for the day! There are several cold press juicers on the market. Top of the line is the Norwalk, followed by the Champion, but you are going to pay a lot more for those two brands. If you're using the Gerson Therapy or juicing for any sort of treatment, using one of those two are vital. However, if you're juicing to simply live healthier and are not trying to cure any sort of disease, I really believe your best bet is the Bella NutriPro. It's affordable, easy to clean and gives you all the benefits of a cold press juicer.
My only complaint with it is sometimes the harder veggies will jam if they're not cut small enough, but you just hit the reverse button to get it flowing again. This doesn't happen often, and it is recommended to alternate using hard veggies, soft veggies, to keep this from happening but it can be a little annoying.The Bella NutriPro usually sells for $249.00, but is on sale right now for $199.99! That really is a great deal. You can also opt to do 5 monthly payments of $39.99. We invest in our lives in so many other ways, we need to also be investing in our health and for $200, you can't beat it. It comes with two measuring cups that fit onto the front and side of the juicer, a fine mesh sieve, cleaning brush, travel mug (see photo below),recipe book and more!
Orthodox Christian Parenting book from Zoe Press & Green Scene Juice
Some people worry about the costs of juicing, and as someone on a budget every month, I can say that it did take some re-arranging. We had to cut out a lot of the "extras" we picked up from the supermarket in order to pick up more organic fruits and vegetables. But this ended up working out even better than I planned because not only did I realize how many of those "extras" were unhealthy, it made me look for better deals on fresh organic foods. Which, ultimately made me start shopping even more at local farms and farmer's markets. Also, Publix brings a huge 25# bag of organic juicing carrots for only $14.99! And Trader Joe's always has organic apples for a great price.
Bottom line is, yes, I'm not going to lie. Juicing takes a bit of work in the beginning. But if you want healthier lifestyles for you and your family, this is really a huge step in the right direction and is totally worth it. I drink my carrot, apple, pineapple, lemon, celery juice almost every day! I'll post the recipe for that at the end of this series when I share some of my favorite healthy products for this summer!To learn more about the Bella NutriPro, click here. Also, check out the Gerson Guide to Juicers for more information on the benefits of cold press juicing.Stay tuned for our next healthy living post! **Winner of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Pack is Donna (comment number 13)! Please email your shipping address to me at Sylvia{at}OrthodoxMom{dot}com!