It's been a few months since I've made the change and stopped drinking processed chemical "juice" sold by supermarkets (and everywhere else). I decided to give juicing a try and make my own juice from my favorite fruits and veggies. Before quarantine, I hosted a few people over the apartment and had to run out to get some breakfast/brunch items and one request was to pick up a bottle of orange juice.
While at the grocery store, I hit the wall of different kinds of orange "drinks". It contained popular brands like Tropicana, Minute Maid, Simply Orange, and Florida's Natural. I pulled out my phone and started quickly googling (I’m sure holding up space) what’s in these cartons. It’s all full of high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, artificial flavors/colors, sodium citrate, modified cornstarch, cellulose gum, sodium hexametaphosphate, and sodium benzoate. I'm sure I'm missing some chemicals but these are the few that are on the bottle labels. *The links above take you to sites describing the side effects of each of these chemicals.
According to Dictionary.com “juice” is: the natural fluid, fluid content, or liquid part that can be extracted from a plant or one of its parts, especially of a fruit.
I did not notice any corn syrup or artificial colors in the definition above.
In the grocery store, I stood at this wall and noticed my stomach turning at the thought of drinking nothing but dyes and chemicals. I tried my best to pick a "natural" drink or something more reliable and in the back of my mind I kept thinking "I should just buy a few bags of oranges and make juice". But there was no time and I had already kept everyone waiting so I picked minute maid (I think). I can't even remember. I rushed back so I could cook and serve at a decent time.
This experience made me think about my (and the fiancés) health, what we consume on a daily basis. Even if it's something as small as drinking juice. A small change goes a long way. I'm now getting into reading more juicing blogs and finding out all of the health benefits juicing has to offer.
I put together my top (5) juice mixtures I’ve tested so far . While creating these drinks I did not pay attention to how many fruits or vegetables were put into the drinks (my bad). I will next time but for the time being here are the mixes I enjoy.
#5 "Green-a-Loupe" (like cantaloupe)
Pear / Orange / Lemon / Lime / Green grapes / Cantaloupe
#4 "Pink Drink"
Orange / Pineapple / Green Apple / Watermelon
#3 "Veggie Combo"
Green apple / Beet / Pear / Lemon / Cucumber / Carrot / Ginger / Ginseng / Wheat grass
Note: Use very little ginger in this mix
#2 "OJC"
Orange / Carrot
#1 "Citrus Fun"
Grapefruit / Lemon / Green apple / Lime
There's my list. As you can see I'm a huge fan of grapefruit. I love it and never realized mixing apples with it would be so yummy.
All 5 juices are to die (not dye) for and are packed with nutrients. As I mentioned in my note on the Veggie Combo juice, only use a small amount of ginger for this juice. Ginger is very spicy and you don't want to ruin what you've just made.
Use glass jars to store juices and try to drink them 1-2 days after juicing the fruits and veggies.
Also, use the wheat grass in moderation. I've been told that drinking 1 or 2 ounces of wheat grass juice a day should be your limit.
Out of the top 5 juices which would you want to try? Leave a comment below.