Juicing Tips and Information

The best fruits and vegetables you can use for juicing are those organically grown. Even though organic food is usually more expensive as compared to the conventionally grown foods, the difference in health benefits and quality is largely on the side of the former. If organically grown produce is not available at a give time, make sure you remove the skin of the fruits and vegetables prior to juicing them.

Wash your fruits and greens thoroughly before juicing. If you see any imperfections or moldy and otherwise damaged parts, remove them from the rest.

Oranges and grapefruits should be juiced without the skins. Orange peel is not toxic by itself, but, due to heavy spraying with pesticides, if you eat them in large quantities, you might have problems. Unless you are 100 percent sure you have certified organic oranges, it is better to play safe and remove the peel. The same holds also for the fruits imported from the tropical areas of the world (tropical fruits), for example kiwis.

Although the skin of a number of fruits (including lemons) can be left on, I still prefer to remove it if I am not sure about the origin of the produce.

The skin of mangos and papayas contains irritating substance. You should peel them too.

Eating the white part of the orange (the pith) is considered healthy. It has been shown that this component has some antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. That is why you should leave on the white pith while juicing your oranges.

Lemon, melon and grape seeds are generally considered safe, so you need not separate them before preparing your juices. In fact, lemon seed contains a small amount of salicyclic acid  - the main ingredient of Aspirin.

Apple seeds, however, should be removed. They contain traces of cyanogenic acids (strong poison), so try not to put them in your juicer. If the seed is swallowed without chewing, the seed coating can protect us from the toxic substances contained within the core. If chewed or juiced, the toxin is released, but the dose of toxic substances in one apple is relatively small, so the body can easily detoxify it, but it can cause serious problems with young children. So, it is always a good idea to remove the apple seeds entirely.

To all stone fruits you should remove the pits before juicing. These include plums, cherries, mangos, peaches, apricots and other fruits that contain pits.   

If possible drink the extracted juice right away. That is the best possible practice if you want to get the full range of nutritive values from the juice. If you absolutely have to, you can store your juice in a refrigerator for a limited period of time - up to 24 hours. Yes, the juice will loose some of its potency, but you will still get some nutritive benefits from it. 

Happy Juicing!