Organic juice - Why prepare your own organic juice?

Making your own juice from fresh organic ingredients has to be one of the healthiest lifestyle decisions anyone can make. I’ve been making fresh juice for about 20 years now. Initially, I started my routine morning juicing ritual as a means of ensuring my two children, who weren’t great eaters at the time, had access to the all-important vitamin and mineral nutrition contained in organically-reared plant matter. Although the eating habits of my children are no longer the primary motivation for the time I spend each morning preparing fresh juice, there are still some wonderful benefits that encourage me to continue making and enjoying fresh organic juice.

For those of you who’ve never made fresh juice I invite you to consider the many benefits that regular consumption of juice made from fresh organic vegetables and fruit might bring to your life.

Perhaps the starting point for anyone considering juicing as a means of achieving optimal health is to ask why conventionally-reared vegetables and fruits are best avoided. The answer is simple. Given that many of the important vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, which we aim to extract during the juicing process, reside either within or just below the skin surface of many vegetable and fruit varieties, and in view of the fact that conventionally-reared produce is routinely sprayed with significant quantities of chemical pesticides, starting with premium grade organic produce has the capacity to prevent you from consuming unwanted and potentially carcinogenic pesticides.

To obtain adequate vitamin and mineral intake - I’ve never been overly fond of vitamin and mineral supplements delivered in a pill or tablet form. While there are valid reasons why some people should, in consultation with an appropriately qualified medical professional, consider oral dietary supplements as a means of ensuring adequate nutritional intake, most of us should be looking to obtain our requirements from sources that are as natural as possible.

Freshly squeezed juice provides the body with a rich source of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. This is well documented. Because vitamins, minerals and enzymes delivered in the form of raw juice require very little breaking down in the digestive tract they are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream. Combine this with the fact that many recent studies have found organic vegetables and fruit to contain higher vitamin and antioxidant levels than conventional produce and the reasons for incorporating organic juicing into your lifestyle become fairly compelling.

To increase your energy levels – One of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome when I commenced regular juicing was my husband. Like many men of his generation, he was sceptical, dismissive and at times downright rude about my decision to incorporate regular juicing into our lifestyle. It’s interesting how times change. These days, more often than not, it is my husband, John, who espouses the benefits of consuming fresh organic juice.

John was raised on a beef cattle property. When we first met, his idea of a balanced meal was to include an additional serve of fried potatoes with his 800-gram rump steak. Although the thought of a breakfast comprising of a selection of freshly prepared raw organic juice didn’t sit easily with him at first, it is perhaps John who has benefited more than anyone else in my family as a result of our switch to a lifestyle emphasising raw organic juicing.

After a relatively short period of time consuming the raw juices that I prepared, John lost weight, became more active, developed healthier skin, nails and hair, and generally felt better than he had at any other stage in his life. While admittedly the increased energy levels John enjoyed following our switch to a lifestyle emphasising organic juice are anecdotal, the rationale underpinning John’s increased energy levels is anything but anecdotal. According to our General Practitioner, it’s highly likely that, as a result of John being overweight and having misused alcohol for a number of years his liver was no longer functioning optimally. By switching to a lifestyle incorporating fresh organic juice, John’s liver was better able to remove toxins from his body, process food nutrients more efficiently and regulate his metabolism. Not surprisingly, this made him feel much better.

To prevent disease - Apart from providing an overall boost to your immune system, fresh raw juice consumption can play an important role in preventing many cancers and other life threatening illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. It’s widely recognised that a diet high in soluble fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals - sourced primarily from plant material - provides the optimum platform for protecting the body against many forms of degenerative illness.

To treat minor ailments – Many fruit and vegetable juices have therapeutic properties. These can be used to treat and assist in the prevention of minor health concerns. Although I strongly encourage you to seek appropriate medical advice, by preparing specific fruit, vegetable and herb combinations, it’s possible to address many of the more common health concerns, including irritable bowel syndrome, acne, arthritis, headaches, sinusitis, and insomnia.

Whether you’re new to juice making or someone who has been making juice for many years, I hope you’ll find this series on organic juice making entertaining and informative.