The Basics of Juicing

The Joy of Juicing: Creative Cooking With Your Juicer
by Gary Null, Ph.D., Shelly Null

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You need just two basic tools for juice and shake preparation — a quality centrifugal juicer and a workhorse blender. With an average investment of about $350, you will be set for all your juicing joys. There are a number of good juicers on the market, but make sure to pick one that has a stable motor and low heat generation. If the juicer overheats, it can kill vital enzymes and decrease the digestive value of the preparations. The stability of the mechanism is more important than the number of r.p.m.s (revolutions per minute) the juicer boasts. The more efficiently pulp can be shredded and ejected from the unit, the less possibility there is of clogging and overheating. Also, choose a juicer that you can confidently clean with ease on a daily basis. If the thought of cleaning each time prevents you from using it, you'll never juice!

A workhorse blender can be any name brand that has a good warrantee policy because, if you take my advice, which I hope you will, you'll use this unit often enough to take advantage of it. Always have a back-up blender or at least a back-up pitcher in case of breakage. Despite the fact that they can break if dropped, I still prefer the glass blender pitchers because they are stronger and easier to clean than the plastic models.

I recommend you try to purchase produce in four-day intervals to allow adequate time for ripening. Always choose organic fruits and vegetables. Because I believe in using the whole food, most of the recipes in this book allow for the peel and skin to remain on the fruits and vegetables when pushing them through the juicer, unless noted otherwise. Much of the nutritional value from most fruits and vegetables exists in the outer layer. A few exceptions are pineapples, watermelon, cantaloupe, papayas, bananas, and mangoes. In most cases, unless specified otherwise, even the seeds should be juiced.

Fruits and vegetables can all be pushed through in one session. Run the drier fruits and vegetables through first and the juicier ones last. This process will allow the juice to flush away pulp that may have accumulated on the centrifugal screen.

If you have a high-quality juicer that ejects the pulp efficiently, you can even juice wheatgrass. You can purchase trays or blocks of wheatgrass, which can be harvested by cutting the blades down to the root. Take the harvested blades and squeeze them into a ball with your hands. When the grass is concentrated in this way, the juicer can easily grab on to the material and process the wheatgrass into juice. You will actually get a more nutritious juice by this method in comparison to a wheatgrass press because with the centrifugal method more of the cellulose and chlorophyll are removed, leaving you with a concentrated liquid. This liquid can then be watered down to taste. Remember, in order to juice wheatgrass with the centrifugal method, you must have a very stable high-pulp ejection unit. These units currently average $350.

Gary Null's Natural-Living Weight-Loss Tips

Stop being a couch potato. Start being more active. Exert more energy — use the stairs more, walk farther and for longer periods of time, and participate in more sports. Gradually establish a regular exercise routine involving running, cycling, or another aerobic activty.

Stop procrastinating. Start getting things done. Finishing things that you have been putting off will make you feel better about yourself and help keep your mind off food. Take up a cause, hobby, project, or even a new romance that renews your interest in life and makes you want to get up in the morning.

Stop being passive. Start taking charge of your life. Using food for comfort and reward is inappropriate, and soothing your sorrows and frustrations with fattening foods may actually deepen your depression. Instead of overeating, analyze what is bothering you, and take steps to eliminate the problem.

Stop punishing yourself with food. Start accepting yourself for what you are. Food is generally thought of as being pleasurable, but you might subconsciously be using food to punish yourself. Secretly, you may believe that you don't deserve to be pretty, popular, happy, or healthy. Stop being so hard on yourself, and start loving who you really are.

Stop setting idealistic long-term goals that are difficult to achieve. Start setting realistic short-term goals that you can reach. Whether the long-term goal is losing 10 pounds in one month or losing 100 pounds in one year, you are sure to run into temporary plateaus and disappointments — disappointments that could discourage you from continuing your efforts. It is better to set goals day by day or week by week. Then, if you make a mistake, you can forget it and move on to the next goal.

Stop isolating yourself. Start seeing people. Seeing people will help get your mind off food and end the depressing isolation you may impose on yourself when you feel fat and unattractive. Don't think you have to go it alone. If necessary, get help from a counselor or support group.

Stop thinking of yourself as dieting, starving, or deprived. Start realizing that you are permanently changing your life for the better. Generally, diets do not work. Most people regain lost weight in a dangerous diet yo-yo syndrome. Accept the fact that the healthy dietary changes you are making are permanent.

Stop putting food at the center of your life. Start expanding your life in new areas. Minimize the role of food in your social life. Join friends for sports or a movie rather than lunch. Find pleasurable activities other than meals to share with your family.

Stop thinking that you have to eat when and what the people around you are eating. Start eating only when you should eat and only what is good for you. If the three square meals a day your family eats are causing you unnecessary weight gain, don't eat them, even if it means not eating with or cooking for your family. You may need six small snacks a day to avoid the hunger pangs that sometimes plague meal-stretched stomachs.

Stop eating fats, animal products, and "empty calories" (sugar, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, etc.). Start eating more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Losing weight has less to do with counting calories than with eating right. Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains not only help you lose weight, but also make you healthier because of their high vitamin, mineral, and fiber contents.

© May 2001, Avery books, used by permission.

About the Author

Gary Null, Ph.D., is a host of the nationally syndicated television show "Gary Null's Natural Living", and the nationally syndicated radio program "The Gary Null Show." He is the author of numerous bestselling books, including Gary Null's Ultimate Lifetime Diet and Gary Null's Ultimate Anti-Aging Program. He divides his time between New York and Naples, Florida.

Shelly Null is a chef and author of Healthy Cooking for Kids and Vegeterian Cooking for Good Health. She lives in New York.