Make juice at home: try our easy juice recipes for drinks low in sugar and high in flavor

Natural Health, June, 2008 by Stacey Brugeman

AT RECENT vegan brunch, we sampled an unexpected delight: fresh-squeezed tangerine juice in a light-orange etched vintage glass. Frothy and sweet, it was an unusual and heavenly way to start the morning--and it got us thinking. Could homemade juices be a fun and easy way to get our daily servings of fruits and vegetables? We decided to find out.

TIP 1: Buy organic fruits The healthiest and best-tasting ingredients are those grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

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Are you eating enough fruit?

Exactly how many servings of fruit and veggies do we need? According to Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D., R.D., president and CEO of Produce for Better Health Foundation, roughly half of everything we put in our mouths should be fruits and vegetables--the USDA recommends seven daily servings.

Is juice as nutritious as fruit?

A typical eight-ounce serving of fresh-squeezed orange juice contains the vitamin C and potassium of four oranges. But that same amount also supplies all the sugar in those four oranges (24 grams) without the dietary fiber (lost in the juicing process) you need to keep the digestive system in top condition.

JUICING MACHINES

A blender is sufficient for making smoothies, and a manual juicer will eventually yield fresh-squeezed orange juice. But if you're serious about shredding, grinding, and pulverizing fresh produce, consider getting a juice extractor, which will squeeze out nutrient-dense juice while leaving skin, seeds, and other fibers behind. Extractors fall into two main categories:

* CENTRIFUGAL JUICERS shred fruits and vegetables while forcing their juice out of the sides of a spinning basket. Easy to use, they are reliable for fruits and soft vegetables and most are powerful enough to handle hard vegetables. Look for the Breville Juice Fountain Elite ($300; williams-sonoma.com).

* MASTICATING JUICERS have slowly rotating blades or gears to chew and grind food into a pulp, which is then pushed through a fine screen to extract the juice--and preserve the pulp if you want to add it back into the juice. They are ideal if you plan to juice tough, fibrous vegetables like wheatgrass. Look for the Champion Household 2000 Juicer ($230; cooking.com).

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How much juice can I drink?

Six ounces of 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice (no added sweeteners and minimal added water) count as one serving of produce. Because of the high sugar content of oranges, grapes, and apples, the USDA recommends you get only three of your seven daily produce servings from fruit. Drink between eight and 12 ounces of fruit juice per day--and more of vegetable juice--as long as it's not your sole source of fresh produce and is balanced with foods that provide fiber.

What should I juice?

Once you're ready to experiment, you'll want to know the best produce for juicing. A good resource is Pat Crocker's The Juicing Bible (Robert Rose, 2008) which covers the health benefits of juicing everything from acai berries to licorice root. Crocker gave us a list of the seven most critical ingredients for a healthy juicing pantry, most of which are vegetables (to maximize your intake of vitamins and minerals and minimize sugar), and feature a wide variety of colors--an indication of nutrient diversity. (See "Top Juicing Fruits & Veggies" at right.)

How do I keep the sugar low?

With guidance from experts like Pivonka and Crocker, we whipped up a few juices that use seasonal fruits like blackberries and honeydews, and vegetables like carrots and ginger. And except for a spritz or two of sparkling water, our recipes use 100 percent juice, with extra sweetness, where necessary, supplied by fresh apples. (If you're pressed for time and looking for high-quality store-bought juices, see "Best in Store" on page 48.)

Honeydew Juice

Yields: One 8-ounce glass

Melons are effortless to juice:
just toss them in with the rind
and seeds intact. This drink,
spiked with a hint of mint and
lime, is a different and healthy
way (honeydews are high in
vitamin C and potassium) to
start the day.

1/4 honeydew melon, cut into
    chunks
  3 stalks fresh mint
  1 lime wedge

1. Juice melon, mint, and lime.
Pour into juice glass and serve.

Per serving: 93 calories, 0.4 g fat
(0.1 g saturated), 23 g carbohydrates,
1.4 g protein, o g fiber, 46
mg sodium (2% Daily Value).

Carrot Cocktail

Yields: One 8-ounce glass

Carrots and ginger are potent
juicing ingredients. Enjoy this
pleasantly spicy drink as a
late-afternoon or pre-dinner
pick-me-up.

  3 medium to large
    carrots, tops and root
    ends trimmed
1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger
  1 McIntosh or other juicy
    eating apple, cut into
    quarters

1. Juice carrots, ginger, and
apple. Pour into an 8-oz. glass
and serve.

Per serving: 107 calories, o g fat
(o g saturated), 24 g carbohydrates,
2 g protein, o g fiber, 135
mg sodium (6% Daily Value).

Blackberry Lemonade

Yields: One 16-ounce glass

While blackberries are not the
best for juicing (their delicate
juice sacs end up with the pulp
instead of in the glass), their
antioxidant value, color, and
flavor make up for it. You can
juice a lemon with the peel on,
but wash it well since most
lemons are treated with a coat
Of wax.

  1 cup blackberries
1/2 lemon
  1 Fuji or other sweet juicy
    eating apple, cut into
    quarters
    Ice cubes (about 3/4 of
    glass)
    Sparkling water (just
    enough to top off glass)

1. In a juicer, juice blackberries,
lemon, and apple.

2. Pour mixture into a highball
or cooler glass. Add a handful
of ice and top with sparkling
water. Stir and serve.

Per serving: 113 calories, 1 g fat
(o g saturated), 28 g carbohydrates,
2 g protein, o g fiber, 6
mg sodium (<1% Daily Value).