Juicing Tips & Tricks

Happy New Year! January is the time of year that I start juicing because I am not in the building phase of my training program. When you are in your building phase it is important that you get the right about of macro nutrients (carbs, protein & fat) this won't be achieved if you are juicing. Juicing can be beneficial to help detox from all of the sport nutritional supplements taken during training. It doesn't have to be a juice only diet, since I need lots of energy during the day I only incorporate it in the morning. Every day for a week start the day with a large juice. Juice is light on the digestive system and gives your body instant access to micro-nutrients that your body needs to be replaced after a year of training.

Tips and Tricks for Juicing:

1. Pre-wash and cut up all the fruit and vegetables into bit sized pieces so they are ready to go into your juice machine. Scrub the food well to remove bacteria, dirt and bugs.

2. Store the fruit and vegetables combinations into individual zip lock bags or containers so that they are ready to grab for your juice cocktail, this will help save time when life gets busy. It will also make your juicing experience more enjoyable.

3. Drink your juice as soon as you can to get the most amount of nutrients When I am in high volume training I like to make a double batch and store juice in an airtight container. This way I don't have to juice and clean-up two days in a row. Be sure to drink your juice within 24 hours for optimal nutrients.

4. Combine more than one fruit or vegetable. Have fun when making your juice by including different vegetables and fruits this will increase the nutrient content of your drink.

5. Try and keep juice 20% fruit and 80% vegetables. Fruit goes a long way so there is no need to add lots of fruits, this will help keep sugar down to a minimum.

6. Place a plastic bag in the pulp catcher. One less item to clean up = More time to workout and recover!

Enjoy!

Julie Sparkes