Want to know more about juicing? Then this is the guide for you. All your questions answered along with ideas on what to juice and juicer recommendations.

Juicing, what's it all about?

There's a lot of information out there about juicing, Some good and some bad, but as a lover of juices and smoothies I wanted to share a beginners guide to juicing. 

I will only talk about my experiences with juicing and the juicers I use.

I use Froothie Optimum juicers (disclosure, I work with them after trying and loving their blenders). 

I've had cheaper machines in the past and they were useless to use and useless to clean. I gave up on them.

Carry on down to find out the answers to your questions and check out my guide to what to juice and what to avoid.

A Beginners Guide to Juicing

1. Should I drink juices and smoothies?

Yes definitely. 

They will help you top up your ten a day (yes scientists now say we should be aiming for ten portions of fruit and veg a day and not five) and are great for adding extra nutrients and antioxidants to your diet. 

The green mango and spinach smoothie above makes a great start to the day.

2. I buy a bottle of juice when I buy my lunchtime sandwich. Is it good for me?

Well it's better than fizzy juice, but sometimes not much better. 

Often they can have a lot of sugar, additives and preservatives in them. 

It's much better to make your own juice or if you are out and about stop at a juice bar, where they juice the fruit and vegetables in front of you.

3. Aren't fresh juices full of sugar too?

Fruit certainly is, although it will always be a better option than processed foods full of sugar. 

The secret is to balance your smoothies and juices with a mixture of fruit and vegetables. The more vegetables the better. Check out this melon, spinach and avocado smoothie.

4. Isn't eating whole veg better for you?

Of course eating fresh vegetables is a healthy option for your diet, but juicing supplements your diet and provides you with lots of extra vitamins and minerals. 

See juicing as an added extra to your meals.

5. But will I get any fibre from fresh juice?

Fibre is important to help food move through your digestive system. 

When you blend juice in a blender the fibre is still there in the pulp of the juice, but when you juice you only get soluble fibre. 

Lets face it juice doesn't need to be broken down in your body anyway it's a liquid and easily digested, so that's that covered.

6. What happens to the pulp, is it wasted?

You can throw the pulp away or you could keep the pulp and add it into smoothies, soups, stews, pesto and sauces for extra fibre and nutrients.

7. Is there anyone who shouldn't juice?

Pregnant women and diabetics should check with their doctor or nurse before juicing. 

If pregnant women are juicing it as an extra energy boost and still eating a varied diet they should be fine, but they should never go on a juice diet while pregnant. Do check first.

Diabetics need to be careful as fruits contain a high amount of natural sugar. Do consult a doctor first if you are diabetic.

Better to be safe than sorry!

8. Why does juice turn brown?

If juice has turned brown it has oxidised and lost all the nutrients. Juices are best served fresh.

You can juice in the evening for the morning and pop it in an airtight container in the fridge if you have a cold-press juicer which retains the nutrients for longer.

Or if you have a vacuum blender like the Froothie Vac 2, which removes the air from the juice, removing oxidation and keeping the nutrients for longer, you can juice ahead (well blend ahead) and store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Now we've gotten that out the way I can give you some juicing tips to get you started.

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What can I juice?

Fruit

Apples, blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, grapes, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, melon, oranges, passion fruit, pears, pineapple, raspberries, starfruit, strawberries and watermelon.

Vegetables

Asparagus, beetroot (not pickled, ugh), broccoli, carrots, celery, courgette, cucumber, fennel, fresh ginger, kale, lettuce, onion, parsnip, peas, peppers, spinach, squash, sweet potato, tomatoes and watercress.

I may have missed some fruit and vegetables out of that list, but it's a good place to start and I hope it helps. 

 What should I not juice?

You can juice pretty much any fruit or vegetable, but can I start by telling you what YOU CAN'T OR SHOULDN'T JUICE. 

1. You can't juice bananas, avocado, figs. You just won't get any juice out of them. Stick to blending these.
2. You might want to skip juicing leeks, turnip and aubergine. They don't taste good, seriously!
3. You probably won't get much juice out of these fruits unless you catch them at the right moment. Peaches, nectarines and mangoes. Also rhubarb will be tough on your juicer and yield little juice.

JUICERS

What kind of juicer should I buy?

Spend less?

You don't always need to spend the most money in life for the best results. 

For instance when you are grocery shopping avoiding big brands is a good ideas as you can buy a good quality product at a lower price from the supermarket's budget brand.

Can you spend less on a juicer?

NO. Unfortunately this is not true with juicers. 

A juicer is an investment and a good quality one will last a long time, have more power (and usually extract more juice too) and be easier to take apart and clean.

You really get what you pay for and I know from personal experience lower prices juicers are not worth the money. 

They are hard to use, don't extract a lot of juice, are awful when it comes to taking them apart and don't mention trying to clean them. They will quickly end up at the back of our cupboard unused.

Spend as much as you can on a powerful and high quality juicer

Spend as much as you can afford and save if you have to. It's really worth the extra money to buy a powerful beat of a juicer. 

It will last longer, juice better and become a daily part of your routine. Helping to improve your overall health.

I'm going to introduce you to 2 powerful juicers (and a powerful travel blender) in three different price ranges.

One is a no-clean juicers with re-usable bags, then there is is a wide mouth cold press juicer where you can add whole fruit and veg to save a lot of chopping.

I have also included a lower cost powerful travel blender, if your budget won't stretch to one of the big boys of juicing.

EVOLVE SLOW JUICER

The Evolve Slow Juicer is a cold press juicer that gets much more juice out of fruit and vegetables.

It's easy to take apart and the way the filter is made means it's super easy to clean under running water. I've experienced other juicers over the years and cleaning is always a problem.

It's such a relief to be able to clean this one so easily. 

The Evolve Slow Juicer is £399, but you can spread the cost interest free to make it easier to afford. 

It comes with a 5 year warranty, but because I work with Froothie, you can have an extra 2 years free worth £45 taking you to 7 years warranty if you click on my Evolve Slow Juicer link and buy.

OPTIMUM 9200a POWER BLENDER

Another option is to buy a blender instead of a juicer. You can do so much more than juices with a blender.

This is the blender that sits on my kitchen unit. It's the work horse in my kitchen. 

I make smoothies with it, but I also use it to make hummus, pesto, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, pate, burger mix, falafel mix, soup, ice cream, custard, chocolate mousse,peanut butter, homemade nutella and so many more recipes.

It is one of the most powerful blenders on the market at a cheaper price that it's competitors. 

It's nearly half the price of a Vitamix.

Why choose this blender?

Optimum 9200a

• It's powerful (can happily grind ice and vegetables to a smooth finish).
• The jug is BPA free.
• It's easy to use with 3 preset functions.
• 6 blade assembly for a smoother blend.
• Easy to clean, just add some boiling water from the kettle, a few drops of washing liquid and whizz. It self-cleans. Just wipe the outside of the jug and the stand with a damp cloth.

It's reduced from £449 down to £279 and you can spread the payments interest free to make it easier to afford.

It comes with a 5 year warranty, but because I work with Froothie, you can have an extra 2 years free worth £45 taking you to 7 years warranty if you click on my Optimum 9200a link and buy. It really gives you peace of mind.

It will last for years.

LOOKING FOR A LOWER PRICED OR SMALLER BLENDER?

NUTRI FORCE BLENDER

This small blender is used a lot in my kitchen and it's the one my mum has in her kitchen.

The Nutri Force Juicer is like a wee baby travel blender that is fab for travel or a small kitchen.

I use it for smaller portions, but it's still powerful enough to take on most jobs. My mum uses it for smoothies, milkshakes and to blend her soup.

It's great if you are visiting family or travelling as it's small enough and light enough to take with you.

It has two different sized jugs and a grinder blade too, so it's great for smoothies and things like grinding coffee or spices and making pesto, hummus and nut butter.

At a fraction of the cost of the big power blenders, it's a great starter machine and good as a gift.

The Nutri Force blender comes in at £199, but is on sale at £99.

Nutri Force Travel Blender

I use this one a lot in my kitchen for thicker smoothies like my ultimate chocolate green smoothie, sauces (try my whizz bang pizza sauce) pesto (try my spinach and lemon pesto),  hummus (try my easy hummus recipe) and sin-free chocolate mousse (which I made last night). 

It's a handy bit of kit and nice and small so it doesn't take up a lot of room. 

The photo above is one of the pasta sauces I whizz up in this blender. 

It's a red pepper and olive pasta sauce you can whizz up while the pasta is cooking. Just gorgeous!

I hope this guide has answered some of your questions and inspired you to try out juicing. 

Disclosure: I love Froothie products and approached them to be an ambassador for them. I wouldn't recommend the machines if I didn't love them. Froothie do not require me to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.