5 Healthy Sipping Secrets from The Juice Generation

These "juicy tips" from The Juice Generation's new book The Juice Generation: 100 Recipes for Fresh Juices and Superfood Smoothies by Eric Helms with Amely Greeven are some of my favorites from the new guide to all things juicing and blending. The book is loaded with recipes and ideas that will help boost your health, make juicing easier and add a shot of delicousness to your life (trust me, all tasting betterthan that morning shot of apple cider vinegar you started taking).


1. Sip spit-ily.

Sounds gross, but by mixing your saliva (which contains digestive enzymes) muddled around with a fresh juice, it gets your digestive juices flowing and helps promote better absorption of your drink's nutrients. Also, sip slowly. Not only is savoring your juice better than chugging it down (and who wants to down it in four sips anyways? That's like $2.30 a sip, guys)

2. Use your leftover almond butter jars to store juices.

...because you've been making healthy smoothies too with nutrient-packed almond butter too, right? right? Whether it's an empty (and thoroughly cleaned!) almond butter, pickle or salsa jar, they all work great for storing juices.. Because plastic lets oxygen in, your juice's lose their nutrients at a quicker rate. Since glass slows the oxidation process, you'll have fresher juices for longer. Glass is also super easy to clean and lasts pretty much...until you drop it. Mason jars work fine too, for the trendier juicing set.

3. Pair hemp seeds with oil.
I've heard of power pairings like vitamin C and iron or green tea and lemon juice, but the book taught me that combing hemp seeds (or powder) with coconut oil helps you absorb the omega-3s in hemp twice as effectively.



4. Juice softer vegetables (like spinach, parsley, mint, kale) under harder fruits or veggies like carrots or apples.
Pretty self explanatory, but doing so helps pass the softer ones through the juicer and extract the most from leafy greens and herbs.

5. Don't get carrageenan-ed away.

This seaweed extract (it's a natural polysaccharaide boiled out from a red seaweed common in the Atlantic ocean) is often added to beverages like packaged soy, almond and coconut milk (not to mention countless dairy products). Among other things, it works as a thickening agent and as an emulsifier (such as by binding coconut oils and water together). While the FDA has given it a GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) status, the verdict is still out. Since some people attribute stomach problems to the additive, if you suffer from tummy upset after imbibing look for carrageenan-free brands when buying milk substitutes (or milk for that matter). Not into nut milks? Bananas, avocados, coconut water and fresh-squeezed juice all do the job. Extra ice for a frothy shake works too!

Learn more about the book here.