Starting juicing can be a life-changing move. Or, it can simply be a way to get more nutrients into your diet. You don’t have to do a juicing fast or become a vegan before making your first juice. The steps are quite simple and can be done in 30 minutes.
You need two things to get started juicing: A recipe (and the ingredients of the recipe) and a juicer. If you want to just try it out, visit a friend who owns a juicer and try out one of their favorite recipes. This is a sure-fire way of getting your feet wet without having to invest in a new juicer.
If you instead want to get your own juicer, you have many choices. However, you need to ask yourself one question before you invest in a juicer. Are you already certain that you will continue juicing? If you are skeptical and may drop juicing altogether, you might want to keep your juicer purchase as economical as possible. If this is the case, I recommend the Lexen Healthy Juicer which costs $40 with free shipping on Amazon.com, you won’t get a better deal than that.
If you are not skeptical and know that once you start, you’re not going to stop. Then I recommend to start off with a higher quality juicer. The best all-around juicer, in my opinion, is the Omega 8006 which is a tried and true model with a 15-year warranty. If it’s too pricey for you, but you want the best juicer anyway, go with the Refurbished Version because it is the same thing, just not brand new. For a more in-depth explanation of how to pick the best juicer, check out our guide to the best juicer.
A Beginner Juice Recipe
If you’re starting out, you want to try juices that have a mix of some fruit and are not 100% green. Do not juice a bunch of kale and drink it straight, because it will taste way too strong and you probably won’t like it. Here is a good recipe to start with:
3/4 to 1 head of kale
3/4 to 1 head of lettuce
4 long celery stalks
1 1/2 to 2 apples
2 lemons (juiced)
1 Persian Cucumber
This was the first juice that I made and really liked it. I started the recipe with 4 apples, and it was delicious but I did get a headache. Later, I found out on Mark’s Daily Apple by a user called Paleo Bon Rurgundy that this was a result of having too much fruit in the juice.
As you can see, he recommends not to juice any fruits but most people who juice, including John Kohler and Fully Raw Kristina, do juice fruits. So what I did was change my recipe from 4 apples to 1 or 1 1/2 apples and I never got a headache again.
You can also make your own recipe, all you have to do is follow these amazing guidelines by John Kohler:
I hope you enjoy juicing and can share your experience!
This sounds like a great recipe! I never realized having excess fruit could cause headaches. When I juice, I’m usually trying to get my kids to consume extra nutrients so I always include fruit. I like to keep the juice palatable for kids. I find that mixing in carrots, celery and greens dials down the sweetness. I also add half a lemon to most of my juice recipes. Thanks for the great info!
Hey Nicole, thanks for stopping by, I’m glad you liked the post 🙂
It’s quite interesting what too much fruit (without the fiber) can do to you. But I absolutely agree to include some fruit because, as you said, it makes the juice palatable. Lemons are really great for juicing, that’s for sure.
Aaron C. recently posted…How to Start Juicing: The Journey of Your First Juice
You know I’ve never gotten a headache from juicing apples. I don’t usuallycombine fruit with my vegetables. I love my dark leafy greens, but when I first started juicing them with my Green Star, I wasn’t as fond of them although I loved eating dark leafy greens raw and cooked. I still drank the awful green drinks since the benefits I experienced even though I was eating only whole foods back then were amazing. I did get to the point where I liked those green drinks, now if I want to change the taste, I’ll add a few lemons. I’ve found that acid within lemons cuts the bitterness of some of your dark leafy greens.
I mainly drink vegetable juices, but the past week I have been mainly consuming fruit juices since I’m focusing on candida. The results I’ve experiences have been fairly impressive.
By the way, I’m really enjoying your juicing site. 🙂 It’s always nice to see others who see the benefits of juicing.
Opal recently posted…What do you do with juicer pulp?
Thanks for the comment! And yes I agree with you about the lemons. They make any green juice taste great, haha.
You have been using juicing to overcome candida? That’s pretty cool, is it working out for you?
Aaron C. recently posted…San Francisco Bans Sale of Water Bottles Within City Limits
Will juicing really help me lose weight? Is it safe?
Max Arthur recently posted…Play Lead Guitar coming soon
Yes it’s safe. Just consult a doctor before you try any juice cleanses and keep to the good guidelines of juicing.
Thanks for sharing the Green Energy Juice recipe! It looks yummy.
I’d suggest to add carrots as it makes the juice more colorful. My kids love it!
Rachael recently posted…Juicing Benefits: Learning to Juice the Sensible Way.
Thanks! Yeah it is delicious 🙂 I have added carrots and basically it makes it a bit more orange, but there is no way that it hides that it is a green juice =D. I’m glad your kids love your juice, and good luck with your blog 🙂
Aaron C. recently posted…Coca-Cola is Peddling “Natural” Juice to You
i just wanted to start juicing and i would love to do it. Though i do it at times but it is not that perfect. Mango is my favourite fruit and i love the juice too. But each time i try to make it , i am not satisfied by the taste. I don’t know what is wring with my recipe. One thing is that the quantities. I am not sure of the quantities of what ever i put into it and thus it is getting miserable. But loved to read this and i am going to start it all over again this time with a little passion …… 🙂 🙂
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