How Much Fresh Juice Should I Drink?

By: Jefferson Tobkin

When it comes to drinking fresh juice, the more the merrier. Just keep track of how much fruit you are adding. Usually when juicing, I make about 3-4 cups at a time. Straight up green vegetables can be quite bitter depending on what it is what you’re juicing. Usually, I’ll juice half to one apple or pear to take off the edge, sometimes along with some lemon. Seeing how I split the 3-4 cups between 2 people, there isn’t that much fructose in it.

Start off with a glass of juice, about 8 ounces, to see how you feel and work your way up to 16 ounces a day, which is the minimum you should drink.

Ideally, you should have 1 quart, or 32 ounces of juice everyday to gain the maximum health benefits of juicing. Drink half in the morning and half in the evening. You can juice the produce all at once and store it either in a FoodSaver or mason jar. If you use a mason jar, be sure to fill it to the top so that there is minimal oxygen in it. The point of this is to store the juice in an oxygen-free environment. The oxygen oxidizes the juice, which destroys the valuable enzymes and nutritional value. Stored juice should be consumed within 12-24 hours to get over 90% of the nutritional value out of it. If you have the time and are willing, you can juice twice a day and drink it straight after each time, but storing it with the methods above is a good compromise.

* Juicing should is to be considered supplementing your diet, as you still need a healthy source of proteins, fats, and fiber. Whey Protein comes in handy as a clean, healthy source of protein and other nutrients.

 

Potential Side Effects of Juicing

If you are on blood thinners or other medication, you should talk to your doctor before going on a juicing regimen. This is because the juice itself is a natural blood thinner, so you don’t want it to negatively interact with your prescriptions. Taking blood thinners or any medication for that matter shouldn’t be something that you do for the rest of your life, so you should talk to your doctor about wanting to wean off of the meds and take the natural approach to being healthy. Perhaps even look for an alternative, holistic doctor if the one you are talking to isn’t too familiar with proper nutrition. My dad had a heart attack in the past and was on blood thinners, but he now juices and doesn’t use them anymore. He still has some on hand in the event of an emergency, but he hasn’t needed them so far. Because of the highly concentrated amounts of nutrients in the juice, when first starting you may feel a little lightheadedness if consuming it too fast. By too fast, I mean like chugging it down in one go haha. If you drank it over a few minutes you should be fine. My dad when first trying it he chugged the glass in one go and definitely felt lightheaded. Good thing he wasn’t on his medication at the time!

If you are new to a healthy lifestyle as well as to juicing, then you may experience a healing crisis, which is when your body, while detoxifying itself, dumps toxins into your blood steam, temporarily overloading it. Because of this, you may experience amplified symptoms of your ailments, whether it be head aches, dizziness, fatigue, soreness, etc. This can be alleviated by slowly easing into a juicing regimen. If symptoms become overwhelming, cut back and build your way up.