Juicing for kids

Juicing Tips for Kids

• Juicing gives your kids the right amounts of vitamins and minerals. A multi-vitamin tablet cannot offer the wealth of vitamins and minerals fruits and vegetables can offer naturally 
  

• Eating raw fruit and vegetables allows enzymes in fruits and vegetables to be released into the body which are key to many chemical processes occurring in the digestive system.That is where fruit and vegetable juicing comes in, juicing breaks down the fibers and allows the nutrients to be released so a greater amount of vitamins, minerals and enzymes are made available to the body for digestion. Many children also find it easier to drink some juice rather than eat 3 or 4 pieces of fruit, especially if they have been running aroundand are thirsty.
  

• Highly nutritional juices such as yellow bell pepper and green vegetable juices can be `  made more appealing to kids by disguising their taste with sweeter juices such as apple, carrot or grape juice.
  

• Make juicing a family activity. Involve the kids in helping with preparing the ingredients,and deciding on which juices to make and searching for recipes. This family time will notonly inculcate good and healthy eating habits but the kids will learn about the nutritionalbenefits of fruits and vegetables. Kids love to have what they have prepared and you willfind that they readily have all the good stuff on their own.
  

• Other ways to encourage your kids to consume more fruits are to make ice lollies fromfresh fruit juice, Make fruit smoothies and shakes by liquidizing fruit such as strawberries,mango or bananas with fruit juice and/or milk. Making juice popsicles or ice lollies with freshly juiced oranges or  carrot juice or apple juice or even mixing vegetables with carrots or apples. Once you squeeze the fresh juice out of the juicer, just pour i in the pospsicle mold and freeze for a few hours before serving. If you need more popsicle recipes please leave us a comment and we will be happy to include some.  

Juices to avoid for kids:

If you do purchase the juice then avoid drinks that have less than 100% fruit juice. They may be called fruit drink, juice beverage or fruit cocktail, juice “ade” like lemonade ororangeade, avoid any juice with added sugars and added preservatives. Some of thesejuice drinks have less than 5-10% real fruit. After drinking juices with added sugar,children must brush their teeth. Avoid store bought fruit juices containing sorbitol oftenfound in pear or apple juice. Sorbitol is a non-absorbable sugar that has been found to cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating in children. It's easy to tell the difference between fruit juice and fruit-flavored beverages, simply by reading the label on a juice bottle or carton. All beverages that contain juice or imply theycontain juice must declare the percentage of juice on the information label on thepackage. Healthy beverage or juice choice for kids… Water, milk and fresh homemade fruit juices are the ideal beverages for your kids. It is better to have freshly prepared fruit juices at home however while buying beverages from the store, buy only those with 100 percent fruit juice and no added sugars, colors or flavors.

Easy juice and smoothie recipes for kids:

Strawberry suprise:

Juice 1 apple and blend with ½ cup strawberries and ¼ cupblackberries. Add a couple of prunes to the juice if your child is constipated.

Berry Banana

In a blender, combine ¾ cup banana, ½ cup blueberries, and½ cup yogurt. Blend on high speed until smooth. Pour and serve. For dairy free alternative use Soy milk instead.

Mango Shake

Wash and peel 1 big mango. Cut up fruit into chunks after slicing away from seed. Put in blender and puree with ½ banana, ½ cupyogurt blend until smooth. Add ice and blend until it is just crushed. Serve cold. For dairy free alternative use Soy milk instead.

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