Listlessness and fatigue are common symptoms of a range of medical conditions, such as anemia and hyperthyroidism. However, if your lethargy is without medical cause, you may need to boost your energy by making healthy dietary changes. Fruits and vegetables provide carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals that are essential for energy production and contain significant amounts of fiber, which reduces sluggishness by promoting healthy bowel function. Recent dietary guidelines recommend five to 13 servings of fruit and vegetables each day, depending on an individual's daily calorific intake, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Juicing methods provide a fast way for you to consume recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables in your daily diet.
Fruit and Vegetable Combinations
Apples and lemons combine well with vegetable juices. Cucumbers and tomatoes are ideal for juicing as they provide plentiful amounts of juice. For example, blend combinations of lemon, carrots and spinach, or apple, carrots, watercress and kale for a mix of sweet and bitter flavors, or try a refreshing blend of tomatoes and oranges, or cucumber, carrots and apple. A squeeze of lemon juice can also help prevent oxidation of fresh juices that are not consumed immediately.
Fruit Combinations
Choose juicy fruits, such as oranges, peaches and pineapples, rather than non-juicy fruits, such as bananas and avocados. Choose a variety of different colored fruits for maximum antioxidant intake. Try combinations of oranges and strawberries, melons and raspberries, grapes, apricots and passion fruit, or a blend of cherries, apple and pineapple. Balance your intake of citrus fruits, such as grapefruits, with non-citrus fruits, such as mangoes, as excess citric acid may cause stomach ache and flatulence and may also leach alkalizing minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, from the body. Fruits such as apricots, apples, cherries, grapes and peaches contain malic acid, which may contribute to healthy function of the liver, kidneys and intestines.
Vegetable Combinations
Choose vegetables such as celery, beetroot, chard, spinach, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, lettuce and kale. Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, are not suitable for juicing. Use only small quantities of strong-tasting green vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli and kale, in vegetable juice combinations. Carrots are sweet-tasting and ideal as a base for all juicing combinations. For example, try a blend of carrots, celery and kale, carrots and radishes, and carrots and broccoli. A few shreds of grated ginger add warmth to all vegetable juice combinations.
Preparation
For maximum fiber intake, remove only rind that is inedible or bitter-tasting, such as orange rind or beet skin. Scrub unpeeled organic produce to remove dirt. You may prefer to peel non-organic produce to remove chemicals. Alternatively, you can add 1 cup of cider vinegar to a bowl of cold water, and then soak unpeeled, non-organic fruit and vegetables for 15 minutes. Any seeds and bitter-tasting pith should be removed before the fruit or vegetables are chopped.
Member Comments