How to Prepare Vegetables for Juicing

Nutrient-dense foods like vegetables are minimally processed and don't include any added sugars and sodium. To get the USDA recommended nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables, juicing is often considered. With a juicer, you can mix a variety of whole vegetable at once to get plenty of vitamins and minerals, and even add fruit or spices to sweeten or spike the taste. Preparation may vary slightly depending on the juicer.

Things You'll Need

• Cutting knife
• Cutting board

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Instructions

• 1

  Gather all your vegetables. Consider taste and nutrient value when choosing and combining vegetables. Vegetables grown above ground, such as kale, spinach and cabbage, will keep sugar intake low. Carrots, beets and zucchini have a cleansing effect.

• 2

  Wash vegetables thoroughly. Leafy vegetables contain folds where dirt can hide, so be sure to rinse in between the folds to remove all dirt and bacteria.

• 3

  Peel vegetables to your your taste and preference. Although some high-performance blenders like Kitchen Aid or Vitamix do not require peeling, you might want to consider the source of the vegetables. Are they organic or non-organic? You may want to peel or wash the non-organic varieties.

• 4

  Halve large vegetables like cucumbers or celery stalks and carrots. High-performance blenders like Vitamix and Kitchen Aid require little cutting. However, using other juicers or blenders may necessitate some extra chopping. There is no need to cut off the ends of vegetables, although this may be a personal preference. You may also prefer not to waste the greens from the carrot tops when juicing carrots. They do have nutrients!