Make your own juice :)

(Orange juice, freshly juiced by my juicer!)

I thought it might be a great idea to talk about store bought juice. I love those catch phrases you see on the sides of supermarket juices, such as freshly squeezed, home squeezed, home-style, fresh from the orchard, natural blend and the list goes on. The fact of the matter is the juice you buy in the cartons/containers are not freshly squeezed in YOUR home and depending on the brand it isn't a natural blend either. Let's face it though, sometimes depending on whatever situation we may be in, we feel the need to buy a carton juice. I know sometimes I do if I have a lot of guests and juicing for that many people feels daunting or not in my budget. This is a rare situation for me, but it has happened.

The following are some of my thoughts on cartoon juices and why I do prefer to juice myself...

1. Many of the juices that we think are quite healthy to drink are loaded with sugars. If you are going to purchase a supermarket juice, first thing you should do is check the nutritional label and it's ingredients list.

2. Many juices we buy at the supermarket are not 100% juice, they are actually diluted with water. The ratio of water to juice is much higher than we think. Now why would I be wanting to buy a bottle of juice that is 70% water, when all I want it real juice!?

3. You are hoping to get some vitamins in your diet quickly and easily. The fact of the mater is many of the vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals where lost in the making of these juices. Sadly, you are really consuming extra calories that you could have had with a nutritious snack or an actual juice you made yourself.

4. Be careful of coloring agents! Some drinks promote themselves as juices, but really they are containing little to not any juices at all. They really just have a coloring agent in them that makes them look like there is carrot or orange juices in the bottle.

My advice would be if you are going be purchasing supermarket juices, is research the different juice companies and see what they put in their juices. It's so easy to just plunk a juice brands name into google. Research, research, research! My better advice is to juice your own vegetables and fruits. It's fun, easy and you can make your own variety of juices. Lastly, my best advice is to just eat an orange, apple or whatever juice you were going to buy. This way you get the fiber and everything that vegetable or fruit as grown to give you.

Hope this helps the next time your in the market :)

~Maggie