I LOVE carrot juice. When I was in college, I would buy carrot juice by the gallon and drink at least a cup everyday. However, I recommend staying away from store-bought juices because they are filled with extra sugars and preservatives to keep the juices from spoiling quickly. I’ve always wanted a juicer, so last year my parents got me a juicer for my birthday! I have the Omega J8006. It’s really easy to put together and take a part, as well as fairly easy to clean. The only thing I would prefer differently is the size of the opening for the produce. It’s pretty small, which means there’s a little more prep work cutting everything up beforehand to make sure it all fits through.
I’ve been in the habit of juicing carrots every morning now for a couple of weeks and I just love the energy it gives me–in addition to my morning coffee, of course! I still need my caffeine! Although coffee may perk me up and give me the extra jolt of energy I need, it’s really the carrot juice that works from the inside out to give me a natural healthy glow (that other people can notice)! I really mean it! Here’s why…
Carrots are a great source of Vitamin A (good for vision) and beta carotene (Hence their orange color. The beta carotene is actually converted to Vitamin A in your body). They also have great fiber content and can help lower cholesterol (but when you juice, this stays in the pulp you throw out. You can save it to make healthy carrot cake muffins). The reason carrot juice is so amazing for that healthy glow we all want is because of the carotenoids and antioxidants in carrots that help repair the skin and also protect it from the sun. These antioxidants act as anti-aging agents by fighting off free radicals in your body that cause inflammation and lead to wrinkles. They can also help even out your skin tone. When you juice a lot of carrots, it makes for one concentrated, powerful drink filled with all of the amazing nutrients carrots have. In a juice, you get more carrots (10 in my case) than you could probably eat in a meal.
However, when it comes to carrots, you can definitely have too much of a good thing. Too much consumption of a fruit or veggie with beta-carotene will actually start to turn your skin orange-no joke! Not going to lie–I’ve been there. Nobody wants to look like they just got a really bad fake tan or start looking like an oompa loompa. Everything in moderation, of course. After drinking the juice for a couple of days, you’ll start to notice a difference. It’s all about consistency. One juice every once in a while isn’t going to do it.
If you want my complete rundown and take on juicing and the difference between the benefits of juicing and blending you can read it all in my Strong Girl Nutrition Guide. There are also a lot of juice, smoothie and protein shake recipes in the Strong Girl Recipe Book! You can save by getting them both along with the rest of the Strong Girl Guides in the Strong Girl Guides Bundle. Check them out. If you have a favorite morning juice that you like to whip up, let me know in the comments below! In the meantime, below are my prep and morning routines. By the way, every morning from start through clean up, the process takes me less than 10 minutes!
PREP
Step One: Costco Run! I buy the big bulk 10lb bag of Organic Carrots for only $4.49. I know- I just had to look at my receipt to make sure I didn’t make a mistake! You can’t even buy a gallon of store-bought juice for this low! The bag will roughly yield enough carrots for about 9 days–give or take! This is slightly less than $0.50 a day for organic carrot juice! Crazy, right?! The carrots in this last bag I bought were substantially smaller in size than my previous bag, so the amount of juice you make per day, will also differ a bit. You can also separate the carrots by weight if you have a food scale. Learn more about why I recommend eating organic in my Strong Girl Nutrition Guide.
Step Two: Cut the tops of the carrots off. Yes, you can put the whole carrot into the juicer, but I like to clean mine up, so that no dirt gets in! But, wait to wash them until right before you juice. You don’t want the carrots to get moldy and mushy over the week from the water.
Step Three: Separate 10 carrots into ziplock bags. This will also save A TON of space in your fridge.
MORNING ROUTINE (<10 min)
Step One: Set up juicer.
Step Two: Wash and rinse carrots.
Step Three: Juice away! (Sometimes I add half a lemon!)
watch the video here: strong girl carrot juice
Step Four: Drink up!
Step Five: Clean up!
Yes, it’s really all that simple! Enjoy! xo
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