EXTRACTS AND CENTRIFUGES

According to the WHO, to satisfy our daily need for vitamins and minerals, it is necessary to consume 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.However, it seems to become increasingly difficult to introduce these foods into meals or snacks, especially outside the home, where the food choices offered are usually unhealthy (just think of the small shelves near the coffers of the bars overflowing with snacks, sweets, chocolates ... a concentrate of simple refined sugars and fats at hand!). Gradually (and slowly) in many places the use of extractors and centrifuges is taking place, a great compromise for those who are often around and want to wink at a healthy lifestyle without penalizing taste. It may be convenient to buy one of these appliances for your home. Consuming an energizing extract at breakfast is a great way to better face the day and start supplying your body with micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).

Let's start by clarifying why fruit and vegetable juices are a valid nutritional choice for integrating amino acids, enzymes, mineral salts and vitamins into our diet .The use of the extractor makes it possible to obtain live juices without affecting the properties of the initial products, providing a concentrate of nutrients that can be more easily and quickly assimilated. Using the extractor, it is possible to consume raw vegetables, ensuring the body an excellent supply of vitamins A, C, EK and folic acid, together with potassium, magnesium and modest amounts of iron and calcium. Through cooking some properties are lost, for example vitamin C and folic acid present in cabbage, spinach, rocket and many other vegetables, they are thermolabile, and with heat they are dispersed. Moreover, whole fruits and vegetables contain a high quantity of fiber, responsible, in some cases, for slowing down the absorption processes of these precious micronutrients. However, the fibers, although they are not used by the body for nutritional purposes, they are necessary because they offer a support to clean the intestine, modulate the absorption of fat, improve intestinal transit and regulate its functions. For these reasons, the extracts they should not replace the direct consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables , as an important food component would fail, but they must be integrated and offer support to a normal daily dietary plan. In principle, the absorption of the active ingredients contained in an extract takes 10-15 minutes and is readily used in the cellular regeneration of tissues, glands and organs. This is especially true for the micronutrients found in fresh vegetables, as enzymes, amino acids, vitamins and salts from the fruits mostly play a ' detergent action andwhich is best performed if the extract is not consumed during meals, particularly if it has a higher content of simple sugars and starch. If the nutritional and hydration functions are the main ones associated with the consumption of live fruit and vegetable juices, these are also accompanied by a detoxifying action . In fact, an improvement and greater efficiency of detoxification processes has been demonstrated: in particular, extracts of green leafy vegetables seem to favor the spontaneous mechanisms of elimination of toxins that occur at the level of the excretion systems of lungs, kidney, intestines and pores of the skin.

Differences between "extracts" and "centrifuged"They already differ from the point of view of production mechanisms, since the former are nothing but juices deriving from the pressor action exerted by the machinery, while the others derive from centrifugation processes. The diversity of the two procedures reflects on the physical and chemical properties of the juices obtained. The extractor removes the insoluble fibers from the squeezed fruit or vegetables, preserving the solubles, more easily digested by our body, the juice is then extracted cold, slowly, managing to preserve most of the micronutrients. The centrifuge, once activated, develops heat reaching up to 50 °, causing the loss of thermolabile enzymes , which can withstand up to about 40 °,and of vitamins sensitive to an increase in temperature such as vitamin A, C and E. Furthermore, this instrument is able to remove water-soluble fibers from all types of vegetables and fruit, and in this way that type of control is missing carried out by this particular non-nutrient in the regulation of the absorption of sugars, present in modest quantities in the fruit and which in this way can cause glycemic peaks.

Let's move on to "practice": what types of fruit and vegetables are best used in the preparation of our extracts? And in what proportion should these two types of food be consumed?Additional benefits derived from the consumption of the extracts can be obtained by preferring the use of vegetables and organic fruits , thus ensuring the absence of pesticides, herbicides and other chemical substances on the peel and a greater concentration of nutrients. We always recommend using seasonal fruits and vegetables, as any type is more suitable for the environmental conditions and needs of the period in which it matures: the cruciferae (broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage), winter vegetables, have a high antioxidant content and stimulate mucus secretion, an important defense system of the organism against microbes more easily conveyed in this season, but also pumpkin, beetroot and carrots, which contain carotenoids, fundamental for the relative protective action carried out on the thymus gland implicated in the immune defenses; in summer instead we find fruits rich in water, just to satisfy the daily increased water demand during periods of heat. It is also advisable to use 2-3 types of vegetables and a fruit in the preparation of the extracts, so as to avoid too high a concentration of sugars.

Some examples
Celery, spinach, cucumber and carrot extract :
3 stalks of celery, 1 cucumber, 1 apple, 1 sprig of parsley and 10 spinach leaves, for a concentration of antioxidant molecules and diuretic effect

Cucumber extract, green apple, ginger :10-12 spinach leaves, 1 cucumber, 1 green apple, 2 stalks of celery, 3 sprigs of rosemary. 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 2-3 cm of ginger.

This extract adds up the anti-inflammatory, detoxifying and improving digestive functions of ginger, the diuretic, anti-cholesterol-lowering properties, and the regulation of the circulatory functions of the apple and other vegetables.

Pear extract, black cabbage, ginger :
2 pears, 2-3 cm of fresh ginger, 3-4 black cabbage leaves guarantee an anti-tumor and anti-aging function

Pineapple, spinach and cabbage extract :
10-12 spinach leaves, a handful of cabbage leaves, 2 green apples, 4 mint leaves, 1 slice (200gr) of pineapple, which offer considerable support to the diuresis and purification of the organism, perform a protective action against free radicals slowing down cellular aging processes

Parsley, apple and carrot extract :1 bunch of fresh parsley, 2 carrots, 1 apple and 1 stalk of celery to invigorate dermis tissues and at the same time stimulate detoxification processes

Apple and red cabbage extract :
1 apple or pear, ¼ red cabbage, 2-3 cm of ginger, 100 ml water to make the load of anthocyanins present in red cabbage, which offer support to the visual function and have anti-aging properties.

When to hire themIt is also important to understand what is the best time of the day to take them: absolutely approved for breakfast but also as an alternative in morning or afternoon snacks, as they represent a great way to integrate a right dose of vitamins and minerals; instead they are not recommended as substitutes for main meals , lunch and dinner, as there is a risk of running into a shortage of macronutrients such as proteins and fats, and they also have a low satiating power, arousing a sense of hunger shortly after ingesting them.

for more details contact Shivani Sikri @ Nutri4verve