Blueberries are popular as an ingredient in puddings, pastries, pies, and cakes as they are in smoothies but did you know that they can be juiced as well? These tiny berries pack a wallop when it comes to health benefits so read on to find out how you can get your share of this fruit’s nutritive potency.
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Considered one of 14 foods with tremendous health benefits, blueberries have been shown to contain large amounts of antioxidants that have been associated with disease prevention, enhanced memory, radiant skin, and cancer prevention.
Blueberries are given their blue or bluish purple coloring by anthocyanins, extremely powerful antioxidants that can neutralize cancer-causing free radicals.
Can You Juice Blueberries?
Of course, you can juice blueberries. Blueberries as juice are convenient, fast, and accessible to enjoy any time anywhere. You can put the juice in a thermos, water bottle or jug which you can take to drink after a workout at the gym, when you get thirsty from strolling in the park or studying at the library, and for bringing to the movies and sipping it instead of donning sodas or soft drinks.
Using a centrifugal or masticating juicer are two options for juicing these small babies. Here’s how to do it:
- Blend the berries thoroughly and then place a strainer over a medium sized mixing bowl with a spout so pouring the juice out will be easy.
- Use your strainer for straining the blueberry juice and removing the pulp.
Although you might have heard that centrifugal juicers are ineffective for juicing berries, grapes, and other fruit with tiny seeds, you can use the above mentioned procedure; it really works because a centrifugal juicer is fast.
Masticating juicers are designed for juicing grapes and berries but the downside is that it takes longer to make the juice, however as I have mentioned in other posts explained here, I still prefer using a masticating juicer for juicing fruits and veggies.
Blueberry Types
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a cup of raw blueberries has only 84 calories and less than a gram of fat, 3.6 grams dietary fiber, and 21 grams of carbohydrates. That’s heartening to know since there are different types of blueberries which are prevalent in some areas more than in others.
Here are those blueberry types, each with their own features:
Lowbush Blueberries
The most cold hardy of the lot and the least tolerant of heat, lowbush blueberries may measure only about one foot and six inches but they produce sweet-tasting fruit with the same nutrients as their blueberry cousins and are commercially grown and sold.
Highbush Blueberries
Less hardy in cold climates than their lowbush cousins, the highbush blueberries may grow to a height of 12 feet. Larger than lowbush blueberries in size but with the same delicious taste.
Rabbiteye Blueberries
Left unpruned, rabbiteye blueberries will reach a height of more than 20 feet. Tolerant of heat and least cold hardy among blueberry types, rabbiteye blueberries are medium to very large in size.
Organic Blueberry Juice – Why It’s Healthier
Anything organically grown is bound to be healthier and blueberries are no exception.
Although blueberry juice is also available from grocery stores, health food stores and supermarkets, not all of them will contain only blueberries and most of them will have only a small percentage of pure blueberry content as an ingredient.
The only way you can have pure blueberry juice is to make it yourself.
Still, if you choose your blueberry juice carefully, you may find commercially-prepared brands that have established reputations for being authentic purveyors of genuine or pure blueberry juice.
On the upside, since you already know from reading this article that juicing blueberries to make your own juice isn’t all that difficult, you will save money if you drink your own concoction.
Like strawberries, blueberries are tougher to wash after harvesting because of the large amount of fungi which can be found on the crop, the reason why farmers will often use fungal pesticides. Unfortunately, these pesticides are all too often difficult to wash as well. Local blueberry varieties have lesser residue from pesticides.
Nevertheless if the thought of even the slightest percentage of pesticide on your blueberries is not acceptable to you, buy organic. And if you are unable to buy organic blueberries due to budgetary constraints or unavailability of supply, buy them frozen but wash them thoroughly rinse away pesticide residue, no matter how small the amount they might have on them.
