Who doesn’t want to give her child some extra health boost in the form of a healthy and nutritious juice?
But the problem arises when your little kiddos don’t enjoy it.
See, we have to remember that juicing gives incredible long-term health benefits, but the benefits come from the habit, not the once in a while juice.
So,to help your child make juicing a habit it needs to be an enjoyable part of the day and the secret mantra is : the juice needs to taste great!
Don’t Make It Too Spicy
We always tempted to add ginger in our daily juices and hey we all know the reason: it has amazing anti-inflammatory properties which are important to preventative and healing health. Also ginger, along with lemon, really lifts the flavor of fruit and vegetable juices. However, a little goes a long way with kids. Just a small sliver is enough for a young child’s juice. Firstly if the juice is too ‘hot’ with spice, it may put your child off juicing altogether, or it could result in discomfort due to heartburn, mouth irritations and diarrhea in young children, much more so than adults.
Don’t Make It Too Complicated:
It is easy to think that adding a large list of ingredients, or even exotic ingredients, will keep a young child interested in juicing – but it isn’t true. Unfortunately a nourishing (but undrinkable) juice can end up down the sink instead of inside your child if the taste is wrong.
So always opt for simple ingredients.
Don’t Make It Too Green:
Everyone seems to be juicing and blending green drinks lately, but caution needs to be taken with younger children. Leafy greens have a strong detox effect on the body, so limit the amount for children. Also, the taste buds of children, young children especially, are more sensitive to bitterness (think kale) than adults. If you are making a green juice for a child, green apples and cucumbers are a great addition to make the grassy, green flavour more palatable.
Don’t Make It Too Strong:
Any flavor that is overbearing is likely to result in a juice not being liked by your child, whether it is ginger or leafy greens. A juice that tastes too strong has the base juice, strong flavoured juice and sweetened juice out of balance. All juices should have the majority of the juice made up of a base. The base is a neutral flavour like cucumber, carrots or celery. Small amounts of stronger flavors are diluted by the base juice and the overall juice is more enjoyable.
Don’t Make It Too Much:
Be realistic of your child’s age and how long they have been drinking fresh juice. Starting small is an easy way to let them get accustomed with drinking a daily juice to build their juicing habit.
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