Keeping smoothies/juices??

[David Jordan]

I've always believed that I need to drink my smoothies soon after blending them.  It would often be convenient if I could make up several servings ahead of time and I believe Penni has a video where she has many bottles in her fridge.  How long will they retain their nutritional value?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[Allison]

I'm in a situation where I walk to work some days, so I get up early. I don't necessarily want to get up extra-early to juice and then clean up before I walk that mile. I have a thyroid condition so i try to get to work a half hour early when i walk so that i can "recover" before my shift begins. It'll take some patience to figure out how juicing will work on the job.

After a week or two I plan to move to green smoothies, which I can make at work using my Magic Bullet. I'm excited to make this all work!

I think I will juice a couple of servings the night before, drink one before I leave and take one to work to have at lunch. My goal is to graduate to green smoothies. I have a blender at home and will take a Magic Bullet to work to make my mid day smoothie.

[Gwen Coni]

Smoothies retain their quality longer than juices from what I've heard because of the fibre content of the fruit/veg. That said, I wouldn't use one more than ~24 hours old and I'd be sure to keep them in a tight container (mason jars work so well) filled to overflowing to decrease air exposure. Good luck!

[Eva]

based on this information i made sure to cover my veggie juice in the fridge today with a piece of wrap right on top of the juice rather than the top of the container---hopefully that will deter some oxidation....

[Vera Seline]

I have the perspective that anything left in the fridge for a couple days is still more nutritionally dense than ANYTHING pasteurized  at your friendly neighborhood grocer.

[Penni]

Hi David,

We talk a lot about this in the Liquid Lounge.  Depending on the quality of your juicer - I would say juices are best consumed within 24 hours of extracting.  They need to be filled to the top of a glass jar and sealed tightly then refrigerated to minimize further oxidation.  

Some people drink juices 2 and 3 days days later, but if nutrition is important to you - I would make every effort to drink them within that 24 hour period as they lose nutrients steadily over the hours.

[Eva]

i had this question too...

[HippyDaisyChick]

p.s. i would just make it easy on yourself....

[HippyDaisyChick]

Hmmm. Well...you don't want your juice to oxidize. I think that the "general" rule of thumb is ideally to comsume your juice within 15 to 20 minutes of making it. With that said. none of us live in a perfect world. And, time can be hard to find....if you make the juice the night before...I would put your juice in a canning jar and fill it to the top so no air can oxidize your juice. And, I would drink it first thing in the morning cold...this is just my opinion...I am not sure of how long your juice retains its nutritional value other than what I stated earlier....I do know I make a big blender full of juice in the morning and fill my canning jars, refridgerate and drink on them all day so I don't spend the majority of the day in the kitchen at the blender...I can't imagine making your juice at night would be any different if consumed first thing in the morning by lunch time. Hope this helps!