Hey beautiful people, I hope you’re all doing really well!

I’ve recently gotten back into juicing fresh fruits and vegetables daily; I often post my juice combos on IG and FB stories and was asked by quite a few followers why I’m doing it, what are the benefits of juicing, what are the best fruit and veg combos and so on.

So, I thought that I’d share some info about the topic here for all of you to be able to refer to easily.

Juicing is certainly not a new phenomenon. When I first became interested in health and nutrition, some eight years ago, one of my very first purchases was a juicer.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with many different combinations or recipes if you will, I’ve done juice fasts, I’ve used juice pre and post workout and had it daily for a very long time.

However, if you’ve ever used and more importantly cleaned a juicer, you know that it’s made up of many different parts and cleaning it is really no fun. Honestly, this is what put me off juicing for a really long time. Add to that, constantly buying fresh fruit and veg to juice (because you do go through A LOT of produce if you juice daily), was becoming a real pain. My reasoning was that since I eat mainly plant-based, I don’t really NEED to add additional fruits and vegetables to my diet through juicing, which in truth is good reasoning.

You don’t NEED to start juicing to be healthy. There is no one thing you HAVE to do or include in your diet or daily routine for good health. It’s about finding what works for you.

In my case, I’ve spent a long time feeling ok but not great. Not sick, but not really well either. I’ve been having bouts of really low energy, digestive issues and allergies / congestion. Again, I wasn’t feeling sick really, however I was trying to think of something that might help, and then I thought, the food we eat can really be our medicine, so I increased my veg and fruit intake in the form of juices, which allows you to consume far more than you would by simply eating them, and I’m feeling a lot better!

I’m certainly not saying that it’s been a miracle cure, however, getting your recommended five vegetables and fruits a day is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT for overall health. Experts are actually now recommending that we should eat ten a day as opposed to just five. So, there are certainly a lot of positives attributed to getting more plants into your diet – again this is no revelation; finding a way to boost your nutrient intake is very beneficial.

There are HUGE benefits to increasing you veg and fruit intake – including improved immunity. Please do not misunderstand – eating more fruit and veg will not make you invincible. However, the addition of minerals and vitamins will certainly help repair and protect the body.

Different fruits and veg contain different vitamins and minerals in varying amounts. Each with their own benefits, here are a few or mu juicing faves:

JUICE BASES:

CUCUMBER – Cucumbers are made up of mainly water, don’t have a strong taste and are loaded with electrolytes, vitamins and minerals. Munching on a whole cucumber daily is something I would never do; however drinking a whole cucumber in a juice is really easy given it’s bland taste and watery consistency. Cucumber juice is excellent for hydration and is anti inflammatory.

CELERY – I’m sure many of us have heard about the miracle that is celery juice; it’s not a miracle, it’s a vegetable, and just like any other vegetable, it’s good for human health. Again, celery is not something I would just munch on as a snack, but similar to cucumber, it adds a mild, watery base to a juice and is also loaded with nutrients.

FENNEL – Fennel is a really good base for juices because it makes a watery base, especially for those of us with digestive issues such as IBS, constipation and digestive discomfort.

WATERMELON – This summer, I’ve used a lot of watermelon in my juices, it’s a lovely sweet base to a juice and when in season, it’s a really nice change for the above veggies as a base for a juice. As opposed to the above mentioned juice ‘bases’, watermelon is higher in sugar, therefore I like using it in conjunction with just other veggies to make sure sugar content isn’t too high, especially when having juice on an empty stomach not as part of a meal. Watermelon is again packed with nutrients and excellent to keep you hydrated, it’s also anti inflammatory and may help with muscle soreness.

ADD INS:

KALE – I like adding kale to my juices to increase my dark leafy greens intake, however, be warned – add a little at a time because it’s taste is very pungent. It contains high levels of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

BEETS – beets are a great addition to juices, they’re really sweet and you can add a substantial amount which adds a lovely flavour. Beets are excellent sources of important nutrients such as folate, manganese, Vitamins A, B2 and K and antioxidants.

APPLES – I like adding green or yellow apples to my juices which tend to have a lower sugar content and make a really nice addition to a veg juice.

CARROTS – carrots add a lot of important nutrients together with a lovely, often much needed, sweet flavour to a juice.

BOOSTERS:

GINGER – ginger is an ingredients I almost always add to my juices; I tend to suffer from allergies or hay fever which often results in a scratchy throat in my case. Having a juice with some ginger is often all I need to get rid of that! Ginger tends to help with inflammation – including that of the digestive tract (mouth to end), helps improve digestion, helps reduce nausea, helps immunity and much more. Definitely a great addition to a juice!

TURMERIC – fresh turmeric root will stain your hands, counter tops, cutlery, juicer, containers and anything else it’s in contact with. There, you’ve been warned. I often don’t use it for this reason, BUT when i’m not feeling great, which often for me means congestion, scratchy throat, and digestive discomfort, I feel the benefit. I prefer using fresh turmeric in a turmeric latte however, adding it to a juice is a good way to include this powerful root into your diet.

That’s it from me for today – I hope you’ve found this helpful!

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Until my next post, be well xXx