Juice cleanses, juice diets, juice detoxes… Juicing is ridiculously popular right now with so many people singing its health-giving praises. Today I’m going to share three juice recipes that are perfect for incorporating into a plant-based diet alongside a few insights into the benefits (and drawbacks) of juicing.
Last weekend I was invited to join over fifty(!) fellow bloggers for a healthy blogger event in Leeds to try making our own juice concoctions, learn about the nutrition behind them, and boost ourselves even further with a session of rocket yoga. I have never owned a juicer so was very intrigued to give it a try.
Juicing is an ideal way to get more fruit and veg into your diet; it’s also a great way to use up anything in your fridge that might otherwise get wasted. The process of juicing makes some nutrients with the fruit and veg easier for your body to digest. Added to the extra benefit of packing in so many raw ingredients, fresh juice is fantastic for a morning boost or a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
I was impressed to see that you can put most fruit directly into a juicer, with no need to peel or core first. This significantly cuts down on prep and cleaning up time (and appeals to my lazier side!) To really boost the health benefits of juicing, you can add matcha for an energy boost, chia seeds for vital omega 3, or hemp for protein.
But can you have too much of a good thing? Well, first of all, replacing all of your meals with juice is not the way to go since your body will be missing out on other, still vital, nutrients such as fiber. Secondly, if weight loss is your aim, skipping meals can leads your metabolism to slow down so you are more likely to put weight back on faster once your juice detox ends. Far better, is to incorporate juicing in with healthy meals and negate the need for a “detox” in the first place.
Three Perfect Juice Recipes:
Raspberry, strawberry, beetroot, lime & matcha
5 raspberries, 3 strawberries, 2 beetroot, 1 lime, 1tsp matcha powder
Raspberry, spinach, pineapple & chia
5 raspberries, handful of spinach leaves, 1/4 pineapple, 1tbsp chia seeds
Celery, apple, lime & coconut water
100ml coconut water, 1 stick celery, 1 apple, 1/2 lime
Thanks to Currys, Joe Blogs and Lambert’s Yard for hosting us and to nutritionist Shan & Amanda for the fantastic yoga session!
Are you a fan of juicing? Would you consider giving it a go?
