Starting fresh

The latest health craze to garner attention, is juicing. And as one of the easiest ways to consume your five a day, it’s easy to see why.

Despite proving popular with celebs, juicing is still not that well-known, so here at Champneys HQ we’ve created this beginner’s guide for all you novice juicers out there.

What is juicing?

Sara Ding, who runs the Juicing for Health site, says, “Juicing is the process of extracting juice from fruit, vegetables or tubers.

"The juice can be extracted using any one of a growing number of juicing machines including hand juicers, masticating juicers, twin juicers, hydraulic press juicers or centrifugal juicers. The resultant nutrient-rich liquid is usually consumed immediately after juicing to maximize the health benefits.”

The benefits of juicing

There are lots of benefits from juicing as Vanessa Simkins, who runs the All About Juicing site, explains “Juicing provides an easy way to get nutrition from an array of fruits and vegetables into one glass – which can help complement those you eat.”

Healthy Food Guide nutrition team say that there are some benefits when it comes to juicing:

- Health experts agree that many of us in the UK need to eat more fruit and veg to reach their goal of ‘five a day’ - juicing can help boost intake.

- It is important to remember though that as with fruit juices, a 150ml glass counts as one of your five a day. Having more does not contribute further. Some commercially produced juices and juices from juice bars contain significant quantities of added apple and other fruit juices so you need to watch your serving size carefully. 

- A 150ml juice contributes towards hydration.

What people should know before they start juicing?
Before you start juicing, there are a few things you should be aware of. The juices aren’t the freshly-squeezed juices you’d have drank at your grandparents, but they also aren’t thick-blended beverages like smoothies.

Vanessa Simkins, the author of a book called The Juice Lover's Big Book of Juices, says, “Juicing and blending fruits and vegetables tastes different than what they do when eaten. It's going to take some time to experiment with what you like and what combinations work best.”

Sara Ding at Juicing for Health says that something else you should know before starting juicing is when to drink the beverages.

She says, “The best time to drink fresh juice is on an empty stomach—at least half an hour before a meal.

“As a general rule, drink fruit juices mostly in the morning as they provide the complex carbohydrates to fuel energy. For the later part of the day, drink juices that are less sweet, like partial or full green juices.” 

Recipes

Check out some of the different juicing recipes that are recommended by experts and what these recipes are good for.

The Beet Blaster: detoxifies skin and kidneys

Ingredients:
- 2 beetroots with tops on
- 3 carrots
- 1 apple

Expert juicer Kate Laing from Get Healthy U recommends her Beet Blaster juice.

She says, “The apple and carrots are sweet balancing the earthy beetroot flavour. Beetroots are a superfood that help detoxify the skin and kidneys, contain important folic acid and are filled with betacyanin known to prevent cancers and increase exercise endurance.”

Snake Bite: For digestion and circulation

Ingredients:
- 3 carrots
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 green apple

Kate Laing is a big fan of the Snake Bite juice and it is one of the first juices she ever made.

She adds, “The Snake Bite is sweet but the fresh ginger gives it a healthy bite! Fresh ginger raises immunities and is also known to improve digestion and circulation.”

Green Fix Juice: to balance blood sugar

Ingredients:
- 1 large cucumber
- 1 bunch of spinach
- 1 or 2 apples
- 1 lemon, peeled

All About Juicing’s Vanessa Simkins says that if you’re wanting to balance your blood sugar level, then a good green recipe is the Green Fix Juice.

She says, “Juice all of these together in your juicer machine, not a blender. Serve immediately or within 4 hours.”

Green machine: For energy

Ingredients:
- Half a bag of kale
- 1 cucumber
- 1 ¼ cups of pineapple

Juggling work and family time can get very tiring and if you are looking for a bit of an energy boost you should try the Green Machine recipe from Get Healthy U’s Kate Laing.

She says, “So refreshing and delicious you won’t believe you’re drinking kale! The sweetness of the pineapple makes this drink feel like a treat. The green machine is filled with vitamin B and iron that leaves you energised and ready to take on the world.”

Summer Melon: For arthritis

Ingredients:
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 large wedge of watermelon

Juice Recipes, a site dedicated to helping people get the most out of their juice, recommends the Summer Melon juice, especially if you suffer from arthritis.

The experts at Juice Recipes, say, “The rich beta-carotene and vitamin C content in watermelon do wonders in quenching inflammation that contributes to conditions like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.”

The Grass is Greener: to fight cold or flu

Ingredients:
- 2 handfuls of snipped wheat grass
- 2 carrots
- ¼ peeled lime
- 3 stems of fresh mint
- 2 green apples

With the news that flu cases have surged this year, Kate Laing’s grass is greener recipe is one juice recipe you should try, especially if you are suffering from a cold or the flu. However with heaps of wheat grass, this one to skip past if you are pregnant.

She says, “Wheat grass is full of vitamins and nutrients that help boost immunity and energy. The combination of wheat grass and vitamin C-rich lime makes this juice the perfect flu and cold fighting formula to keep you Kleenex free. Mint is also known to clear up congestion and is a natural stimulant so if you feel the sniffles coming on, this is the drink for you!”