JUICE RECIPE: HOT AS A CUCUMBER

(SERVES 2)

½ CUCUMBER

1 APPLE

2 LIMES (WITH RIND)

KNOB OF GINGER

1 PINT WATER

PREPARATION & METHOD

Wash all ingredients. Put all ingredients into a juicer (doesn’t matter what order), I use THIS ONE. I leave the rind on the lime as it really adds a nice sharpness; be sure to scrub the rind really well before juicing. Add water. Drink. NB: This tastes amazing chilled in the fridge.

THE HEALTH BIT

Cucumber is great for alleviating digestive problems like heartburn, acidity, gastritis or even ulcers. It contains an enzyme called Erepsin which aids the digestion of protein. Plus they’re super, super low in calories.

Apples have lots of Vitamin C which aids collagen production. You need collagen to aid wound-healing and to keep your skin healthy and glowing.

Lime has an irresistible scent which causes your mouth to water, aiding primary digestion. The fragrant oils in lime stimulate the digestive system and increase secretion of digestive juices, bile and acids.

Ginger is an excellent carminative (a substance which promotes the elimination of intestinal gas) and intestinal spasmolytic (a substance which relaxes and soothes the intestinal tract). It also has antioxidant effects, an ability to inhibit the formation of inflammatory compounds, and direct anti-inflammatory effects.

THIS JUICE IS GREAT FOR A SLUGGISH DIGESTIVE SYSTEM AND/OR BLOATING. IT’S ALSO GREAT FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GIVE THEIR TASTEBUDS A KICK-START.

THE TASTE BIT

Cucumber in juices can be a bit overpowering (although I love it) but not in this one! The cucumber adds freshness, while the apple adds a sweet hint and the lime juice, lime rind and ginger give it a seriously spicy, zesty kick. It would probably taste good with tequila in it!

JUICE RECIPE: THE GRATEFUL RED

(SERVES 2)

1 PINK GRAPEFRUIT

1 APPLE

½ CARROT

½ BEETROOT

1 TSP CINNAMON

½ PINT WATER

PREPARATION & METHOD

Wash all ingredients (obvs not the cinnamon, how would you do that). Peel the rind from the grapefruit. Put all ingredients into a juicer (doesn’t matter what order), I use THIS ONE. Add water. Drink. NB: This tastes amazing chilled in the fridge.

THE HEALTH BIT

Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin which supports the immune system and also prevents production of cascade, therefore helping to reduce severity of inflammatory conditions, such as asthma (which I have). The rich pink and red colours of grapefruit are due to lycopene which fights oxygen-free radicals; compounds that can damage cells.

Beetroot can help reduce blood pressure and contains loads of potassium, magnesium and iron as well as vitamins A, B6 and C, and folic acid.

Apples have lots of Vitamin C which aids collagen production. You need collagen to aid wound-healing and to keep your skin healthy.

Carrots contain B-complex vitamins (riboflavin, thiamine, and vitamin B-6) - these vitamins are key in maintaining red blood cells and the nervous system in good health, they also give you energy. Carrots are also great for your eyesight and skin.

Cinnamon helps to maintain blood-sugar levels so is great for diabetics.

THIS JUICE IS GREAT FOR AN ENERGY BOOST THAT WON’T GIVE YOU A MASSIVE SUGAR SPIKE AND WILL PROMOTE FABULOUS SKIN.

THE TASTE BIT

This is one of my favourites; sweet and spicy with a bit of tang and the colour is great! Some people have said it tastes like a hot cross bun in a drink… weird, but kind of accurate.

3 DAY JUICE CLEANSE DIARY

So in a bid to embrace this ‘healthy lifestyle’ I’ve been hearing so much about I decided to buy a juicer last week and embark upon a three day juice cleanse. In case anyone is thinking about this I thought I’d share with you my diary and tips I picked up along the way.

PRE-CLEANSE: I did a test-run on Saturday as I didn’t have and plans that involved dinner or drinks. I got my juicer out of the box (I bought this one, it’s such good value for money, really powerful, and easy to clean) and had a play around, checking out recipes on the net (great site HERE). I’ve decided to do 6 juices per day.

Feel as though I have bundles of energy; in a weird way, I feel lighter I guess. Went for a 5k run in the morning then on another short 2.5k run later with my housemate. Discovered after 4 juices that I can’t bear to have another but I am totally not hungry at all. Strange. Usually on a Saturday I go HAAM on the food.

Caved at 8pm when housemate was cooking dinner and had a baked corn-on-the-cob. Yum… chewy. Bitey. 

Overall, feel great. Not too hard and haven’t had any hunger. Did have a disco nap at 3pm though.

So my tester day proved to me I could embark upon a proper 3 day cleanse and gave me some idea what I was in for. It also made every morsel of food I ate on Sunday taste like heaven. Now time for the cleanse proper. P.S: Day after I was GLOWING.

DAY 1: Wake up at 6.30am so I have time to prepare all my juices (and juices for my workout pal, Soph). Pretty easy. Decant them all into bottles. Feel good all day, intersperse juice with herbal teas. Lunchtime is hard as all colleagues are eating food around me. My mid-afternoon juice is so gross it makes me gag. Go to gym in evening but have no real energy. Early to bed. I feel okaaaaay. No hunger pangs which is what I was worried about.

DAY 2: Wake up looking and feeling pretty damn special. I look really… hydrated. Make an effort today to taste juices before bottling and make them more palatable. Morning is fine, no hunger, lunch is okay too. Then mid-afternoon… I turn into a zombie. Like I literally took about 7 minutes to answer the simplest questions. My brain has been liquefied; not so good for a writer. Nearly get run over cycling home. Cave and have some broccoli and onions sautéed. Go to bed about 8pm feeling sh*t.

DAY 3: Wake up late; too late to get the tube, so make an educated decision to eat some food so I have the energy to cycle to work safely. Have porridge and a banana; nearly snog the man at Pret. Feel amazing by the time I get to work. I’ve made 3 of THE most delicious juices for today (I’m really getting the hang of this). Juice until 7pm when I decide to have some salmon and veg so I can do a 5k run.

VERDICT: I’d definitely recommend juicing, I do feel like I have an ‘inner glow’ (consuming 27 carrots in 3 days will do that to a girl). I must say, I found juicing for one day pretty easy, a pleasure and a joy. 3 days was not so good. 

I think if you work in a role which requires any sort of brain-power (so everyone) then it’s not a good idea. I’m a writer and the words; well they don’t come so easy when your brain is running on cucumber water. Overall I liked it and I definitely want to incorporate juicing into my weekly routine. I think one or two days (spread out) over a week would feel great.

I’m running 10k in a few weeks so in order to train I’ll be giving the juice cleanses a rest for the time being. Juices really are good though so stay tuned for recipes (brownies honour, I will post some delicious ones over the Bank Holiday Weekend!

Let me know if you have any questions (juice-related or otherwise) in the comments below.