With a whole host of celebs donning the stuff and juice bars creeping up on every street corner, it’s impossible to deny that juicing has become one of the biggest foodie and diet trends of recent years.
Whether you already know your kiwi and cranberry juice from you kale and beetroot blend or not, it’s always good to learn a little extra and find out just what juicing is all about. From breaking down the hype, to learning how to try the trend without putting your health at risk.
What is a juice cleanse?
A juice cleanse is a short period of time when you replace your usual meals with fresh fruit and vegetable juices. Due to the high nutritional value of earth’s raw offerings, a pure juice diet gives your body an intense hit of goodness, especially if it’s not used to consuming so many berries and greens. Juice cleansing also gives your liver and stomach a bit of a break from heavy and hard-to-break-down foods.
Do juice detoxes work? What are the key benefits?
Some stand by the miracle juice diets, others say it’s simply an overrated fad. Of course, the truth falls somewhere in the middle. While living off juice for a few days wont totally transform your mind, body and spirit overnight, it can have little wonders.
Head nutritionist at Nutricentre.com, Shona Wilkinson explains: “Nowadays, food is so easily available that most of us eat every few hours and snack or ‘graze’ between meals. This means that the digestive system and liver are constantly working to process food.”
Hence why a liquid diet can help us feel rejuvenated and energized. Less thick and overly-filling starchy food to break down? Hurrah!
Where you can see a big change is if the ingredients in your juice – mango, kale, blueberries – are not featured in your day-to-day diet. If you’re usually more likely to be seen at a McDonalds Drive through than a juice bar, then a well-considered juice cleanse can do wonders for your wellbeing and weight.
But beware, like any other quick-fix diets, the results wont last long if you immediately revert to your old habits after a few days.
Use juicing to kick-start a healthier nutrition-embracing you.
Are there any juice plans I can follow?
If you’re not ready to go at it all alone, you can follow a set juicing regime, which is particularly useful if you have certain goals in mind. Do you want to loose weight? Clear up skin? Then there will be a plan for you.
A popular juicing plan is Jason Vale’s 5:2 Juice Diet. Yes, that’s the 5:2 of the juice world. Jason's plan goes beyond counting calories and combines some of the science with delicious recipes to help you reach your targets and give your health a boost.
To get started with this, see HERE.
Is juicing safe?
As long as you limit your cleanse to 1-3 days at time, juicing is perfectly safe.
Shona advises: “Stick to between 1 and 3 days’ duration unless you are working with a nutritionist or other health practitioner.”
She also recommends trying a cleanse during the warmer months, when cooling juices will seem more of a welcome refreshment than a punishment.
Before you drop everything for the juice, it's recommended you talk to your doctor if you have any existing health problems, as with any change to your diet or detox.
Juice Recipes
While there are literally recipes by the thousands to follow, you're bound to find a handful you both love and that are great for what you need.
If you're keen to blitz up your own blend, Shona recommends "sticking to a majority of vegetable juices (with perhaps an apple or some carrots to sweeten them) to avoid the high amounts of natural sugar that can be present in fruit juices."
As a basic body to follow, Faith from SWITCH recommeds the following formula:
- Pick a base - leafy greens are a good start, so try spinach, curly kale, romaine lettuce, swiss chard or cucumber.
- Next, add in some fresh fruit - start with apple, banana, mango or pineapple.
- If you like, you could add in some frozen berries for an extra vitamin boost. Another tip is to try freezing berries, or chunks of banana, and then you don’t have to add in ice cubes to make the smoothie nice and cold. Ice cubes can dilute the flavour, so far better to use frozen fruit. It is often cheaper to buy fruits frozen, so consider this when you do your next shop.
- Now comes the fun bit - the extras! A little bit like a meal, try to add in some nuts, seeds or other flavourings.
Need more guidance? Try one of these recipes instead:
**[RECIPE: Lemon detox drink](http://lifestyle.o
ne/closer/diet-body/diet-recipes/recipe-lemon-detox-drink/)**