5 Simple Juicing Recipes for Detoxification

Juicing is a healthy way to get the nutrients in fresh fruits and vegetables without having to eat many platefuls of food. It can be a great way to cleanse and detoxify your body, and summer is an excellent time to do this, as there are so many delicious fresh fruits and vegetables available. (I just got a juicer as a wedding present, and will be trying some of these out myself soon! I'll report back on my favorites....)

Be sure to choose only organic ingredients for all of your juices, so you aren't squeezing pesticides or other chemicals into your drink!

There are no hard and fast rules with juicing, so you can get creative and experimental with your juicing and have some fun with it!

Here are some easy and delicious recipes to get you started:

1. Green Morning Pick-Me-Up

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For two servings, put into your juicer:

-1/2 a ripe pear
-1/2 an apple
-1 small bunch of kale (you can also use spinach)
-1 small cucumber

2. Citrus Cooler

The pineapple in this gives it a refreshing, sweet flavor.

-1 orange
-1/2 grapefruit
-1 slice fresh pineapple
Serves 1

3. Green Vegetable Juice

-1 small cucumber
-1 small bunch spinach
-1 stalk celery
-1 small apple or pear
Serves 1

4. Red Vegetable Juice

-1 medium tomato
-3-4 leaves of green cabbage
-1 stalk celery
-1 garlic clove
-1 slice of onion, about 1/4-inch thick
-1 small handful of fresh parsley

After juicing the above, add sea salt or cayenne pepper to taste.  A squeeze of lemon juice can enhance this, too. (It's like a home-made V-8!)

5. Melon Juice

For one serving, put the following into your juicer:

-1 slice ripe cantaloupe
-1 slice ripe honeydew melon
-1 slice watermelon

Add lemon juice to taste if you like.

Any leftover juice can be frozen in ice cube trays, then mixed in your blender to make a refreshing, slushy smoothie. Another option is to freeze leftovers into popsicle molds - great for a cool, healthy pick-me-up on a hot summer day!

Review: The Big Book of Juices

More and more people turn to juicing to improve their overall health. Juicing doesn't have to be boring either - there are so many options for you and your family to try and enjoy. I am sure that you'll soon find many favorites.

Cover via Amazon

I particularly like The Big Book of Juices. It's jam-packed with delicious and healthy fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and other thirst-quenching drinks. All told, there are over 400 recipes. It'll show you that you can pretty much juice any fruit and vegetable: from celery to broccoli, kale and passionfruit and mango. If you don't have a juicer yet, now is the time to invest in a good one, as most recipes in this book require a juicer. However some of them can be made in a blender. 

The book is divided into different chapters: Juice basics, Making Juices, Making Smoothies, Making Quenchers and Juicing reference. In addition, each recipe is graded on five different areas: Detox, Immunity, Digestion, Skin and Energy. This gives you an idea on how a particular drink helps your overall well-being. The photographs in this book are absolutely gorgeous and very appetizing - they'll make you want to get juicing right away.

Overall, this is a beautiful juicing book full of delicious drinks. I would certainly recommend this to anybody who is new to juicing or people who are already juicing but need inspiration.

Where to buy: www.amazon.com 

How & Why To Get Started Juicing Now

Everyone tells you that drinking juice is okay but not as good as a piece of fruit. This may be true. However, today we are talking about vegetables. Vegetable juice is good for many reasons, and can be just as tasty as fruit juice. You can also combine fruit and vegetable juices for even more yummy flavor combinations.

Get Your Five a Day

Fruits and vegetables (Photo credit: nutrilover)

We all hear about the food pyramid and what we need to eat for proper nutrition. For optimal health, the main part of your diet should be. Just five servings a day will yield vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are essential to keep the body running properly - but if you want optimal health, you will want to eat even more than this. New recommendations run in the range of 7-10 servings per day. Also, if you want to lose weight, eating healthy allows you to eat more for fewer calories, and still feel full.

But, for many, eating five to ten servings of vegetables a day is not so easy. A busy schedule can sabotage your healthy eating habits. In an effort to get what you need, you can try juicing.

According to nutritional guidelines, a serving of vegetables is equal to ¾ cup of vegetable juice. You will catch a break with juice and you can drink it in half the time that it takes to eat some vegetables - plus it's easy to take with you when you're on the go.

Commercial Vegetable Juices

Be careful when choosing juices from the store. They can contain hidden sugars and other additives so read labels carefully. Choose an organic vegetable juice that contains lots of different vegetables: green leafy veggies, carrots, tomatoes, herbs and others.

Many vegetable juices can help you make up the numbers for your daily servings. Just keep in mind that juice is not meant to be a substitute but a supplement. If you can only eat three or four servings a day, adding juice can give you two or three more. The goal is to try and up your natural intake of vegetables.

A benefit of commercial vegetable juices is the variety. Vegetables that you might not otherwise have tried to  juice are included and so are their nutrients. However, keep in mind that they will never be as fresh or nutritious as juices you make yourself at home.

Cucumber, celery & apple juice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Homemade Vegetable Juices

Another choice for vegetable juice is to get your own juicer. The advantage here is that you know exactly what is in each drink you make, and the vegetables you juice will be fresh. There are no preservatives. You can make up a fresh cup of vegetable juice whenever you want one.

Secondly, fresh vegetables have a marvelous taste. Many people haven’t even tasted the natural sweetness of vegetables. Juicing them gives you a chance to taste what they are really all about.

Thirdly, you can experiment with your own combinations. Try carrots with kale or pumpkin. How about spinach, lemongrass and dandelion greens? Juice one vegetable at a time and taste it. Mix a bit of one with another to see what you like.

Vegetable juice can help you to increase your daily intake of vegetables. If you are having a hard time fitting it all in, here is a way to help you. Buy commercial juices that don’t contain added sugars. And for a more natural taste and even more nutrients, invest in a juicer and make your own.

A Few Good Juicers: