Health & Fitness

Following on from my post on from my post on Monday with my Beetroot Juice Cleanse, I thought I would share My Green Juice Cleanse Recipe.

I also thought it would be interesting to share a bit about why cold-pressed juices, are more beneficial than the shop bought juices, which more often than not have been pasteurized.

Cold pressing, on the other hand, extracts juice by first crushing the fruits and vegetables, and then pressing them to squeeze out the highest juice yield, all without using heat. This produces a drink that’s thicker and has about three to five times more nutrients than normal juice. The downside is that cold-pressed juices typically last for up to three days when refrigerated—if not, they develop harmful bacteria—so it’s crucial to buy them fresh and drink them quickly. ~ Shape 

Each of the juice cleanse recipes I am sharing, are made to my own taste and contain ingredients, which are important for me at this stage of my wellness journey. You can change the recipe up to suit your own taste and needs but I found the combinations I have created both healthy and tasty!

Some background on why I chose this particular combination of ingredients…for starters did you know Kiwifruit are high in vitamins, flavonoids and minerals. In particular, they contain a high amount of Vitamin C (more than oranges), as much potassium as bananas and a good amount of beta-carotene. They also help form Carnitine, which transports fats into cells to be burned as energy.

The phytonutrients found in unfiltered Green Apple Juice can help regulate blood sugar while reducing bad cholesterol levels and enhancing cardiovascular health. Unfiltered apple juice is an excellent source of Vitamin A, which helps to improve vision and Vitamin C, which is a great antioxidant, to help strengthen your immune system.

Pineapple juice contains enzymes that can help digest proteins and offer anti-inflammatory benefits.One cup of fresh pineapple chunks provides 131% of your vitamin C needs for the day, 2% of vitamin A needs, 2% of calcium and 2% of iron.

Celery Stalks are an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C with rich supplies of potassium, folate, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and plenty essential amino acids. Nutrients in the fiber are released during juicing, which help keep you regular!

Cucumber has an impressive amount of water (about 96%) that is naturally distilled, which makes it superior to ordinary water. Its skin contains a high percentage of vitamin A, so should not be peeled off. Cucumber contains alkaline-forming minerals and is an excellent source of vitamin C and A (anti-oxidants), folate, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, silica, sulfur, and lesser amounts of vitamin B complex, sodium, calcium, and phosphorus.

Ginger is a power house like no other! It is known to have more than twelve types of anti-oxidants, making it useful for treatment of many disorders and has way too many health benefits to list here!

Recipe:

• 1 Kiwi Fruit
• 2 Green Apples
• Half Pineapple
• 2 Stalks Celery
• 1 Small Cucumber or 1/3 Large Cucumber
• Knob of Ginger {this is very much to taste – I love lots of ginger!}
• 1/4 lemon

Remove outer skin from Pineapple and cut into chunks, remove the core from the apples and chop into chunks. Peel the Kwifruit and cut into quarters. Chop Cucumber leaving the skin on. Peel lemon and ginger. Slice the Celery stalks and you are ready to go. Using a juicer, I used my Bosch Electric Juicer, pass all the ingredients through, starting with the hardest component, in this case the apples, then add the rest of the ingredients. Once juiced add a splash of filtered water, if the juice is too thick and a few ice cubes.

Enjoy!