Everyone who knows me knows what a big advocate I am of juicing and smoothies. Buying a juicer is one of the best investments I’ve ever made as I love juicing. I only have a basic juicer but it’s made a huge difference to my nutrition.
There has been some bad press about juices and smoothies as they’re full of sugar, but I’d like to point out these studies have been done on shop-bought smoothies and juices that have been pasteurised and have lost their nutritional content, not freshly made juices.
Pasteurised juices have been heated up and all the nutrients have been killed, so in essence you are drinking a glass of sugar. In some parts of the country you can buy fresh juice or cold-pressed juice, or order it from companies online. Sometimes I make my juices in advance and freeze them.
There’s a lot of conflicting information about whether this depletes the nutritional value, and of course the best option is to make your juice fresh and drink it immediately, but if this isn’t possible then I think that if you have to make your juices in advance or freeze them, this is still a better option than eating something unhealthy. It’s about making the best decision with the time and resources you have.
Smoothies are also great, and you blend the fruit whole so you can get extra fibre and nutrients from it. A lot of people are using nutri-bullets to make their smoothies these days, but a good old fashioned blender will also do the trick!
In my opinion, this a quick and easy way to get your 5 a day, reduce inflammation in your body and feed your body nutrients to boost your energy.
MY ADVICE
The recipe below is for one of my favourite green smoothies.
Serves 1:
1 medium apple, sliced but unpeeled
2 slices fresh pineapple, peeled
2 large handfuls of spinach or kale
½ avocado, peeled and stone removed
⅓ cucumber, unpeeled
2 sticks of celery
1/2 lemon, peeled
Wash the apple, spinach or kale, cucumber and celery. Blend the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Add some water or coconut water to thin out based on your preference.