Most experts agree you need 6-8 servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Juicing is a great way to (literally) squeeze in multiple servings in one delicious go. By rotating the vegetables you include, you can also consume a wider variety than you normally enjoy whole. How about a carrot, fennel and lemon juice to kick the start the day?

Why Juice?

• As mentioned, it’s an easy way to boost your fruit and vegetable intake. But there are other benefits. First – juice is raw food. Micronutrients get damaged when we cook foods, so juicing is a way to avoid that – you get all the goodness nature intended from the vitamins, minerals and phyto-nutrients in your fresh glass of juice.
• Juicing helps you absorb more nutrients, because it essentially “pre-digests” the vegetables for you. Stress and poor food choices mean that many of us have compromised digestive function, so this additional help with absorption is really important.
• Juicing allows you to consume a large and wide variety of vegetables in an efficient (and tasty) manner.

What to juice?

Generally, it’s better to juice vegetables than fruits. This is because of the high sugar content of fruit. Specifically, fruits content a sugar called fructose, which is associated with lots of negative health effects, including dental caries, insulin resistance, weight gain, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. The exception to this rule, is lemons and limes, which have very little fructose, and add a lovely zing to juices!

Try to juice organic vegetables as much as possible. If that is difficult or costly – just make sure to wash produce really well, to remove any possible pesticide residues.

• Start with celery, fennel and cucumbers, which are tasty and easily digestible
• Consider adding red and green lettuce, endive and spinach
• Cabbage and bok choi are more bitter, but provide large amounts of vitamin C
• When you’re ready for the big guns, add one to leaves of kale, collard greens, dandelion or mustard greens, all of which are very bitter, but are nutrient powerhouses
• To give your juice a bit of zing, try adding a quarter lemon or lime
• Spice it up with a piece of fresh ginger
• Or add some fresh herbs from the garden – try mint, parsley, cilantro or basil.
• Carrots and beets, as well as all fruits, should be used cautiously because of their high fructuse levels

Here are a few recipes to get you started:

Captain Kale
2 large kale leaves
2 celery sticks
A large handful of mixed lettuce leaves
A quarter bulb of fennel
1 green apple
¼ lime

Green Goodness
2 large kale leaves
2 celery sticks
1 carrot
1 kiwi
A quarter bulb of fennel

Purple Pick-Me-Up
2 beetroots
2 carrots
2 green apples
2 large handfuls of spinach
A small handful of basil leaves
¼ lemon