Make Your Own Juices and Smoothies

If you’re following a detox diet the chances are most of your favourite drinks are banned for the duration. If water just isn’t enough, why not try making your own raw juices and smoothies? Food and drink combined, this great DIY approach to detox means you can choose the fruits (and vegetables) you like to whip up a tasty, nutritious drink at the whizz of a blender.

Raw Deal

Raw fruit and vegetable juices are jam-packed with nutrients, including enzymes and trace elements in addition to all the vitamins and minerals that you’d expect. Easily digested, the goodness from raw juices and smoothies gets straight to work within our bodies through the bloodstream.

First Things First

Not all fruits and vegetables are made equal, so make sure you buy organic produce to make your juices and smoothies, otherwise you’ll be defeating the object of your detox. Seasonal produce will taste better and have flown fewer air miles, so try to work with, not against nature in your choice of foods.

Tools Of The Trade

To make juices and smoothies successfully you’ll need to invest in a juicer or blender. Don’t feel you need to spend a lot of money, but do opt for an easy to clean product, otherwise your zest for juicing will quickly fade. You’ll need to clean the blender every time you use it, which during your detox will be frequently.

Fun With Fruits

When juicing fruits, feel free to experiment and create your own recipes. Use any fruits you can find, combining exotic and home-grown produce. Apples are a good staple ingredient, so try combining them with berries, bananas or citrus fruits to get you started. Remember to peel thick skinned fruits, and remove cores and seeds before you pop them in your blender.

Eat Your Greens

Juicing vegetables is a great way to get essential nutrients if you don’t like to eat them whole. When you start drinking vegetable juices, try carrots, celery and other more basic produce, adding more variety over time. Your body will not be used to such a high and easily absorbed vegetable intake, so to avoid stomach upsets, make sure you start slowly and add in green vegetables gradually – these are more potent.

Take Care

As with any significant diet change, drinking raw juices and smoothies will not be suitable for everybody. Fruit juices are high in natural sugars, so if you are diabetic be sure to talk to your doctor before you up your fruit intake. Pregnant and breast feeding women should also seek advice before beginning any diet that increases fruit and vegetable intake significantly, or that recommends any other considerable change in habit.

Juicing is a fantastic and painless way of getting at least your five a day. While you may find you only want to try some of your recipes once, the more successful combinations will easily become part of your daily diet, leading to a healthier, fresher lifestyle even when your detox is complete.