The regular consumption of fresh vegetable juice is one of the very best gifts that you can give to your body.

Freshly juiced vegetables (also referred to as fresh green drinks containing ingredients such as cucumber, celery, spinach, lettuce, sprouts, kale, pak choi, broccoli, cabbage, parsley etc.) give your body an instant boost of nutrients, enzymes, vitamins and minerals in a form that the body can easily assimilate, absorb and digest – in fact, studies have shown that the nutrients from juiced vegetables are within our bloodstream within 30 minutes of consumption!

At the most basic level, juicing allows us to add so many more vegetables to our daily diet, and to up the amount of raw food we consume giving the body energy and boosting the immune system and the body’s cleansing process.

Of course, vital to all of this is your definition of ‘juice’! ‘The Benefits of Juicing’ defines juice as being "water, flavours, pigments, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and nutrients... working synergistically to give your body the materials that promote healing, energy, and protection from disease." This obviously rules out packaged juices such as cartons of ‘fresh’ orange juice, Nudie-type juices or any other juice that has been packaged, pasteurised or made more than twenty minutes before consumption. If nothing else, the sheer length of time between creation and consumption is enough to kill any nutrients and enzymes in these juices. However when you consider that most prepackaged juices are pasteurised (killed) and packed with sugars, sweeteners and other chemicals you can begin to understand why they do not really count as ‘juice’. Better than Coke? Probably, yes. But these are still not beneficial to your health.

Why Juice?

If it is not obvious already then I hope that these points will help you decide to make vegetable juicing a permanent part of your lifestyle:

- Green juices contain lots of chlorophyll which is incredibly effective in detoxifying our bodies. Chlorophyll can help make our bodies strong, detoxify the liver, can purify and help to rebuild our blood cells (as the molecular structure is very similar to haemoglobin which moves oxygen through our blood), remove mold, parasites and myco/exotoxins from the body and (as many, many studies show) can help prevent and remove cancer cells.

- According to macrobiotic.co.uk – one of the biggest health benefits of juicing can be summarised in one phrase: cellular cleansing. According to Steve Meyerowitz (the Sprout Man!) all changes to a persons health should start at a cellular level by oxygenating and cleansing the system of toxins and other damaging foreign invaders. This is known as creating and enhancing health and fitness from the inside out. The cellular environment is the environment where all of the cells in our body live, including the lymphatic system, digestive system, and cardiovascular system. This could be a whole article in itself, however, it is important to remember that fresh vegetable juices are massively beneficial to the body’s efforts to cleanse its cellular environment.

- Raw, fresh vegetable juices are extremely alkaline. We have several other articles on the importance of alkalising your body, however, very briefly – it is highly beneficial to ensure that your body does not become over-acidic and that an alkaline balance is maintained in the blood & tissues. Over acidification is the common theme and cause of almost all conditions of ill health!

- As mentioned, raw vegetable juices/ green drinks are an excellent source of vitamins & minerals, trace elements, enzymes and nutrients which supply essential elements required for the body’s healing processes and cell regeneration.

- Vegetable juices are rich in natural medicines, vegetal hormones & antibiotics. For instance, certain hormones needed by the pancreas to produce insulin are present in cucumber & onion juices and freshly juiced garlic, onions, radish & tomatoes contain many beneficial antibiotic substances.

- Easily absorbed organic minerals such as calcium, potassium & silicon are contained within fresh vegetable juice. These minerals assist the body in restoring the biochemical & mineral balance in the tissues & cells, which helps to prevent the premature aging of cells & disease.

This list could easily go on and on…but I don’t think that it needs to – isn’t this reason enough to start juicing!?

How to Start Juicing

The obvious starting place is with the juicer itself. If you already own a juicer – excellent – if not, I would probably do whatever it takes (within legal and moral limits!) to get access to one. Basically, beg, steal or borrow (without the stealing bit).

There are literally thousands of juicers available on the market and it can seem a little overwhelming at first when trying to find the juicer that is right for you. When you are looking it could be important to consider the following:

- What can I afford right now?
Prices range from between £60 to £1000+ with a large bulk being in the £60-£300 range. I certainly would think carefully before spending more than £300 on a juicer, however it is certainly true to suggest that in the instance of juicers you definitely do get what you pay for.

- What juicer action will be best for me?
In other words, how does the machine juice the vegetables? Personally I would steer clear of anything that is too harsh on the vegetables (which almost certainly rules out many centrifugal juicers). The cheaper units can be a little rough, however if you shop around then you can definitely get a juicer with an action that will retain the most nutrients for around the £100-250 mark.

- What features are you looking for?
Do you want it to just juice? Do you want it to be able to juice grasses (such as wheat grass)? Do you want it to be, above all, easy to clean and maintain? Do you want it to look shiny?

At Energise for Life, we are constantly on the look out for new juicers which we feel push the boundaries in terms of value for money and/or features.

At present, we recommend the following juicers which cover all types of juicing :

What to Juice

Basically, almost anything that is a vegetable and is fresh, organic and preferably green can and should be juiced. Some like to add fruit to their juices (and although this is a discussion that will rage on in health circles) it is not beneficial to add too much fruit to your diet due to the amounts of sugar they contain. Sugary vegetables such as carrots and beetroot are fine in moderation unless you are on a cleanse or detox.

Any of the following would be great in a juice:

- Lettuce (romaine, little gem, round, iceberg or any other!)
- Endive
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Kale
- Spinach
- Broccoli (and stalk/stem)
- Herbs
- Chard
- Spinach
- Cabbage
- Bok Choi
- Garlic (but check your juicer can handle it, cheaper juicers will make everything that goes through it taste like garlic forevermore – believe me!)
- Sprouts
- Fresh ginger
- Essential oils (such as Udo’s Choice and Flax Seed Oil)
- Wheat grass
- Watercress

I’m sure you get the picture!

Juicing is an ideal way to start the day and I have fresh vegetable juice for breakfast, usually followed by a green drink such as Alkalive Greens or Beyond Greens throughout the morning. As soon as have a fresh juice, I am certainly wide awake, no matter what time I wake up or how much sleep I have had. Quite often I like to have another juice or two throughout the day, but when you are starting out, as is always best practice, start slowly and listen to your body, although the benefits of juicing should become apparent quite quickly.

If you are thinking of going on a cleanse or a detox, juicing will become a big part of your day – so why not start now?

Before I sign off, I believe that it is important to add that juicing does remove fiber from food so remember to maintain a healthy balanced diet in order to ensure that you still get enough fiber into your body. Unless on a cleanse - raw, whole vegetables, nuts, sprouts etc should always be a part of your daily consumption as these will ensure that your body is receiving the fiber it needs to digest foods properly and reduce the risk of illness.

Good luck and happy juicing! Remember if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us (enquires@energiseforlife.com) and we will do our very best to answer you as honestly and openly as possible.