Juicing Vs. Juice Fasting
Juicing and Juice fasting has become a major health ‘craze’ in the past few years, and I often work with clients who want to do a cleanse or green juice fast, and want to know if it’s safe for them, how to do it to get the most benefits and minimize side effects, etc. Even for those people where an full juice fast is contraindicated, meaning not safe for them because of a specific health issue, adding in fresh vegetable and fruit into your regular diet is a great way to get many of the same benefits of juicing vegetables, huge antioxidant value (for example, who can eat 3 pounds of spinach and 30 raw carrots in one sitting!!?) and is a great way to start the day, on it’s own or as part of a light breakfast. Fresh veggie and fruit juice also makes a great in between meal snack, and including greens is detoxifying and helps your liver work at its best!
So onec you are equipped with your juicer at home, you can try out some juice combos to see what your taste buds like best!
How much Juice should I ‘Eat’ Per Day?
The short answer is as much as you want! You can’t really eat too much juice, especially if you are doing a juice fast. For a juice fast, where you are eating ONLY the juice and no other foods, you want to aim for at least 7-11 cups (8 oz. each) of juice per day, PLUS 3 full cups (8 oz. each) of good quality water per day. If you are just adding green juice into your regular diet, I have up to 3 a day some days when I need extra energy, but otherwise usually just one large serving, about 12 oz in the midafternoon:)
Below are a few veggie & fruit combos I really like for juicing. You will notice I have mixed some fruits in with the veggies to make them more palatable. You want to eat mostly veggies in your juice, but feel free to mix in smaller percentages of fruits too!
Juicing Recipes:
Note: for maximum detox benefits, use only veggies in your juices, no fruit!
Spinach Leaves
Beetroot and beetroot tops (optional–these can be bitter so use more beetroot than tops to start off with!)
1-2 pitted apricots
Carrot
beetroot
ginger
orange
carrot
ginger
Carrot
Taro
Spinach
Celery
lettuce
strawberry
Beetroot
watermelon
mint
carrot
Basil (or other herb you like the taste of!)
Carrot
broccoli
freshly chopped herbs of your choice
cucumber
watermelon