Healthy juices can be an acquired taste by which I mean that some can be downright disgusting!

Here are a couple of my favourite juice recipes, all of which I have naturally stolen from my wife!

We use organic fruit & vegetables in our juices. I personally think that if you’re going to go to the trouble of juicing for a health benefit you probably don’t want to juice something that has been sprayed with pesticides or weedkillers…

Organic Kale – courtesy of Evan-Amos

To Prepare – wash all fruit and veg thoroughly and chop into pieces that will suit your juicer and peel any citrus fruits you are using.

Drink the juice as soon after juicing as is feasible, immediately if possible.

Green Power Juice

4 Large stalks kale
3 Stalks celery
1 Apple
1/2 A Cucumber
1/2 A small bulb fennel
A handful of mangetout
A small handful of parsley
1 Lime

Carrot, spinach, beetroot and apples

3 Large carrots
1 Medium beetroot
1 Apple
4 Handfuls of spinach
1 Small piece of ginger

Apple, Beetroot, celery and carrot

4 Large carrots
1 Apple
2 Celery stalks
1 Beetroot
1 Small piece of ginger

Cucumber, celery, apple and lime

1 Large cucumber
2 Stalks celery
1 Apple
1 Lime

My juicer separates the fibres and spits it out into a second container – this is a magic concoction for composting. I’ll have to find use for all this organic compost one of these days….

Juicing is trending (whatever that is) according to the Huff Post I’m so damn trendy with my juicing!

There are a bewildering range of juicers to purchase and here is the upshot:

1. Centrifugal Juice Extractors
Traditionally, this is the most common type of juicer. These typically utilize a fast-spinning metal blade that spins against a mesh filter, separating juice from flesh via centrifugal force. The juice and pulp are then separated into different containers. The problem with centrifugal juicers is that the fast-spinning metal blade generates heat, which destroys some of the enzymes in the fruits and vegetables you’re juicing. The heat also oxidizes those nutrients, rendering less nutritious juice than a cold-press juicer.

2. Cold Press Juicers (a.k.a. Masticating Juicers)
These newer juicers extract juice by first crushing and then pressing fruit and vegetables for the highest juice yield. Because they don’t produce as much heat, they keep more of the fresh ingredients’ nutrients intact.

The lowdown:
Buy a centrifugal juicer if:
— You use the juice mostly for cooking, baking or other processes where heat will eventually be applied
— You’re not picky about getting maximum nutrients
— You’re trying to save cash

Buy a slow press juicer if:
— You’re into cleansing, making nut milks and green juices, and you like fresh juice
— You want to pack the most nutrients into your body as possible
— You don’t mind spending a few extra bucks

What I did:
I obeyed my wife and went with an Omega fruit and veg Juicer which is a masticating juicer and I can highly recommend it!

What they don’t tell you:
All juicers are fiddly to clean and need to be cleaned immediately and thoroughly after each use, which is obviously a bit of a pain…

My best suit seems to have shrunk in the wash and my jeans are now closing (with increasing difficulty) further and further down my hips…

Paul Simon once memorably said “Why am I soft in the middle? The rest of my life is so hard.”

As a middle aged white male facing the challenges of a softening midriff I’m going to explore juicing as an alternative to strenuous exercise or discipline!

I recently came across the rather contrived documentary by Joe Cross Fat Sick and Nearly Dead where he inexplicably decides to juice his way across America (even though he is Australian) and yet I found his story oddly compelling…