The weeks leading up to Christmas, Christmas itself and also New Years Eve have been filled with temptations and I did not feel like saying no to most of them.

Needless to say that I had to endure a couple of headaches and my digestion is not at its best and with that my mood.

So one week into January I really felt the urge to jump onto the happy healthy wagon again.

As a result this morning the juicer got his first spin of the  year and produced the most delicious, dark ruby red juice: tangy, sweet, slightly bitter, slightly spicy and a powerhouse of nutrients.

What a joy to start the day with such a healthy boost! And actually prepping the fruit and veggies and afterwards cleaning the juicer is not too bad, but in my mind I often made it sound cumbersome and then juice did not happen.

Today was different, because i have a big ‚why’! I know I want to feel great in my skin again so that I can live to the fullest and so that I can help you do the same!

So let me tell you what makes juice so great for us and what was in mine today.

Juicing extracts 70% of the goodness from a plant minus the insoluble fiber, so it’s super easily digestible and all the vitamins and minerals and phytonutrients get into our bloodstream within minutes, starting to do their miracle work in our cells.

Just some of the positive results to which consuming raw juices might contribute are:

• Increases energy
• Alkalizes the body
• Reduces cravings
• Improves immune system
• Helps loosing weight

Since it reduces cravings it is one of the best things to do when you want to change your nutrition in order to eliminate your headaches or migraines or other health issues. When you add juicing to your routine you will find sticking to a new way of eating much easier.

But back to the juices and what could be a drawback:

Since the insoluble fiber is not present anymore juices can spike blood-sugar levels, so it is helpful to have a high vegetable /low fruit ratio. Also not going overboard with root vegetables like red beets and carots is worth considering.

Generally there seems to be some agreement that green juices are considered best, as dark leafy greens are filled with flavonoid antioxidants, Vitamin C, K, B6, E, Magnesium, Calcium and much more.

However there is also some controversy around the content of oxalates in kale and other fruits and vegetables. Some recommend to only consume those when they are steamed or cooked to reduce oxalate impact, but it seems to be an ongoing debate.

As often there are so many different opinions out there, so I choose to consume raw kale in moderation, I don’t add it to every juice or smoothie but rather rotate the fruits and veggies I use.

Everything in balance is a good rule of thumb

Some examples for green juice combinations are:

• For the beginner: 2 handful of spinach leaves, 1 cucumber, 2 apples, ½ lemon
• Advanced: 4 kale leaves, 2 sticks of celery, 1/2 cucumber, 1 apple, ½ lemon
• Hardcore: 8 kale leaves, 3 apples, 1 lemon, a piece of a fresh chili pepper or a small piece of fresh ginger

My juice today was more of a gentle ease into the juicing again, so I did base it on root vegetables. It made over 34 ounces/ 1 litre and we had half of it in the morning, half in the afternoon instead of a coffee.

• 2 large beets
• ½ cucumber
• 2 carots
• 4 small apples
• 1 grapefruit
• 1 mandarine
• 1 lemon (including ½ of the peel)
• 1 inch of ginger

One general tip: there are some fat-soluble vitamins, like Vitamin A, so if you want to help the absorption of those add a few drops of sesame oil or another high quality oil to the juice. If you want to avoid blood sugar spikes you can eat something with a healthy fat and protein with or shortly after the juice. However in this way the absorption of the juice is not optimal.

As always it is your own responsibility to find out what is best for you and see how you feel.

If you suffer from diabetes or take blood thinner medication or any other medication please speak with your doctor before starting to consume juices. For example the Vitamin K in dark leafy greens can be counterindicative if you are on blood thinners.

So, I aim to have a freshly prepared juice at least 3 times a week.

What about you? Are you joining me?

Do you want some more juice recipes?

You can find a free e-book with 2 juice recipes and many other recipes here.

Happy thoughts!

Martina