Incorporating freshly made juices into your diet is a simple way to enhance beauty, health and general wellbeing. They are packed with so many useful vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that it seems a shame not to benefit from their natural bounty. But remember some general guidelines that will help you not to injure your health. Juicing should be health-giving!
Children
Pay attention that juice recommendations given for adults do not apply to children. Children younger than thirteen should not drink more than 5 fl oz / 145ml of raw juice a day, and should always drink their juice diluted with water. Teenagers can begin to drink undiluted juices, but no more than one to two servings per day. Dilution is necessary because fresh juices can be rather thick in consistency and strong in taste, are always very concentrated, and may be too potent for young digestive systems.
Adults
Adult digestive systems can cope better with undiluted juice, but many of us find that we prefer to drink juices diluted too. As a general rule, unless you are very used to drinking raw fruit and vegetable juices, don't drink more than three 8 fl oz / 230ml glasses of juice a day. And do remember to vary your intake, so that you benefit from a broad spectrum of nutrients.
Extras
You can zip any of juices up with additions like fresh herbs (such as coriander, mint, oregano, marjoram, and basil) and fresh and ground spices (such as ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and liquorice sticks). You can also add honey for extra sweetness, wheatgerm (an excellent source of vitamin E and the B complex group of vitamins), plain live yogurt (excellent for the digestive system), or semi-skimmed milk to turn them into milk shakes. For extra energy you can blend in some mashed banana or avocado, both high in minerals, particularly potassium.
Remember these general guidelines:
- Juicing novices can drink up to three 8 fl oz / 230ml glasses of juice a day, but veterans can drink up to six (their bodies will be more used to the potent effects of juice).
- Don't mix vegetable and fruit juices, or you may experience uncomfortable flatulence or bloating. The exceptions are apple and carrot.
- Vary your juice intake throughout the week. In particular, don't overdo the strong green juices (such as spinach and watercress) or the citrus juices which have a very strong cleansing effect. Stick to one 8fl oz / 230ml glass of these juices three to four times a week.
- Stick to vegetable rather than fruit juices if you suffer from diabetes, low blood sugar or candidiasis.
- If you want to make your own variation of juice recipe, remember that carrot and apple juices are very good mixers.
