Juice Recipes - Part 3

Juice Recipes for Detox

The detox industry is huge, with centers for drug and alcohol detox. Detox diets are big business too. But what does detox actually mean? The first thing that we should understand is that detox is an abbreviation of the word detoxification. Dictionary.com provides the following definitions for detoxification and detox respectively:

A medically supervised treatment program for alcohol or drug addiction designed to purge the body of intoxicating or addictive substances and used as a first step in overcoming physiological or psychological addiction.

treatment designed to rid the body of poisonous substances, esp alcohol and drugs

As far as the dictionary is concerned, there is much more emphasis placed on drugs and alcohol than anything else. However, many health conscious people as well as armchair pundits advocate detox diets and detox juice recipes. But is this an evidenced based approach or is it simply jumping on the detox bandwagon? From my own research into the topic, there is much more fluff surrounding this topic than substance. It is my contention that juice recipes for detox are simply juice recipes for health. I believe the word detox has been hijacked by a combination of marketing, ignorance and follow the crowd mentality. So instead of being another advocate of this misty notion, I want to present a new way of thinking about detox juice recipes. My own ideas are closely aligned with a Voice of Young Science (VoYS) report titled Debunking Detox.

The report opens with the following claim:

The multi million pound detox industry sells products with little evidence to support their use. These products trade on claims about the body which are often wrong and can be dangerous.

Due to the lack of available scientific evidence to support claims of detox diets, I have always been sceptical of the marketing claims. The VoYS report goes a long way to debunking the myths surrounding detox. Below are my favorite quotes from this report. They give us a clearer understanding of the issues.

For maximum effectiveness after a period of indulgence, just follow three simple steps:

Have a glass of water to help you rehydrate.

Eat a balanced diet.

Get a good night’s sleep

Juicing can certainly be involved here. But are there specific detox recipes? Not really. If you have a hangover for instance, it would be wise to drink a mixed juice to get as wide a vitamin and mineral profile as possible. This will help you recover sooner rather than later. A large juice gives us more hydrating fluids too.

So rather than a juice recipe for detox, here is a juice recipe for a hangover.

Carrot, Orange and Ginger Juice

Carrots and oranges both contain a high water content so 2 or 3 carrots with 3 oranges and a chunk of ginger should be enough for about 500ml of juice. Beneficial for digestion, and full of vitamin A and C as well as providing potassium and magnesium. This is a great juice to start the day for good health, never mind “detox”.

Common claim made by the detox industry:

Toxins have built up in the body and need to be flushed/cleansed from it.

VoYS respond by saying:

Most chemicals do not accumulate in the body – they are removed by the liver and kidneys.

In some ways, I see detoxing as giving people false hope. If you live a Charlie Sheen lifestyle and “bang 7 gram rocks”, then you need a lot more than organic detox products and detox juice recipes. A complete change in lifestyle is required. Even if your excess is of a different order, for instance, a poor diet, going on a two or three day detox plan every month is not the right thing to do either. Again, it would be much more beneficial to your health to be drinking fruit and vegetable juices regularly, ideally every day, eating good food, exercising and getting sufficient sleep. Rather than seeing detox as the cure, perhaps it is better to just to live a healthy lifestyle.

Another choice quote (my emphasis):

Detox diets are often recommended after periods of excess. The best diet you can have at anytime is a normal, balanced diet.

Many people who believe in a detox diet and detox juices are not necessarily wrong. A lot of the so called detox foods are simply healthy foods. So it is no wonder that you can start to feel better when you go on a detox (diet). In many cases, it is simply an issue of terminology. Rather than thinking of detox, think of health. Instead of going on a detox diet, make changes to your eating habits, exercise and sleeping routine. This will make you feel healthier all the time. You will simply no longer have any need to detoxify your body because you’ll be in great condition!

The VoYS report concludes:

Detox products claim to help you counteract a busy lifestyle by removing ‘toxins’ that have built up in your body. The human body has evolved to get rid of unnecessary substances through your liver, kidneys, and colon. It isn’t possible to improve their function without medical assistance.

If you feel you need to detox, unless you are a drug addict or alcoholic, I suggest that what you really need is to get healthy. The first thing that you should do is to start eating more fruit and vegetables. Ideally you will have access to a juicer. Then you can create juices that will help to move you towards a healthier place. In some ways, if you are just beginning your juicing journey, getting healthy may feel a bit like detoxification.

Apple, Carrot and Ginger Juice

Try substituting oranges, from the recipe above, with apples. This makes the juice even sweeter. You may well find this too sweet once you have gotten used to drinking more vegetable juices. But as a juice to start off with, this is really good. The sweetness of the apples and carrots makes it easy to add some other vegetables to the mix which helps you to adjust your palette to the more earthy flavors.

I am interested to hear where you stand on the detox debate. Fact or fiction?

0 comments

Juice Recipes for Weight Loss

There is debate about the best kind of juice recipes to drink if you are trying to lose weight. Some people argue that you should only juice low glycemic index produce while others are of the view that it does not matter so much. Technically, you would probably have more success at weight loss with the former tactic. But the one thing that you have to bear in mind is that this involves a diet mentality. The mentality of denial. This is why taking a more holistic, long term approach may be the better option. Rather than avoiding certain fruits such as melons, raisins, plums and pinapples because they have a high glycemic index, it is much better for overall health to drink a fruit and vegetable juice than not. It is much better for us to consume fruits and vegetables each and every day than avoid doing so because we’re scared of high glycemic foods.

Our bodies run on sugar. Healthy sugars, which we get from fruits are not the enemy. Who ever got fat from eating an apple? I mean, if we go out and eat a Super Sized Big Mac meal we shouldn’t avoid eating a banana later in the day because we’d be eating too many calories. We need to get a grip of ourselves and realize that a lifetime of poor dietary choices is responsible for many of the health problems we see in the States today, for instance, type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease. We could cure ourselves, without drugs, if we just pay attention to what we’re putting into our mouths every day.

This is where juicing for health really can help. Fruits and vegetables are packed full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Not only that, fresh produce contains an abundance of phyto-nutrients and enzymes. Living plant foods are so much better for us than the dead processed junk we are used to. If you want to get healthy, you first need a decent juicing machine. Take your time, read through some reliable juicer reviews and then pick a machine that you feel comfortable with, then you’ll be much more likely to juice on a regular basis.

Rather than focussing too heavily on juice recpies for weight loss I think that it is a better idea to concern yourself with juice recipes for health. Indeed, any fruit and vegetable drink that you make yourself is going to be good for you.

That said, for those of you who are focussed on the weight loss side of things, here are a couple of serving suggestions that you might want to try.

Plain Carrot Juice

Pure simplicity. All you have to do is cut the tops off your carrots and then feed them into your juicer. Carrots are surprisingly sweet and make a great juice on their own. They also form a good base for all kinds of vegetable drinks. It is a good idea to add some carrots to your green drinks to sweeten them up a little. Carrot juice is good for our eyes and skin too. They are full of vitamin A and beta carotene. Drinking carrot juice regularly, gives our skin a healthy glow similar to a sun tan but better for us.

Grapefruit Juice

Another simple drink to make is straight up grapefruit juice. The grapefruit diet is recognized as being beneficial for weight loss. These citrus fruits are packed with vitamin C. This is a great drink to have in the morning. If you juice up 5 or 6 grapefruits, you’ll be so full from the juice that you won’t need to eat anything. This is the juicing double whammy! First of all, you get a ton of quality nutrition. On top of that, you’re not going to have any space left to cram in any junk calories.

Juice Fasting

This is an option that you might want to consider for weight loss or detoxing. It really is possible to lose tons of weight, the healthy way doing a juice fast. The thing is, you definitely want to consult your physician before embarking on this sort of health program. A really eye opening movie that has become quite famous recently is titled Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It follows the story of the film maker, Joe Cross as he completes a 60 Day juice fast. Then the movie gets even more interesting as truck driver Phil Staples embarks on a 60 Day juice fast and turns his whole life around. Check this out.

Joe Cross suggests that the best juicer is a Breville. But perhaps that is because both he and the Breville company are from Australia. By comparing centrifugal models with some masticating juicer reviews, you may well come to a different conclusion. All in all, it really just boils down to what sort of health drinks you’d like to make.