We all know eating more fruit and vegetables is good for us, and one way to get more into your diet is with juices and smoothies. The difference between juices and smoothies is that smoothies blend the whole fruit and vegetables and therefore retain the fibre; a juicer will take out the fibre in the juicing process.  

When you juice, the juicer extracts the water and nutrients – leaving behind the pulp. Given the lack of fibre juices provide an almost immediate energy boost. Most of the vitamins and minerals are found in the juice rather than the fibrous pulp meaning they can be absorbed into the body more efficiently. 

Additionally, over the Christmas period you may have indulged in more food than you would have liked, and a juice is the perfect way to give the digestive system a rest as it doesn’t have to work too hard. Juicing also has the benefit in that it provides a far higher range of nutrients from leafy greens and vegetables than you would normally blend or eat in such quantity. 

This recipe for a Classic Green Juice is a great way to start with juicing as it provides the nutrients from the leafy greens, spinach and kale, sweetness from the apple and some zest from the orange, lemon and ginger, particularly if you have had a little too much to drink on New Year’s Eve!

Once you get the hang of juicing, you can play around with ingredients; I often use a base of green leaves and then add in a variety of different fruit and vegetables!  

Ingredients for a Classic Green Juice

large handful spinach

handful of kale

2 apples

1 orange

½ lemon 

2 stalks of celery 

½ thumb sized ginger root 

Method for Classic Green Juice

Start with the spinach and kale – a good tip is to try and roll the leaves into a ball in your hands before feeding through the juicer.  Cut the apples in half to juice, peel the orange and lemon before juicing, lastly juice the celery and ginger root.

Drink immediately and enjoy!