Cleansing Water

This was easy peasy lemon squeeze. Like to toes. The untouched lemon helps cleanse the body of impurities by cleansing the kidneys and it also has antibacterial properties. The mint eases digestion (like big style) and reduces any irritation in the bowel. It's also super easy to grow. And the cucumber has diuretic properties so helps to flush out waste and toxins. And the water...... well we're 90% water so that's just elementary. Make this and leave in the fridge to come home to after a long day in office.

You'll need.....

200g fresh mint leaves
1 cucumber
2 lemons
2 litres of water

You'll need to......

Wash the mint, cucumber and lemon. And remove the skins of the lemons and cucumber and slice both.

Get a jug or preferably something with a lid and add in your ingredients and your two litres of water.

Leave for at least two hours until the cleansing properties have started seeping into the water.

Keep for no more than two days. You'll get at least a good four drinks out of it.

Chai Tea

Bye bye Red Bull, this ancient Ayurvedic recipe is the best thing for boosting mind and muscle that ever there was. This special little drink, tastes great, makes you feel even better and is free of all artificial chemicals etc. Furthermore....... it puts a big spring in the step and the smile.

You'll need.....

3 cinnamon sticks
A teaspoonful of fresh, crushed ginger
4 cardamon pods
6 cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
1 litre of water

Honey to sweeten

You'll need to...........

Turn on a ring up to high, pour in the water and throw in the ingredients listed above, save the honey

Once it starts to boil you can turn the ring off altogether.

Then strain with a sieve to get rid of all the pods and cloves and bits and bobs.

Serve in a cup, a glass, any vessel....... and put in about two teaspoons of honey to taste.

You can keep it sealed in a bottle for ages and then reheat when using or you can drink it cold either.

Orange, Strawberry and Melon AND Mango Juice

Now the thing about juicing is that you're basically eliminating all the work your body has to do in digesting and having to extract all the goodness from the fruit or veg, so instead your sending pure liquid fuel directly to your nutrient absorbing pillars in your digestive system.....

Because fruit is all sugar you're injecting loads of sugar.......... straight into your body so it's best to juice vegetables not fruit.......

But in all in anyways a blistering hot day in summer cannot be much further improved than by drinking this juice poured over big, clinking ice cubes.

You'll need......

1/2 punnet of strawberries
2 oranges
1/2 a melon
1 mango (this makes it really smooth)

You'll need to............

Peel the oranges
Wash and hull the strawberries
Skin the melon and remove the seeds
Skin the mango and get slices out of it

Juice them all slowly

Leave in the fridge to cool and pour over ice when serving........

Green Super Juice

So a green juice is power packed with nutrition......

All the goodness they possess is extracted by the juicer, the roughage is removed and all the vitamins and minerals are delivered direct to your digestive system ready, not to be digested, but ready to be absorbed immediately.

You'll get your 5-a-day in one quick blast, without much thought or effort and once you're in the swing of things you'll forget you're up 5 minutes earlier each morning to get your juice made.

It's all raw so no nutrients are lost. But do make it daily so it's as fresh as possible.

Getting lots of raw greens is linked to reducing risk of age-related brain decline.

So I put in kale, spinach, apples (just 2 small ones for sweetness sake), celery and cucumber.

There's no work involved bar rinsing the veg and apples, cutting the apples up into quarters, chopping off the ends of the celery and cutting your piece of cucumber in two.

So what's so good about.....

Spinach.....

• It's nutrient dense first off.
•  It's packed with flavanoids that act as antioxidants which protects the body from free radicals - so anti-cancer substances
• It's a good source of vitamin C, B6, B2, especially K and then minerals like magnesium (good for energy and mood), folate, iron and calcium.
• It has anti-inflammatory properties -  so if you have arthritis
• And also it's really good for the colon and digestive system in general

Kale........

• Like spinach it has the magnesium for the mood and energy
• It also aids digestion
• It has loads of iron and so helps transport oxygen to the various parts of the body
• It has lots of vitamin A which is good for skin and eyesight
• It can help lower cholestrol
• It's also a great detox food, the sulphur in it helps to clean out your busy liver

Cucumber......

• It's a quick pick-me-up because it has lots of B vitamins
• Now not as dense as the kale and spinach as they're 95% water but this high H2O content means they help hydrate the body and bulk up the juice
• Leave the skin on - as it has lots of vitamin C
• It gets rid of toxins in the digestive tract
• Reduces cholesterol
• Helps to control blood pressure
• And also helps to eliminate smelly breath

Celery........

• Now this little pony is great...... it is very alkaline-y - so it equalises the body's PH, so if you find you bloat or have any digestive issues this will ease the acidity.
• It has very special essential oils which help regulate the nervous system and keep you good and calm
• It's a diuretic so stimulates urine production ridding the body of excess fluids
• Helps to break up and eliminate any gall stones from the bladder

Apples..........

• An apple a day..... helps reduce development of gallstones
• Gives you a healthier heart
• Reduces cholesterol
• Neutralise irritable bowel syndrome
• Boosts the immune system

Now because there is zero oil of any kind and with the juicer all the pulps gets sent off to a little box, the clean is minimal. Just bin the pulp and rinse the parts with water.

This is so so so so so worth, all these nutrients, with such little effort, your body will start thanking you after a day, after a week it will adore you and keep it up for good and you'll probably live forever.

Make juicing a habit.