Over the past couple of years, juicing has become big business — and with good reason. Packing a nutrient punch into something portable, filling, and delicious, fresh juices make getting that healthy glow easy.
We spoke to Jason Vale, the juicemaster who is regularly referred to ‘the Jamie Olivier of juice’ about the health benefits, how to incorporate juice into your diet and more. He also shared some healthy recipes to get us started…
RESCU: What are the immediate benefits from adding fruit and vegetable juices to your diet?
Jason Vale: You get the best form of vitamin and mineral supplementation on earth and as such it helps to build the immune system. A good robust immune system helps every aspect of optimum health. The high water content also helps to keep the body hydrated and is particularly good for he skin. The vast majority of people don’t eat enough raw fruit and veg, juicing is perhaps the easiest way on earth to get your recommended daily allowance of essential nutrients.
RESCU: Is it OK to combine fruits and vegetables in the same juice? There are some schools of thought that say fruit juice it too high in sugar…
Jason Vale: It is perfectly OK to mix some fruit and vegetable juices together. I tend to eat my fruit and drink my vegetables as I will eat fruit but I don’t tend to eat raw vegetables. I mix either apple, pear or pineapple with various vegetables to make them taste good and to add soluble fibre. If you are going to juice then juice the things you usually wouldn’t eat raw, that’s where juicing really pays off. The sugar argument is flawed, the obesity epidemic is not caused by too much freshly extracted apple juice! The issue is the white refined sugar which plagues just about every processed food available to us all day every day.
RESCU: Do you have any expert advice for readers who are serious about introducing the healthy habit of regular juicing into their lives?
Jason Vale: Yes, you must get the right juicer or it will put you off for life. Juicing has a bad name because of how it used to be. However, like computers, juicing has gone broadband! Not only can you now get juicers where you can fit whole apples in, so no chopping, Philips have just brought out their quick clean range of juicers, which do exactly what it says on the tin! Once you have your juicer, get the 7lbs in 7days book, read the book (to get you into the right frame of mind) do the programme and feel the results. Nothing will convince people of juicing more than the 7 day programme.
RESCU: What is your favourite energy boosting juice recipe?
Jason Vale: The morning is without question the best time to get optimum liquid nutrition into your system. Your stomach is empty and the drink has a clear route through – which means it reaches the parts juices taken on a full stomach cannot get to.
My ULTIMATE VEGGIE BREAKFAST SHAKE contains it all – the right essential fats, good quality proteins, the right carbs, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and organic water from within nature’s finest water-rich foods. If you have this shake (and you eat three times a day) you have transformed one third of your diet to a 100% plant based vegan breakfast. Plus, despite the ingredients, it tastes amazing.
You’ll need…
1 x ½ ripe avocado
2 x golden delicious apples
1 x large handful of spinach
1 x 3cm chunk of courgette/zucchini
1 x peeled lime
2 x organic carrots
1 x ¼ cucumber
1 x 3cm broccoli stem
1 x celery stalk
1 x ½ green bell pepper
1 x small handful of ice cubes
How to combine:
Place on apple into the chute of the juicer (always making sure the juicer is 100% off) and then pack the spinach in tight behind it. Add the broccoli stem, lime, cucumber, pepper and courgette/zucchini and then sandwich with the other apple. Juice the lot then juice the stick of celery and carrots.
Place the ice and avocado into a blender and pour in the juice. Blend until smooth.
RESCU: What are the best complexion boosting ingredients to add to your juice?
Jason Vale: Cucumber is king really, followed by avocado (although you have to blend that with the juice). I have a beautiful CLEAR SKIN SMOOTHIE, which works wonders.
This recipe from my ‘Funky Fresh Juice Book’ is great for clearing your skin and works wonders for people who suffer from acne, psoriasis or eczema.
You’ll need…
2 x golden delicious apples
3cm slice of pineapple
2cm chunk of fresh ginger root
1/3 of a lemon
¼ of a cucumber
½ a ripe avocado
1 tablespoon of mixed seeds
1 heaped teaspoon of lecithin granules
2 teaspoons of Udo’s oil
How to combine:
Juice the apples, pineapple, ginger, lemon and cucumber.
Put the avocado, seeds, lecithin granules and oil into a blender. Add the juice, a little ice and blend until smooth.
Best served on an empty stomach and with zinc-rich watermelon.
RESCU: How should we prepare our fruits and vegetables for ultimate taste and healthfulness?
Jason Vale: A great deal of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables are to be found either in the skin or just beneath, which is why you shouldn’t peel your fruit and vegetables before juicing. The only ones which need peeling are oranges and grapefruits, but even then should be peeled with a knife making sure to leave the pith on.
RESCU: How should we prepare and care for our juicers?
Jason Vale: Just make sure you clean it immediately after using it. Luckily, with juicers such as the Philips QuickClean, it takes just a minute to clean. Never put your juicer in the cupboard if you want juicing to be part of your daily life – out of sight is out of mind!
RESCU: You are an advocate and expert at juice fasts. Can you take us through your expert tips for a safe and effective detox that can be done at home?
Jason Vale: It is extremely hard to cover this in a few words, as the most important thing is to get in the right frame of mind first. My best-selling book ‘7lbs in 7days Juice Master Diet’ has now sold more than two million copies and explains exactly how to prepare and what to expect. A seven day juice-only detox is far easier than people think it will be, and it’s all down to the right preparation.
This is one of my favourite detox recipes.
Going ‘green’ is all the rage and people are doing their bit to stop polluting the planet. And if you ‘pollute’ your inner environment too, you will cause damage – sometimes irreversibly.
Chlorophyll is the pigment found in all green plants that allows the plant to capture the sun’s energy (photosynthesis). Chlorophyll is nearly identical to the oxygen-carrying haemoglobin in your blood and is totally amazing when it comes to optimum health.
With that in mind, it’s really worth getting some of this GREEN JUICE inside you every day!
You’ll need…
1 x ½ pineapple
1 x ¼ cucumber
1 x ½ peeled lime
1 x ½ celery stalk
1 x handful of spinach
1 x handful of green leafy vegetables (kale, cabbage and watercress)
1 x 3cm broccoli stem
1 x small handful of ice cubes
How to combine:
Peel the lime, leaving as much of the white pith as possible – it’s where the most nutrients are.
Juice the pineapple (no need to peel if you have a good juicer) and all the other ingredients. Make sure you pack the spinach and leafy vegetables tightly into the chute of the juicer, before juicing, to extract the most juice.
Pour over ice and get ready to feel the power!
For an extra dose of chlorophyll add a small teaspoon of wheatgrass powder or spirulina – it takes it up several levels! If you can do a wheatgrass shot – even better! If you’re adding spirulina or wheatgrass powder then you will need to whizz it all up in the blender before drinking.
Jason Vale is a Phillips QuickClean Juicer ambassador
