Woman in Real Life

When the thermometer is on the rise, it's nice to kick back with a fresh, homemade juice. Juicing can help you increase your consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables. Plus, the water content can work to prevent dehydration. If you have kids, you might possibly get more veggies into them too. In our family, my son will happily try any juice, even if it contains celery or cucumber. My daughter can only be tempted with fruit. But carrot juice is sweet, has a lovely orange colour and is easy to hide among the fruit juice!


I am not suggested that juicing should replace whole fruits and veggies, because we all know that the whole fruit or vegetable has beneficial fibre. It will probably keep you feeling full longer too. But the juice of fruits and vegetables contains body-friendly vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. I like to start the day with a fresh juice to kickstart my digestion. To be honest, I don't usually feel like crunching on a whole apple first thing in the morning. Apparently you can use the fibre left over from juicing in muffins and broths too, but I haven't tried that yet.

Canada's Food Guide recommends choosing veggies and fruit more often than juice. It also suggests eating at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day. By the way, the guide also recommends having meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu often. Now if only they would lighten up on the dairy promotion. They do have one vegan option in the milk and milk alternatives category - fortified soy beverage. You can create your own personalized food guide by entering your sex and age and choosing your favourite selections from each of the four food categories. Handy to have on your fridge!

Recently I concocted a juice creation that's perfect for a warm spring or summer day. It's a lovely blend of red delicious apples, sweet strawberries and tangy lemon. Strawberry lemonade if you will. This one is pure fruit, so you know it's yummy.

Do you juice?