Autumn brings browns, russets and various hues of orange into our gardens and parks. In plants, these colours are caused by nutrients that help defend against infection, so September’s juice uses fruit and veg from this spectrum. Blended together, these ingredients also help you to fight fatigue and adjust to the slightly shorter days – and result in a great juice for the immune system.
Don’t worry if you don’t own a juicer – use a blender and a sieve to strain the juice. For two servings:
Ingredients
2 ripe tomatoes ¦ 1 carrot ¦ 1 stick of celery ¦ 1 kale leaf ¦ ¼ beetroot ¦ small bunch of parsley
Preparation
1. Wash ingredients well. ¦ 2. Scrub carrot, cut off tops (if you have long, green carrot tops you can use these instead of parsley). ¦ 3. Cut celery into one inch pieces. ¦ 4. Remove stems from tomatoes and cut into chunks. ¦ 5. If the stalk of your kale leaf is tough, cut it off and slice into smaller pieces to be juiced. ¦ 6. Juice all ingredients, alternating between leafy greens, tomato, carrot and beetroot.
Top tips
You can increase the yield of your juice by soaking the ingredients in cold water for about 30 minutes before juicing. If you’re short on time, though, you’ll still get a tasty juice without the soak! ¦ If you’re using organic vegetables, leave the skin on your carrot and beetroot to gain extra phytonutrients 1.
If you’re using organic vegetables, leave the skin on your carrot and beetroot to gain extra phytonutrients 1.
Any juice using beetroot or kale can take some getting used to, so you can add pear or apple, depending on your palette; but with time you will appreciate the liver-cleansing properties of these wonderful vegetables.
Happy juicing!
Why are we using these ingredients?
Carrot health benefits
Carrots, whether you’re using orange, purple, red, or white ones, are full of beta-carotene, an organic compound also found in sweet potatoes and pumpkin – it makes these veggies orange. Our bodies change beta-carotene into Vitamin A, which helps to increase our immunity against infection, enables us to see in low light, and keeps the skin and linings of the body healthy.
Tomato health benefits
The English tomato season is still available for another month, and using them in this recipe increases lycopene levels. Lycopene, which belongs to the carotenoid family, not only gives the tomato its beautiful scarlet hue, but is also believed to increase prostate health and be a wonderful antioxidant 2.
Any juice using beetroot or kale can take some getting used to, so you can add pear or apple, depending on your palette; but with time you will appreciate the liver-cleansing properties of these wonderful vegetables.
1 Phytonutrients are natural compounds that plant foods have in abundance. “Phyto” derives from the Greek word for “plant”, and the more varied fruit and vegetables we eat, the higher our chances of possibly preventing chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
2 Antioxidants are vitamins, minerals and enzymes that counteract the damage of oxidation in the body. Oxidative stress is caused by free radicals – harmful unstable molecules with unpaired electrons. In order to stabilise themselves these molecules must steal more electrons from cells in our bodies, but the cells that give up electrons become free radicals themselves, and cause further damage.
Recipe adapted from The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet.
