Juicing - An in-house experiment (1)

I started juicing soon after I finished coffee-ing. Make sense? Probably not. Let me fill you in. Here's the post on giving up coffee.

So having kicked the habit and beginning to feel the benefits, I began to crave feeling better. Basically, looking after myself. (God knows I've put my body through it over the years and self destruct mode is lethal). Anyway, for the health purposes alone of nutritious support from within, I wanted to try drinking juice as a replacement for my morning coffee. More than anything, I saw it as an aid to my immune system. Here's a snippet of something I wrote earlier about combating depression naturally...

Eat a balanced diet & drink more water: Sunshine is not something we get much of here in the UK, so supplement your diet with Vitamin D in order to compensate. Lack of it can lead to depression. It is a good idea to also take omega 3 for healthy brain function - depression is great at leaving you unable to concentrate - oh and then cut out coffee - if you drink buckets of the stuff that is (something I'm wishing I'd done ages ago). Instead, drink more water to flush out the toxins from your system - it's great for eliminating eye bags too, although if you happen to have small children, you can of course forget that ;-) I also started eating breakfast everyday - something I would often skip. Lately, I've wanted to substitute my morning cup of tea for a glass of juice - albeit laden with sugar, I believe juice is a great way of getting nutrients; aiding the immune system, something that takes a knock whenever you are at a low ebb.

Okay, so here I was initially talking about shop bought juice; the sort with very high sugar content. A juicer however, although produces juice also high in sugar, produces a completely natural drink, with naturally occurring fruit sugar. You know what it contains; you whizzed it up. There are no preservatives or additives. You know it is fresh; you literally just made it.

But what about owning a juicer? These machines don't come cheap, and with that in mind, I  wanted to sample one to do the 'try before I buy' thing. Will it be something I use everyday? Do they end up being good value? How does it compare to others on the market?

Step in the PR people over at Braun, who were willing to let me participate in a six-week trial of their rather sexy looking Braun Identity Spin Juicer (J500) product. Oh and by the way, if it looks simple to use, that's because it is, but more on that later.

So what do I make of having a juicer in my kitchen and how's it all going? Three weeks in, the results speak for themselves. Firstly, my complexion is the brightest it's ever been. (Friends have actually been moved to comment, so I'm not imaging it). Secondly, I'm not having the dips in the day that I would when I was drinking coffee, although if I do feel a dip, the juicer and I whizz into action, and I get a quite delicious kick. Thirdly, a drink of juice is something I really enjoy.

Of course, I've been wondering about the naturally occurring fruit sugar content, however, as natural sugar, as far as I'm concerned, it is a) better for me and the children than drinking shop bought juice and b) better for me than topping up with caffeine.

In short, you can expect further posts on juicing; the health advantages; the Braun J500 and how it functions - more importantly, how easy it is to clean. (The myth that cleaning all juicers is a headache needs to be expelled). And as always on LIFE AS IT IS, you can expect me to reminisce.

Beginning with the story of... When I lived in Australia.