Shop vs Home-made

According to a recent article in The Times, Britons now consume 2.2 billion litres of juice drinks each year - equivalent to 36 litres per person. With sales worth £3 billion a year exotic juices are flying off the supermarket shelves and new research suggest they really do contain what they claim. Juices such as purple grape, cranberry, apple and grapefruit juices contain flavanoids (pigments found in fruit and plants that can combat inflammation, allergies, cholesterol and fight cancer), hydrocinnamates an hydroxychalconeshave antioxidant properties in protecting cells against 'free radicals' and anthocyanins (pigments that can strengthen capillary walls, boosts insulin production).

With all this 'good stuff' in something you can buy from the shop, why go to all the trouble of making them at home? Well the answer is simple, fresh home-made juices surpass anything you can buy from supermarkets as much of what you pick up from the shelves also contain unwanted additives and preservatives. Plus when making your own you can choose exactly what ingredients to use and have the piece of mind of knowing exactly where they came from. Where could you buy the 'bollywood blaster' I had for breakfast this morning? It contained;

1/4 pineapple, about 100g

1/2 small grapefruit

1/2 large banana

Unfortunately I didn't have time to make it that morning so prepared it the night before and bottled it up to take with me the next day. This is not ideal as you are supposed to drink your juice immediately after you've made it as the ingredients deteriorate fast once juiced. However it is safe to store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours. As it was, i was left with a discoloured brownish colour rather than the nice fresh banana yellow it should have been, but despite the colour it tasted fantastic, pineapple and banana are certainly a great mix. I also found it very filling and felt full right up until lunchtime - bonus! Rating 5/5.

Spinach is rich in beta-carotene, vitamins B3 and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and sodium and all for only 25 calories per 100g! Green leafy vegetables such as spinach can help to consolidate the process of healing with it high count of vitamins C and folic acid and the mineral zinc. Fantastic I thought and skipped off the try 'twister';

1/2 pink grapefruit

1 large carrot

125g spinach

It was dark green in colour, resembling some sort of toxic waste, and oh dear, tasted like SPINACH (surprise, surprise)! I won't be making that one again and an added down point to juicing spinach in the less expensive types of juicers is that it can clog your machine up. Rating 0/5 (yuck).

Another problem I've found is that because I don't have every type of fruit and vegetable you can think of my choice of recipes is slightly limited. However my energy levels are remaining at a constant high so they must be doing some good.

Today's ratings (out of 5)

Energy: 4

Effort: 4

Benefits: 2