Strawberry, Beetroot & Carrot Juice

Today I’d like to share one of my favourite juice recipes with you! AND I want to demystify the juicing process to those of you who are new to juicing…

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while then you already know how much I love my green smoothies and juices. Whilst I am not vegan, I just love juices and smoothies as they give me a great energy boost without having to reach for caffeine or sugar, as well keeping my body happy and healthy! This is important to me not only because I am putting my body through rigorous training on and off the pole, but also because I am constantly on the go or working at my computer with admin / management tasks in maintaining the Irish Pole Dance Academy awesomeness!

I highly recommend making juices and smoothies where possible a part of your daily routine to help you increase your fruit and veg intake and keep those energy levels up throughout the day!

Whilst juicing is more time consuming in that it takes more preparation (and more cleaning up afterwards) than smoothies, don’t let this discourage you from getting into it.

You can invest in a really good juicer relatively cheaply nowadays. I got mine as a gift from Padraig; he picked it up in Lidl and it was quite cheap, and it’s brilliant! There are several different types of juicers out there, masticating juicers which ‘squish’ the juice and centrifugal juicers which ‘mince’ things up; different types of juicers have different pro’s/con’s so I recommend checking out this blog on JustJuice.org to read up on it! My current juicer is a centrifugal juicer, while it doesn’t yield as much juice as my old beloved masticating juicer, it is more efficient and quicker to use. I recommend just doing a bit of research and picking a juicer that will suit your lifestyle pace.

I feel that juicing and ‘juice cleanses’ are seen as a trendy thing to do at this moment in time. There can be a lot of confusion around juicing and different pro’s and con’s being bandied about by “experts” from all angles. I say, just incorporate juices as part of a balanced diet and enjoy them! if healthy eating feels like a chore then you are doing it wrong 😉

I typically do my juicing during the weekend when I have more free time, and during the week I will stick to smoothies! Smoothies last for a few days in the fridge, so they are easy to make in ‘bulk’. Juice is best consumed during the same day as oxidation occurs more rapidly (loss of minerals and vitamins).

Here is a simple and tasty juice recipe which is perfect for those who are new to juicing. It is still quite sweet with strawberry and orange as the dominant flavours, but you still get a ‘kick’ of beetroot and the sweetness of carrots! Beetroot juice is full of iron and anti-oxidants. Carrot juice is also rich in anti-oxidants, as well as vitamin A, C and K, to mention but a few.

Strawberry, Beetroot & Carrot Juice

Ingredients:
250g strawberries
125g beetroot
250g carrot
1 lemon
3 oranges
(These quantities will yield about 800ml of juice)

Directions:

• Process the strawberries through the juicer.
• Cut the beetroot and carrot and process these through the blender.
• Squeeze the juice from the lemon and oranges and add to mix. I recommend using a standard citrus juicer for this.
• For best results store in an airtight container to reduce oxidation and consume within the day.
• Enjoy!

Be sure to let me know how you enjoyed this one 🙂 If you’re so inclined, you can post a photo of your’s on Instagram and tag us @IrishPoleDanceAcademy!

If you liked this recipe, you might enjoy my green smoothie recipe for Cucumber & Mint Green Smoothie from a few weeks ago!

Keep it juicy,
Arlene