One of my favorite cookbooks, The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health, gives the run down on phytonutrients and what they do for you.  Red fruits and veggies contain phytochemicals that promote heart & urinary tract health, improve immunity and memory function, and can lower  the risk of some cancers.  More good reasons to eat your beets.

About 6 months ago, Joe and I decided to get a juicer.  We were so excited that we thought we’d do a 3 day juice fast which lasted all of 8 hours.  Maybe.  I learned that my body doesn’t tolerate lots of fruit juice.  And, it took me back to my starvation diet days which I wasn’t quite prepared for.  I opted for some solid nourishment and called it a life lesson.

The juicer went back in the pantry for several months because it intimidated me a bit.  I wasn’t sure what flavors to put together or how to make a juice that wouldn’t send my blood sugar reeling.

I decided that I needed a book to help me and ordered Gary Null’s The Joy of Juicing because he had specific recipes for ailments, like my joint pain.  And, it was one of his books that introduced me to the doctor that told me I couldn’t eat wheat or sugar. So I trust Gary.

Yes, I love my smoothies.  But I love my juices just as much.  No, you don’t get that huge dose of fiber.  But what I do get is a wider variety of nutrients in one glass.  There’s no way I could drink a smoothie with all the ingredients I put in my Beet Juice.

Another thing I love about fresh juice is that my husband will drink it.  (He even had some of my beet juice!)  He’ll drink some smoothies, like this blackberry kefir smoothie, but he likes the smooth juice much better.

Pick up a veggie scrubber to get your ingredients nice and clean before shoving them through your juicer.  I got mine for $3 at Wally’s.

D-Tox January

Nicola, from GFree Mom, is hosting D-Tox January.  It’s a whole month of smoothies and juices.  Your favorite gluten-free bloggers have been posting their tried and true favorites.  Hop on over to Nicola’s for the D-Tox January calendar and more smoothie & juice recipes!

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2011. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us