Join the Juice nation

Your Guide in Sharm El Sheikh

Join the Juice nation

Have you heard the latest health buzz? You might of done quite literally as the soft buzzing of juicing machines can be heard on many mornings around town, downtown in Old Market and harmoniously humming in Naama.  Yes it’s time to join the juice nation and trick yourself into having tasty treats packed full of immune boosting anti-oxidants.  Here’s our healthy guide on what to juice, how to juice and if you’re on holiday where to get the juice.

The juicing hype hit Hollywood last season and has seen the likes of super skinny hotties like Miranda Kerr and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley singing the praises of just juicing.  Many nutritionists hopped on the band-wagon which saw top department stores in the UK stocking their shelves with the latest and greatest machines as sales increased tenfold.   Whilst the world watched as kg after kg dropped off the juice brigade, other diet experts hotly contested the idea and benefits.

Living in Sharm away from the hip high life; we are usually one step behind the hype of new fashionable fads. This gives us the advantage of not getting swept away on the tidal wave of what’s cool. We can wade through the pros and cons and take a more balanced approach to juicing.  We have an abundant supply of reasonably prices fruit and veg and logically it’s got to be good.  Here are some of the benefits of sipping juices but take note the juicing nation is all about blending fruit and vegetables not just single fruit juices.

First of all if you are a ‘salad dodger’ then a fresh juice a day can actually get the nutrients, vitamins and minerals of your 5-7 a day into your system.  It’s also good for children as blending sweet juices with vegetables tricks them into guzzling down their quota.  It’s got to be better than watching them chase that bit of broccoli around their plate endlessly.

Juicing supercharges your nutrient intake which provides the body with pure micronutrients, vitamins and enzymes.  These rapidly enter the bloodstream absorbing all of the nutritional benefits of the fruits and vegetables and also gives your digestive organs a much-needed rest. Did you know that 95% of the vitamins and enzymes our bodies need are found in the juice of raw fruits and vegetables? We would need to eat 2 lbs of carrots, 10-12 apples, or 8 lbs of spinach to get the same amount of nutrients you receive in one glass of juice.

The rich nutrients absorbed from highly potent juice cocktails can also kick start a sluggish metabolism.  So as part of a balanced diet it can help with weight loss and for sure tastes better than some of those weird powered protein shakes on the market.  If you put parsley into the machine and get juice, you know it is pure, where as other concoctions on the market are full of nasty extras.  We know a diet high in processed foods is not good for us.

If you are living in Sharm there are various juicing machines you can buy either in electric stores here or from on-line delivery companies such as souq.com.  The latest trend in the UK is the Nutri-bullet which actually pulps fruit and veg so you have the additional benefit the fibre.  Any juicer will tell you, there is a lot of waste from the juicer as the fibre is separated.  However if you don’t benefit from the by-product then your garden will – as it makes an excellent addition to compost or the Bedouins will be happy to give it to their goats.

If you are not ready to invest in a juicer or are on holiday and miss your juice fix there are plenty of places to try.  Old Market has a few juice bars which offer more traditional juice mixes; orange, lemon, mango and sugar cane.  In Naama; Vanilla at Camel Hotel offer some healthy modern mixes with inspiring names like ‘Mediterranean Muscle’ – for energy, ‘Life Saver’ – a great pick-me up, ‘Beet Treat’ for vitality and ‘Instant Energizer’- to refresh.   I know the world is awash with Metro-sexuals and Sharm is a little lacking in them – but boys wake up and down one of these combos the morning after.  They are packed full of powerful nutrients which will blast that hang-over away, keep the six-pack in check and are also so much better than the normal sugar/fat craving beginning with the letter M.

The following is just a few samples of juice blends.  We have picked our three Sharm best from juicerrecipes.com.  This is an excellent site and gives all of the benefits of each ingredient and the nutritional break-down.

Can’t Beet it

Apples – 2 medium

Beet Root – 1 beet

Carrots – 4 medium

Celery – 3 stalks

Cucumber – 1/2 cucumber

Ginger Root – 1/2 thumb
Beets are useful in helping cleanse the liver, and the liver helps metabolize fat. Celery calms nerves and reduces blood pressure and ginger can help digest fatty foods and break down proteins.

Peach Keen
Basil (fresh) – 3 leaves
Carrots – 14 medium
Lemon – 1/2 fruit
Peaches – 5 medium

A carrot a day reduces stroke risk by 68 percent, it is also a natural diuretic. Lemon is a natural antiseptic and peaches are super sweet and tasty.

Cancer awareness – super juice

Lemon – 1/2 fruit

Tomato – 1 large whole

Watermelon – 1 large wedge
Lycopene (from red watermelons) has been extensively researched for its anti-oxidant and cancer-preventing properties. It is reported to be especially protective against prostate cancer. Recent studies shown that limonoids in lemons inhibit the development of cancer in laboratory animals and in human breast cancer cells.

 

Just a few more top tips from the Juicing nation; don’t be afraid of adding vegetable and herbs to the juice mix, experiment and have fun creating cocktails.  Local celery is far more potent than its European cousin and can overwhelm the mix and finally guzzle juice straight away – juices kept in the fridge or consumed hours later lose their vitality and nutrient benefits.

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