Juicing Your Way
to Radiant Skin
March 17, 2010
Today's answer to looking twenty years younger is a trip to your local cosmetologist. Botox injections and face peels may seem expedient at the time but they tend to overlook the true beauty of naturally purified skin. Nothing is more beautiful than a face that radiates life.
Although the juice craze that brought us Jamba Juice and scores of juice bars across the country still thrives, you don't have to let juicing take over your life to reap the benefits. A moderate intake of fresh juices can supply you with the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants you need to help keep your skin beautiful, youthful and vibrant. While your skin does not actually breathe, contrary to popular belief, it does shield your body from pathogens. It also projects your store of energy and transmits vibrational signals to everyone you meet. Start juicing and see if those signals change.
Fruits and vegetables hold the keys to your skin's life force
For those on a busy schedule with little time to fix a proper meal, and no time to chop and peel fruits and vegetables for juicing, try to find fresh juice blends at your local grocery store.
Terrific morning juices are watermelon, carrot, orange, carrot/orange and papaya. Combined with a healthy diet, these nutrient-rich juices may work to remove puffy pockets beneath your eyes, even out skin tone, shrink blemishes, reduce inflammation, and add a healthy, natural glow. If you want to look like you've just returned from a spa in Fiji, juicing is for you. Purists don't mix their fruit juices with their vegetable juices. Beginners, on the other hand, make delicious blends to get down the less palatable vegetable juices.
Try a weeklong regimen by having one breakfast drink, one midday drink and one evening drink. Swap these whole fresh juices for sodas or beverages that are synthesized from concentrates and loaded with corn syrup, sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Morning Juices
Watermelon
With a 92% water content, this juice acts as a natural diuretic, ridding the body of toxins, purifying your blood and cleansing your skin. Packed with vitamins C, A, B1 and B6 as well as magnesium and potassium, it also contains high levels of lycopene.
Carrot/Orange
This juice is rich in vitamins A, C and the B vitamins. A boost for your immune system, it naturally causes your skin to exfoliate, shedding dead skin cells while producing new ones. Oranges, like lemons, are acidic, but they become alkaline-forming once digested and assimilated.
Papaya
This juice is full of lycopene and Vitamin C. For juicing and eating raw, papayas should be ripe.
Juice that is freshly squeezed, as opposed to pasteurized and stored, contains the highest concentrations of vitamins and minerals.
Midday and Evening Juices
Like many fruit juices, such as watermelon and papaya, green juices alkalinize the body. A body that is too acidic expels excess impurities and toxins through your pores, instead of passing them through your colon, causing skin problems and irritations. An acidic body is also more prone to chronic health problems.
Note that the following detoxifying vegetable juices may not appeal to the palette of a first-timer. Green juicing in particular is an acquired taste.
Carrot
Beta-carotene helps even out blotchy skin tones and removes blemishes. A mildly sweet vegetable juice, it can be mixed with orange or apple juice. Fresh squeezed carrot juice is readily available at local grocery stores; so don't let the lack of a juicer stop you from juicing up.
Carrot/spinach/parsley/celery
If you are able to press this powerful juice combination yourself, use one bag of carrots, three bunches of spinach, three bunches of parsley and one stalk of celery to yield approximately one quart of green juice. Seal it in a glass container or jar. It should be consumed within 24 hours but beginners may manage to get down significantly less (8 ounces). If you opt to buy a packaged variety look for the blends that are refrigerated, not canned, and contain vegetable juices only. These commercial fresh juices commonly contain spirulina, chlorella and wheatgrass. (Beginners can go for the fruit and vegetable blends).
Wheatgrass
This is a potent green juice that is often used as a tonic. Typically consumed by the ounce, it is best to start a regimen of wheatgrass after several weeks of regular juicing. Your body will be more balanced and less prone to a reaction. When toxins are released into your system too quickly, skin rashes and other conditions may get exacerbated before they abate.
Juicers can be expensive and time-consuming to clean. So be realistic about your time and dust off your five-dollar hand squeezer, if necessary. You can use it to juice oranges, which you can blend with store-bought carrot juice. Squeeze one lemon and drink this fresh juice, full of bioflavonoids, with a cup of hot water and half a teaspoon of honey. Your skin will make the most of whatever percentage of fresh juices you can afford to feed it. If you can supply your body with fresh juices on a daily basis, your skin can start to regenerate and radiate, reflecting all the vim and vitality that lies within you. NewsSip
