
A couple of years ago I got really into green juices! I mean REALLY into them. I felt like I needed that hit of liquid sunshine every morning, to the point that when I was going away for a writers long weekend I had worked out how to take my juicer with me on the train – and it is not a light or little contraption!! I was addicted. My body loved the impact the green juices had on it, the energy that they gave at the start of every day.
I especially focused on green juices to help my digestive system as EU allergen laws were still fairly knew and we experienced quite a bit of cross contamination when eating out which really messed up our tums. I called them things like tummy tamers, and mellow digestive calming juices….
As in all things – I focused on the flavours I loved in my green juices. I added heat and zing to them with limes, lemons, chillies, ginger root and cayenne pepper. These became reoccurring themes in my green juices. I made chilli and lime shots for an extra boost and hit during the day.
Sadly all good things must come to an end! I have a bi-annual appointment with my dentist, and after 6 months of daily juicing since I had seen him last my back teeth (one on each side at the top) had no enamel and a cavity in each as a result! He asked if there had been any big changes to diet and lifestyle so I mentioned my juicing. I was drinking them through straws back then – so those two back teeth were taking all the acid.
He said that juicing is great but citrus fruits (and kiwi – if you don’t have kiwi allergies in your home) are highly acidic and damage the enamel on your teeth. He said juicing is great for your body, but bad for your teeth. So I had two fillings and stopped juicing.
My sister and her husband started a health program this Jan, and part of their program is green juicing and it made me hanker after the good ole’ green juice days! So I have very cautiously started to juice again.

I like keeping my juices VERY simple as I focus on avoiding the citrus, but making sure the juices remain yummy and flavoursome. I began juicing again this year with the bright and cheery carrot and ginger juice above, because I had a load of organic carrots which needed using. It was as lovely to drink as it is too look at – no filter required as it’s almost neon orange! So colourful and really fiery as I went a little OTT with the ginger root!
Today I made a lovely mellow green-juice free-from all the zingy ingredients, it has got the lovely mint as a herby flavour. It’s the first pic you saw when you read this post. So I am slowly creating a library of citrus-free, less acidic fresh juices.
I also decided to rename all my old juices – from their happy (but nondescript) titles like “top o’ the morning to ya!” to simply listing all the ingredients of the juice in the title. This means that you (and I) can immediately tell immediately if it’s a juice which will work with your dietary constraints and flavour preferences.
For those of you will a less addictive nature I have left the original citrus fuelled juices on the website so that you can indulge in your measured way. Some of them are included at the bottom of this post just for you.
In the meantime I will continue to experiment and share with you my tasty, citrus-free green (or orange, or beetroot) veg based juices. Being vegetable based and citrus free means that you don’t need to use a straw to drink your green juices which is WAY better for the environment too, making them extra GREEN in an eco way.
Smiles and namaste to you,
Rai x
If you fancy a citrus zinger as an occasional treat – these are for you ;P x
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