The perfect juice for… Energy, weight loss, pre-workout, arthritis

Fuel your fitness and health goals with these nutritious juice recipes.Gabrielle Maston, dietitian, exercise physiologist and author of The Perfect Juice, is a strong believer in the scientific advantages of using whole food ingredients to boost your diet and vitality. She catches up with ninemsn Food and shares the best juice combos for a range of health objectives.

Juice for energy/pick-me-up

If you need a quick buzz with all the health benefits, you need to drink green tea. Green tea has less caffeine than coffee, but more health benefits and provides you with a quick energy lift. Get your boost of antioxidants with the Energy Lift juice and feel the difference every morning.

Teatime

250ml green tea

100g blueberries

100g grapes

½ teaspoon stevia

Method

Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled. Juice for assisting weight lossTo successfully lose weight, look at healthy foods you can add to your diet rather than take away. For example adding more fibrous vegetables, will add additional fibre, minerals and vitamins to your diet, that will keep you feeling full and satisfied. We have the perfect Greenie juice to hit the spot.

Greenie

Ingredients

¼ cucumber, cut into small pieces

1 stalk celery

3 kale leaves

½ apple, core removed

½ teaspoon ginger

1 tablespoon lime juice

250ml water

Method

Wash and prepare all ingredients. Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled.

Juice for improving digestion

Probiotics are the new frontier in nutrition science. There is so much we still don’t know about the benefits of good bacteria in our gut. You can house upto 2kg of microbiota in your gut and they need to be fed and topped up with pre and probiotics. To improve digestion, you need to include three key ingredients in your diet: fibre, water and probiotics. The probiotic enzyme juice is a perfect combination of all three.

Probiotic enzyme

Ingredients

1 teaspoon probiotic powder

2 tablespoon Greek yogurt with live cultures

1 tablespoon acai berry

250ml coconut water

1 teaspoon wheat germ

Method

Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled.Nutrition

Juice/smoothie for muscle gain before a workout

To recover from strenuous exercise, your muscles need protein. The highest available protein comes from dairy milk, which contains both whey and casein protein. Whey is fast releasing, which starts the recovery process immediately, whereas casein is a sustaining recovery protein lasting hours. The perfect juice, for all your post workout recovery needs, is the Gym Juice.

Gym juice

Ingredients

2 tablespoon vanilla protein whey powder

250 ml (8 fl oz) milk

1 banana

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon wheat germ

Method

Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled.Nutrition

Juice for time-poor/breakfast replacement

Oatmeal is just a great overall breakfast choice. It contains sustainable long lasting energy and it’s high in protein. If you are always on the go and skipping breakfast, you need to try our Oatmeal Cookie Coffee juice. It contains all the goodness of wholefoods including fibre, calcium and protein, with the energy burst of a morning espresso coffee.

Oatmeal cookie coffee

Ingredients

50g oats

1 teaspoon vanilla whey protein

1 teaspoon coffee

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon walnuts

125ml coconut water

125ml milk

Method

Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled.

Juice for arthritis

Arthritis is a common health condition that is associated with inflammation resulting in pain. Anti-inflammatory foods that are high in omega-3 fats and antioxidants may help you soothe sore joints. The Yerba Maté juice is the perfect way to start increasing those essential fatty acids and beneficial antioxidants.

Yerba maté

Ingredients

250ml yerba maté

100g grapes

25g blackberries

1 teaspoon chia seeds

Method

Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled.

For more on Gabrielle Maston or to get a copy of The Perfect Juice head to her website.