Raw Juice RecipesRaw vegetable juicing is fabulously healthy and cleansing, as long as you do not tend towards diarrhea. I have a few delicious raw juice recipes below that will give you powerful drinks in minutes! If you are underweight and suffer from bloating or frequent bowel movements, then your system is likely not healed enough yet to tolerate raw juice and it will likely give you diarrhea. In that case, use these easily tolerated shake recipes instead.

If you tend towards constipation, then raw juice can be a wonderful thing if you also throw in blueberries, plums, and pitted cherries (use them instead of apples or pears) – which encourage bowel movements. You would also benefit from adding a heaping teaspoon of ground chia seed to your juice.

If you don’t have a high quality juicer that preserves the live enzymes in the juice, then you need to purchase one. Recommended juicers include Green Star (Green Power), Champion, Juice Man and the Norwalk Juicer. I personally have a Green Star juicer, but now both Ian and I use the cheap and easy Nutribullet or MagicBullet (cheaper but does the same job – I’ve tested both!) to juice, because the clean-up takes literally 10 seconds!

Raw juices provide vital plant-source nutrients, sterols and phytochemicals and it’s great if you can get your whole family drinking these juice blends since they will only benefit.

If you’re squeamish about drinking vegetable juices, then add some extra apples and/or sweet oranges to each blend, as that will make it more fruity and palatable. These recipes are surprisingly delicious, though – even my kids like them! Start kids off with just a shot glass full of juice, with an ice cube in it. As their taste buds adjust, they’ll ask for more.

These recipes are ideal for people just beginning to drink raw juice. As you adjust, you can reduce the amount of fruit and increase the vegetables.

Shopping List: carrots, kale, spinach, apples, oranges, beets, celery, parsley and fennel (all certified organic).

Note: The amounts given in these recipes are for a juice extractor. If you are using the MagicBullet, or a Vitamix, you can cut each recipe in half.

Juice Blend #1 – Liver Tonic

  • large handful of cilantro
  • 1 stalk of celery
  • 1 beet (can use the leaves too, but for kids, only use the beet bulb)
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 apples

Juice Blend #2 – Hormone Helper (my favorite!)

  • 1 small fennel
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • 1 orange (peeled and seeded) or 1 small mango
  • 2 apples (seeded, cut into wedges)

Juice Blend #3 – Organ Support (my other favorite!)

  • 3 stalks of celery and leaves
  • 1 green apple (seeded, cut into wedges)
  • 1 tablespoon organic hempseed
  • monkfruit or stevia powder to sweeten, if needed

This recipe works best with either a NutriBullet or Vitamix, so the hempseed becomes a creamy protein boost. If using a juice extractor, then blend hempseed with the juice after you’ve extracted it.

Juice Blend #4 – Go Green

  • Handful of parsley
  • 2 kale leaves
  • Handful of spinach
  • 2 apples (seeded, cut into wedges)

Note: Consuming leafy greens (like kale, spinach, chard) raw results in reduced mineral absorption (due to the oxalic acids). If you consume large amounts raw, they can cause kidney stones. So use this recipe sparingly for a cleanse, but not ongoing.

Juice Extractor Guidelines

These guidelines only apply to juice extractors, if using a Vitamix or NutriBullet, just throw everything in with enough water to blend:

  • Wash all items before juicing. Put leaves through first, roll or bunch them up, then use a carrot or apple wedge to help push them through.
  • Always save something hard (carrot, apple, beet) for the last items to juice as they will make sure everything preceding has been juiced thoroughly.

These recipes are also geared towards people new to juicing, or kids, so they contain a lot of fruit sugar. But if you’re happy with a more veggie taste, or dealing with yeast/fungus, so need to keep sugar to a minimum, then definitely feel free to reduce the fruit and sweet veggies (beets, carrots), and increase the low sugar vegetables.