The beauty expert Liz Earle is an enthusiastic juicer, and her glowing complexion attests to the benefits that micronutrients in freshly pressed fruit and vegetables can bring. "Good skin is created from within," she says, "and it needs a steady stream of highly absorbable nutrients to keep it supple, strong and clear. Juices are the ideal skin food for this and can also be easily adapted to suit varying skin conditions."
Juicing has never been more fashionable. Rival New York juicing companies offer daily deliveries, direct to your desk, for hundreds of dollars per week. Models and actresses gloat about their regimes: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley attributes her lithe figure to juicing; Salma Hayek and Jessica Alba are aficionados too. And this new thirst surely owes something to Joe Cross's film Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, the story of how Cross, an obese fast-food fan, lost 6st in 60 days through juicing.
Liz Earle was there long before any of them. "I've been a fan since I started writing about beauty and wellbeing 30 years ago," she says. "I have been on various juice fasts, the longest being 10 days of pure juices, combined with a spoonful of powdered bentonite clay, which contains magnesium and traces of many other minerals and which has the ability to bind with toxins, such as heavy metals, to draw out internal gunk that can clog the colon. Obviously, it is really important only to undertake a fast like that under the daily supervision of a naturopath or doctor," she adds.
The gadgets have got fancier since the early days of juicing, and Earle welcomes the advent of the slow juicer. "I'm a big fan. It's like cold-pressing a plant oil; it produces less heat and friction, so it preserves more of the fruit and vegetables' nutritional value."
A juice fast can, she says, "relieve constipation, clear the digestive system, and rehydrate, and so help with dark circles under the eyes. But you need to chew the juice thoroughly, mixing it with saliva to help pre-digest it before you swallowing – don't just glug gallons of pure juice."
She is not advocating a Joe Cross-style bonanza, just a weekend, say. "After all, a fast is central to many religions and cultures, so it is not such an alien idea. It is just that we're doing it for health and beauty reasons rather than spiritual."
All ingredients should be raw, organic and unpeeled. If you can't get organic, lightly scrub the skins in mildly soapy water, then rinse and dry to remove traces of herbicides and fungicides.
You can personalise these recipes, adding, for example, the powdered contents of a Lactobacillus acidophilus capsule to encourage beneficial gut flora. This is especially useful after a course of antibiotics, or if you are taking acne medication.
Beety energiser: the perfect pick-me-up
Beetroot juice is the emperor of all energisers, shown to increase stamina, boost brain power and even lower blood pressure. Combine it with the sweetness of apples, with an antioxidant shot of carrots and the rejuvenating tang of fresh, zingy ginger to really get you back on your feet – fast!
This juice is dark, sweet and tangy. Serve garnished with a sprig of mint and perhaps a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Makes one large glass
1 large apple
2 medium carrots
3cm (1¼in) cube ginger, unpeeled
1 medium beetroot
sprig of fresh mint, leaves only
slice of lemon, to serve (optional)
Juice together all the ingredients. When juicing herbs or leaves, sandwich them between chunks of apple, carrot or beetroot to help flush them through the juicer. Serve with a slice of lemon.
Smoothie skin soother: a juice to help eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea
Calming and soothing ingredients such as cucumber and fennel can help to combat skin inflammation. Skin-calming antioxidants and anti-inflammatory essential fatty acids also work well here, so try piercing an evening-primrose- or borage-seed-oil capsule to enrich the juice.
This is one of my all-time favourites: a velvety green, smoothie-style juice.
Makes one large glass
1 large apple
1 large carrot
½ bulb fennel
¼ medium-sized cucumber
½ ripe avocado
1 borage-seed-oil capsule or evening-primrose-oil capsule
Juice the apple, carrot, fennel and cucumber, in their entirety, in a juicer before transferring the combined juices to a blender. Add the avocado flesh and the contents of your chosen oil capsule, then whizz until smooth.
Greenie genie: a juice to help acne or problem skin
Alkalising green juices are especially beneficial for improving acne. Go for ingredients such as asparagus, celery, parsley and watercress, and don't overload on high-fructose fruits. Carrot juice, rich in beta-carotene, is also a useful addition, but try to keep the juices mostly green.
This is a deliciously light juice with a refreshing ginger tang. The grassiness of the green ingredients is slightly sweetened by the apples.
Makes one large glass
2 medium apples
2 medium carrots
2cm (1in) cube ginger, unpeeled
4 small asparagus spears
small handful parsley
small handful freshly cut wheatgrass, or 1 level tsp of powdered greens, such as wheatgrass, chlorella or spirulina
Juice together all the ingredients, in their entirety, stirring in your chosen powdered greens (if using) just before serving.
Plumper skin perfecter: a juice for dry and mature skin
To tackle wrinkles, choose blueberries, blackberries, black grapes and dark cherries, all of which are rich in anthocyanidins. (The vitamin C in the fruit is also useful, supporting collagen and elastin fibres.) Blend these, though, as juicing removes their skins, which contain polyphenols and resveratrol (these phytonutrients have been linked to longevity because of their ability to slow down cell oxidisation). You can add essential fatty acids to the mix by piercing an evening-primrose-oil and a natural-source vitamin-E capsule and add the liquid to the juice. Or simply add a dash of cold-pressed flaxseed, rapeseed or olive oil.
This is a fabulously pretty, subtly flavoured juice, and one that you can make if you don't have a juicer, as you can use freshly pressed apple juice from a carton.
Makes one large glass
2 large apples, or 200ml (7fl oz) fresh apple juice
generous handful seedless black grapes, approx 30
generous handful blueberries, blackberries or pitted dark cherries, approx 30
½ tbsp cold-pressed flaxseed, rapeseed, walnut or olive oil
Juice the apples then transfer to a blender with the grapes and your choice of blueberries, blackberries or cherries. Blitz until smooth. Stir in your chosen plant oil before serving.
