The Big Book of Juices: More Than 400 Natural Blends for Health and Vitality Every Day [Paperback]

In the past few months I've read quite a few books on juicing. "The Big Book of Juices" is one of the most creative books I've seen so far. The fruit and vegetable blends are especially delicious. Who would have thought that grapefruit would go so well with carrots and celery. I've also never seen anyone blend broccoli with pears. Yet these all seem to work well. I especially enjoyed making the juice with passionfruit, orange juice and seltzer.

While you need a juicer for most of the recipes there are also some recipes for your blender. If you are feeling adventurous you might enjoy making a spicy drink made from chai tea, peaches, vanilla and yogurt. Most of the smoothie recipes use yogurt. The only thing you have to do first is to juice some of the fruit before you add it to the blender with the yogurt. Other fruits like mango and papaya are better just added to the blender as they don't juice as well. Specific instructions are not given on each recipe so you have to read the instructions at the start of the book and at the start of each chapter. Instead of instructions the author just gives a few sentences to inspire you to make the drink. This works well for individuals who have already been juicing for a few months but is not as helpful for someone new to juicing. From my own experience I learned to peel most fruits, especially citrus fruits. You will also want to peel mangoes, pineapple and papaya.

The last section in the book contains some recipes using sparkling mineral water. There are also some recipes for teas made with fresh herbs. There is an interesting tea made with licorice and mint. If you are looking for something to calm you at the end of the day there is a tea made with lemongrass, cardamom, orange zest, chamomile and mint. Unlike the other recipes, instructions are given for most of the recipes in the "Thirst Quenchers" section.

The recipes using lime sorbet are perfect for the summer if you don't mind a little sugar with your fruit drinks. For the most part all the drinks are sweetened with the natural fruit juice combinations. Quite a few of the drinks are flavored with ginger. You can always add a packet of stevia which is a natural sweetener.

This is a book you will use day after day! The pictures of the juices are beautiful and you might be intrigued by all the different shaped glasses the author found to display the juices in. If you have been juicing at least a few months then you will love this book. If you are just starting your juicing journey, try a few of the books listed at the end of this review - they were very helpful to me when I started juicing.

If you want to freeze some of the smoothie recipes try these: Kidco Healthy Snack Frozen Treat Trays

Other books you might enjoy - these books will teach
you the basics of juicing:

Juiceman's Power of Juicing

Ultimate Juicing: Delicious Recipes for Over 125 of the Best Fruit & Vegetable Juice Combinations

The Juice Lady's Juicing for High Level Wellness and Vibrant Good Looks

Juicing for Health

The Juicing Bible

~The Rebecca Review

First, this is a gorgeous book. Beautiful photographs of almost all the recipes, and compact yet comprehensive sections on juicing (and smoothie) ingredients, suggested juicing regimens, and recipe recommendations for specific ailments or nutrients. The majority of recipes are for juices, but recipes for smoothies (with and without dairy or nut/seed milk) and quenchers (juice blends diluted with sparkling water or other beverage) are also included.

I'm new to juicing, but I've been drinking green smoothies (blended fruit and leafy greens -- no dairy) for months now. Juicing seemed like the perfect adjunct to the smoothies -- I wanted to add more vegetables to my diet. If you've done any research about juicing or smoothies, you've seen the debate about combining fruits and vegetables. If you're not a fan of combining them, this is not the book for you -- virtually all of these recipes combine the two food groups. (While I don't generally combine them myself, my current favorite juice is Natalia Rose's Life Force Powerade -- kale, cucumber or celery, beets, ginger, apples and lemon. Drinking this the first thing in the morning is an amazing start to the day.)

Having said that, this book is an inspiration to me as a juicing newbie, and gives me plenty of ideas for both my juices and green smoothies. BUT -- much of this content is duplicated in Ms. Savona's book, The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies: 365 Natural Blends for Health and Vitality Every Day (The Big Book of...Series) (Spiral-bound). Until recently this was available here on amazon.com in a spiral-bound format -- a much more condensed version, and probably easier to use.

Either of these books is worth a look -- I think anyone interested in juices or smoothies would benefit on some level.

The Big Book of Juices is the one of the best books ever!! Each recipe is "graded" on 5 areas with 0-5 stars; energy, detox, immunity, digestion and skin. It gives the recipe title, ingredients, author comments, and the grade. I read all 400 since it was delivered this morning and I am so excited to try them. It has 5 chapters; juice basics, making juices (more than half the book), making smoothies (anything with a banana or yogurt), making quenchers (drinks including sparkling water), and juicing reference (it has a lot of nutritional references and advice for ailments). It also has a picture for nearly every recipe. It is over 700 pages of colorful goodness!!! I don't think I'll ever need another juicing book.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 104 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars