Orange, Lemon and Ginger Zinger

Refreshing drinks are my favorite part of warm weather. During the long summer months, there's nothing more relaxing than sitting in the shade slowly sipping on a cool drink. After watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead last year, Mr. A and I have made it a point to make our own fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. We've been doing this for more than a year now, but nearly every week we discover a new combination to add to our ever growing list of favorites.

In addition to being lip-smackingly tasty, this latest recipe I've come up with has some amazing health benefits. To make this easier to digest ::pardon the pun:: I've broken each of the benefits down by ingredient.

Oranges
Boost immune system
Lowers cholesterol
Helps prevent kidney disease
Helps prevent cancer
Regulates high blood pressure
Helps maintain a healthy heart
High in vitamin C

Carrots
Improves vision
Helps prevent cancer
Cleanses the body
Cleanses skin

Lemon
Good for the liver
High in vitamin C
Strengthens blood vessels
Helps prevent cancer

Ginger 
Helps treat cold and flu
Helps with nausea (pregnant momma's take note)
Helps relive arthritic pain
Helps maintain blood circulation
Helps with ovarian cancer (causes cell death in ovarian cancer cells)

As you can see, this powerful drink packs quite a wallop. I do want to caution that if you are looking to juice to loose weight, you'll want to be mindful of the amount of fruits that you include in your juice. Although they're certainly healthy and a necessary part of our diet, fruits contain quite a few calories.

For this recipe you will need:
2 large oranges
5-8 carrots
1 lemon
1 bit of ginger (about the length of the spoon portion of a tablespoon)

Wash produce thoroughly, then remove the peels from the oranges, lemon, and ginger. Toss into the juicer, and enjoy. It's as simple as that!

In case you're curious, we have the Breville Juicer, which is the same juicer that Joe uses in the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. As I said, we've had this model for more than a year and we haven't had any problems. It's definitely a great starter juicer.

As always, if you decide to give this recipe a shot, come back and let me know what you thought! Until next time.