Give Your Skin That Spring Glow

Give Your Skin That Spring Glow You've undoubtedly heard that detoxing is good for your skin. In fact, healthy  and radiant skin is the top detox benefit reported by our cleansers. Cleansing  helps give your skin that sparkly, dewy, fresh look, and it also helps ease  common skin conditions such as acne, dermatitis, psoriasis and eczema.  The role and functions of your skin The skin is the largest organ in your body. It protects you from external pathogens, regulates temperature, facilitates vitamin D absorption, enables tactile sensation, and importantly plays an active role in detoxification. Its detoxification function has the biggest connection with skin appearance. If  you’re overloaded with toxins – playing too hard, eating too much (or too much  of the wrong things) and sleeping too little – it all takes its toll on your skin. Dehydration lines, breakouts, rashes and skin irritations are all signs your skin  needs some serious TLC, and your body could do with a cleanse. Detoxing and its impact on your skin When you detox, provided you are avoiding all the right foods (our cleanse does  just that), you are naturally eliminating skin aggravators and inflammatory  agents such as dairy, yeast, sugar and gluten. Juice cleansing gives your digestive system a rest, stimulates detoxification  (gently clearing out all those skin-clogging nasties), and floods your body with delicious nutrients all at the same time. It's a recipe for skin success! Image courtesy of Nine MSN

Your body is a temple. Keep it clean.

The Ultimate Liver Cleansing Salad

Last week we dished up a Mini Detox Menu fit for a king (or mini-king). This week, a jumbo salad to cleanse your liver and tantalise your tastebuds… Enjoy!

Start with a supercharged salad base…
Mix 2-3 of the following delicious bitter and leafy greens: 
- Spinach
- Rocket
- Endives
- Dandelion leaves
- Mustard greens
- Watercress

Next, the bulk of your salad…
Choose as many of the following as you like:
- Grated white and red cabbage
- Grated carrot
- Grated apple
- Diced beetroot
- Sliced avocado
- Diced tomato
- Boiled egg, chopped in quarters
- Raw almonds, activated if possible
- Mixed beans and/or lentils (from the can if you don’t have time to soak)

If you have extra time…
Prepare the following the night before and throw them in the mix:
- Asparagus (lightly seared)
- Broccoli (raw or lightly steamed/sautéed fine)
- Brown rice or other wholegrain

Whip together a tasty little dressing…
We suggest making a bottle or jar (easy to shake and you can go back to it again and again):
- Olive oil
- Balsamic or apple cider vinegar
- Squeezed lemon, lime and grapefruit
- Crushed garlic
- Finely diced red onion
- Turmeric
- Dijon mustard if you like a kick to your dressing!

And now for the garnish…
Sprinkle with:
- Gomasio
- Seeds
- Fresh herbs

Serve with green tea, et voilà!

Four easy ways to make this your best year yet!

They say how you start the New Year is a good reflection of how the rest of it is going to be. A little bit like how your breakfast (the meal of kings) determines your eating patterns and metabolism for the rest of the day. So we thought we’d help you get off on the right foot for 2012.

You’re not alone if December saw you feeling sillier than usual – dinners replaced with canapés and champagne, weeks blurring into weekends, celebrations never ending – or if the Christmas festivities quickly turned into New Year’s Eve ones, with no respite in between. That’s OK, we’re not about to tell you off. They call it ‘living’ for a reason right? It’s all about balance, finding your way back to your centre and knowing how to take care of your body when it’s worn out and needing some TLC.

Here are our 4 tips for making this January the best yet:

1. Start SMALL. Don’t put yourself off your resolutions by jumping in the deep end (we’re not saying this doesn’t work but 5am jogs are not for everyone). Go for a brisk 10min walk in the evening after dinner or do some stretches and toning exercises at home in the morning before breakkie. Every. Little. Bit. Counts.

2. Love yourself up. Wake up in the morning and tell yourself how wonderful you are. If you wake up doing the opposite, what’s the point in striving for better? PMA (no, not PMS) = Positive Mental Attitude. It’s corny but it works. Eating well, exercising and generally being healthy is largely governed by how driven you are to make the changes. If you’re kind to yourself, you’re more likely to feel motivated – a little like being your own best friend.

3. Embrace the change of season. When the weather changes, so does your body’s requirements. Don’t get stuck in an autumn/spring (can we even call it spring?) lunch rut all the way through summer. If your body is craving salads bursting with colours and nutrients, go for it. Tune in to what your body wants (within reason of course). A little trick of the trade – if you’re pining after junk, drink a big glass of water first and then think about what you really feel like eating again.

4. Out with the old, in with the new. The New Year is a time for renewal. Clean out your wardrobe, your pantry, your fridge, your filing cabinet, your phone, your mind… and last but definitely not least… your body. There’s no doubt about it, December isn’t the saintliest of months. Our bodies are full to the brim with all-you-can-eat buffet, champagne, appetisers, chocolate, Christmas pudding, roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast… well, everything. The mind-body connection is undeniable when it comes to cleansing and clearing out your insides gives you a new lease on life – a fresh perspective.

We’re attacking a 5-day cleanse this month at the UR HQ… wish us luck!