#RealJuice - 7 Day Juice plan with Philips and Madeline Shaw

It's a big trend with A-listers to use juice cleanses to try and shed some weight and get glowing skin but Madeleine Shaw (nutritionist who has worked with Millie Mackintosh and Louis Smith) says that having a juice a day alongside your regular diet can have lots of health benefits. There's no need to replace every meal with juice, you can have one a day and still see some big changes. - 'Juicing for me is a way of life. It's amazing how all of the goodness contained within a freshly made juice can fuel a workout, beat that afternoon slump or to help you sleep,' she said.
Freshly made fruit and vegetable juice is packed with nutrients and a easy way to get your 5 a day but be warned 'If you are always on the go then it may seem like an easy option to grab a bottled juice. However, shop bought juices actually lose many of their nutrients over the course of their long shelf life due to the pasteurisation process. Plus they tend to be fruit-based making their sugar content higher,' As explained in my previous post I've been taking part in the #RealJuice Philips plan which encourages people to drink a juice a day. I was really looking forward to upping my fresh fruit and veg intake and juicing for the first time.

I've been following a 7 day plan created for me by Madeline Shaw and here are the flavour combinations from the first five days:

Madeline Shaw's 7 juice plan - Days 1-5

Monday: Glowing greens juice - 3 stalks of celery, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 pear, 1/2 cucumber, 1 peeled lemon (or less according to taste), 1 handful of parsley

Tuesday: Pre-Workout juice - 3 carrots, 1 beetroot, 2 handfuls of parsley, 2cm of ginger

Wednesday: 4pm Pick me up juice - a handful of spinach, 5 romaine lettuce leaves, 1/4 a cucumber, 4 stalks of celery, 1 lemon, 1 apple, 2cm of ginger and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Thursday: Stir & purr sleep tonic juice - 1 green apple, 7 strawberries, 15 de-stoned cherries, 1/2 a cucumber

Friday: Watermelon cooler juice - 1/4 of a watermelon, 1 peeled lime (or less according to taste), 1 handful of fresh mint

I was really worried about drinking the glowing green juice, I've never had a juice containing vegetables before and I HATE celery but the lemon and cucumber meant it was really refreshing and I actually enjoyed it. The green juice helps you get glowing skin as cucumber contains silica which maintains skin elasticity and pears contains vitamin C which helps fight free radical damage to your skin. I have to say that after a week of juicing my acne had improved slightly and I felt like my skin was less dull.

The Watermelon Cooler was definitely my favourite juice of the week, it was so refreshing and just what I needed after a long week in work. The smell of fresh mint filled the house and this is going to be something I make a lot in the summer.

I'm not sure that I would carry on juicing 7 days a week because some days I'm out 8am- 8pm with the commute, work and yoga but I'm going to make sure I don't waste any fruit and juice it and make a few of the glowing green juices a week because I noticed a big difference in my complexion after drinking those. If you have any juice flavour combinations you think I should try please leave them below.

Philips and Madeleine are going to be hosting a Google Hangout Monday 27th October at 1pm. (TODAY) Madeleine will be talking about the Philips Campaign for Real Juice, giving her top tips on juicing and offering advice on how to incorporate juicing into your everyday life, rather than using it as a quick fix detox. She will also be able to answer any questions you have on juicing or nutrition in general, provide any advice you might be after so make sure you get involved.