By Lana Nasser
I’m buzzing from an intense post workout high, and I literally still have the shakes and nothing can quite quench my thirst as a fruit and veggie liquid heaven. One of my favorites would have to be the Morning Glory from Nectar at Bodytree Studio – blueberries, bananas, orange, organic acai powder and organic goji berries. The best part for me is pushing my body to reach crazy mental goals, sweating out all the toxins and then rewarding it with a freshly made juice full of nutrients and anti-oxidants, kick-starting its repair cycle into hyper-drive. That’s my reason for loving juice, what’s yours?
Juice bars have become a trend, a style cooler than fashion; a status symbol. Nowadays it’s hipper to look after your body from the inside out. So how did this obsession come about? Juice has been sloshing around waiting for it’s grand entrance since the thirties. It paired perfectly with the crusades for fitness, the popularization of Gerson therapy, which was a treatment of juice, supplements and coffee enemas for cancer patients and the work of Norman Walker, a pioneer in the raw food movement and vegetarianism. As a young man he couldn’t accept the idea of ill health or a sick body and was able to cure himself by grinding carrots for juice. He believed in juicing your way to vibrant health and disease prevention: parsley for maintaining adrenal and thyroid glands, turnip for soft bones and teeth and green peppers for quality nails and hair. Today his famed Norwalk cold press juice machine is touted as an innovation as it delivers smoother, less pulpy nectars that allow the body to better absorb the benefits of juice. Unfortunately his concept had a very small cult following and the ideas never caught on; Walker passed away in 1985 at age 99 but some say at 118.
Juice picked up again in the nineties when it was closely tied to the super-foods and veganism. If you wanted a disconnection from mass-produced sustenance then juice was your answer. Juice was natural and allowed you a kind of float-on-a-cloud feeling through life, a little nutsy and hungry but full of energy, epiphanies and goodness. At that time there was another health culture taking hold, better known as the pamper-yourself culture with expensive hot stone massages. So when the pampering world collided with the all the natural high of the hippie juice world, the juice craze was born with lots of excitement to go with it. Companies like iZo Cleanse in California and Blue Print in New York by Zoe Sakoutis and Erica Huss pioneered juice’s revolution. Each tackles juice through a different process but the general message is the same: to promote health and strength and now is your chance to ride the bandwagon to rebirth.
This vibe has burst on the scene in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the last two years; especially as health and fitness awareness campaigns and events gain momentum and popularity. The hardest decision would have to be choosing which of the juice bars is the one for you. According to Mira Naaman, owner of Nectar, “you choose the juice that best suits your lifestyle!”
There are the juice bars in Abu Dhabi that offer freshly blended elixirs, which you can also custom design with the energy boosting extras such as organic wheatgrass, organic aloe vera, organic flaxseeds or organic chia seeds or even preorder your juice so it’s ready right after your workout. While others offer pre-bottled cold pressed juices, which are smoother because of the pressing process the fruits and vegetables go through. You can’t create your own, but the juices have an increased shelf life and allow you to experience the benefits as close to eating the actual fruit. Then you have the stores in Dubai that specialize in various detoxifying juice cleanse programs, depending on how much detoxifying you’d like to do on your body and for how long. Customers can choose to detox anywhere from 5 to 20 days and results are best achieved the longer they remain on the programme.
“I feel like I have so much more energy and my skin looks amazing!” was what one of my friends had told me after she completed the program. Some people take it one step further and just replace some of their meals with juice. Personally I enjoy my food and texture way too much to give it up for any number of days. Trying out kale with my juice is about the only juice adventure I’m willing to go on. Actually, the only time I prefer to get juiced is after a tough crossfit class, freshly blended with all my favorite accessories!
