It wasn’t so long ago that the answer to the question, 'what are you drinking?' would be a large glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or a craft gin and tonic.  More recently, and as part of this alkaline assault on my osteoarthritis, I’ve been drinking green juice all day.  I went to see my friend Jill Swyers who gave me some very good advice, nutritionally speaking. I called her when she was in Portugal. She asked me what the matter was.. I knew immediately and I had to face up to it.

“My name’s Deborah and I’m addicted to sugar,” I said.

Knowing your enemy is the first step to taking back control.

Luckily though, I’m a raw chef and I know how to combine a flavour or two.

So here was my challenge… how to make a green juice so delicious that you look forward to drinking it all day, everyday?

The answer is lemon.

The unwaxed lemon is a really important addition to the juice since it takes away the bitterness of the greens.  This elevates the juice from being murky pond water to a deliciously tart and refreshing drink.

Try it, you might be surprised.

A lot of people ask what’s in the bottle of murky green that I carry around. Adam, one of the Chefs from the TV show I was just involved in, said that he thought I’d blended Shrek.

This juice isn’t blended, I use a masticating juicer. Masticating juicers chew the vegetables slowly to ensure that the cell walls aren’t ripped apart and the nutrients aren’t destroyed. It makes a juice which can be easily absorbed and is fibreless. By using a masticating juicer, I can drink this juice for up to 8 hours and it still has most of its nutritional content. If I used a centrifugal juicer, then would need to drink this within about 15 minutes before the juice was compromised.

I can’t make any medical claims about this juice but what I can tell you is that I was told I would very likely need a hip replacement. It would take me two hours to get up and I could hardly walk and move – the inflammation was so bad.

Today I can move freely without that much pain – and things are getting better all the time. I don’t take any painkillers. I drink this juice, take MSM and chlorella and a pretty much a 100% raw vegan way of eating. I no longer need a hip replacement. Fluke? Maybe.  I’m going to keep on it, just in case.

I use organic vegetables and unwaxed lemons. Make sure that your veggies are fresh or it will taint your juice.

I drink two of these juices every day.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole head celery

• 1 whole cucumber

• 2 romaine lettuces

• 1 handful peas shoots or alfafa sprouts

• 1 handful of either chard, spinach or kale

• I unwaxed lemon, rind on

Believe me, if I can eat this way, a self confessed sugar addict and real foodie, then I can help you.