It is approaching a decade since Alison MacKintosh introduced her Inverness business JuicyNess to local food and drink fans.
The clue as to what the 35-year-old produces is hinted at in the title. Yes, juices.
It was launched by Alison in her home workshop offering juice cleanse packages for local and nationwide delivery. And in 2021, she went on to open the doors of her own smoothie bar at Fairways Retail Park. It is known as JuicyNess Smoothie Bar.
Here, not only is the business’ signature juice cleanses available to purchase, but customers can also pick up made-to-order takeaway juices, smoothies pressed from whole ingredients, snacks, locally-roasted fresh coffee, and plant-based meal packs.
Drink flavours in the cleanse packages include a lemon and apple shot, carrot zinger, and mango madness.
Alison entered the world of juicing in the run-up to 2014 and shared its main benefits.
1. Physical and mental improvements
Alison was in her early 20s with a young daughter when she started struggling with weight issues, anxiety, and insomnia.
Although regular exercise became part of her routine, she found that nutrition had equally as important a part to play if she wanted to improve her health.
She said: “It wasn’t until I really started taking my nutrition into consideration that things really started to change.
“When I realised the connection between the two, I combined fitness and nutrition and started cooking from scratch, eating more fruit and vegetables.
“Eventually, this progressed to making fresh juices and smoothies daily at home.
The entrepreneur tried her first juice cleanse in early 2014.
Alison added: “I just couldn’t believe how good I felt.
“Around this time friends and family started to notice a difference in not only my physical appearance but also my mentality too and they all wanted to know my secret.
“So I started making juices and smoothies for them and the rest is history!”
2. Gives body time to detoxify
Alison went on to say that fast, processed, and highly-treated food and drinks have become “the norm”.
We constantly see fast food brands, including McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King, opening new branches, and these types of meals can leave you feeling bloated and lethargic.
This is because the digestive system works overtime to break down food with very little nutritional value. However, juices give the body time to cleanse and detoxify itself naturally.
“A short cleanse where you remove processed ingredients, stimulants, and refined sugars for one to five days can allow the body to fully cycle out toxins,” Alison said.
“By flooding it with highly nutritious fruits and vegetables packed with naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, it allows it to function at an optimal level where we quickly see increased energy, better sleep and mental clarity often described as a lift in brain fog.
“I see it as a building block to break the junk food cycle, experience how good you can feel when consuming real non-processed whole ingredients and take that feeling into your daily nutrition choices post-cleanse.”
3. Nourishes your body
A more obvious benefit would be that juicing nourishes the body.
“We are definitely becoming more aware of how what we consume affects us on so many levels,” Alison says.
“It’s key to know what we are putting into our bodies and to question ingredients that we don’t recognise and the effect they can have on us.
“People are realising how good they can feel when you nourish your body and a juice or juice/soup cleanse can be a great way to get a little boost when you feel stuck.”
4. Helps you reset
Cleanses work great for those looking to reset, too, and can be used as a stepping stone to make you more aware of your nutrition choices.
However, the smoothie bar owner stresses that they can only be a great tool when done properly.
“My advice if taking on a DIY juice cleanse at home is to make sure you are getting at least 500ml per serving made up of vegetables predominantly – around an 80 to 20 veg to fruit split – four-to-five times per day for a sustained release of energy.
“Take plenty of water separately but don’t water down your juices, you want these to be as concentrated as possible.
“Listen to your body, exercise, and rest when needed. Withdrawal symptoms from caffeine, sugar, etc are normal so try and reduce these on the days leading up to your cleanse for optimal results.”
5. Ensures you consume more fresh ingredients
Each bottle included in a JuicyNess cleanse package features a kilo of fresh produce, so they are perfect for anyone keen to up their fruit and veg intake.
Alison said: “We get the majority of our produce fresh daily from local wholesalers with some of our more unusual smoothie ingredients like powdered pumpkin or activated charcoal from online health merchants. We e use these to create speciality seasonal drinks.”
JuicyNess also offers five freshly-made meal varieties each week, changing monthly with a different meal available every day in the smoothie bar’s deli fridge and online.
Bean chilli, Thai curry, tagine, and a mac n’ (no) cheese (made with a sweet potato sauce) are some examples. They cost £5.50 each or can be purchased in packs of five for £22.
For more information, visit www.juicyness.co.uk
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