Rating: WORTHY!
This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.
I thought this book was a great idea and I enjoyed it, but I have to say I had some issues with the nutritional claims made for some of the fruit employed in these drinks!
The idea behind this, which I think is great, is to supply recipes for an assortment of alcohol-free, fruit and vegetable drinks, and while some were not to my personal taste, most of them sounded delicious and I plan on trying some of them out. I think the best way to enjoy these is to forget about any nutritional benefits and simply enjoy a good drink made with fresh fruit, which is plenty good enough for me!
Fresh fruit is good for you, better than store-bought, processed fruit juice, because it contains fiber in a natural whole fruit. It also contains vitamins and minerals, but we need to be careful about what claims we make for what a given fruit contains. For example, pineapple is a good source for manganese and vitamin C, but it has no other significant value nutritionally and it's misleading to suggest that it does.
While grapefruit does have vitamin C it has less than half the potassium that a banana does. Pink grapefruit does have lycopene which is an antioxidant, but note that some fruits such as grapefruit can interfere with drug absorption, so if you plan on enjoying a lot of fruit and fruit drinks, be sure to run your plan by your doctor for advice on whether your drug regimen is going to be adversely affected by it - just to be safe!
Note also that rhubarb leaves are toxic, but the stems have a wide variety of vitamins (at low levels), a decent amount of vitamin k, and low levels of an assortment of minerals. The claim that ginger root has antibacterial, ani-inflammatory, or antiviral properties needs to be taken with a pinch of that Himalayan salt. Ginger can cause problems too, including allergic reactions, and there’s no medical evidence that it has any ability to control nausea.
There’s also no evidence that Himalayan salt is any better for you than regular salt either, and raw Himalayan salt can contain lead if it’s not purified. The pink color is from dead microorganisms that lived in the ocean where this was formed. Himalayan salt is really just sea salt that's over a hundred million years old so you could argue that it's not exactly fresh!
Since raw honey is a potential source of botulism, it’s not recommended for very young children. It does contain more nutrients than processed honey, but it also contains a lot of calories. In my non-medical opinion, if you’re eating a healthy diet anyway, raw honey isn’t going to contribute anything you’ll miss, so you may as well use the processed kind. Also, while turmeric is related to the ginger plant, there’s no medical evidence that this has any health properties either.
The blood orange on the other hand is indeed colored red by anthocyanins and may - possibly, it’s too early to call - have some value in aiding weight loss. But there isn't just one kind of blood orange. They come in quite a variety and some varieties are sweeter than others.
So like I said, setting the nutrition claims to one side and enjoying the drinks simply for the fun and the fresh fruit and veggies seems to me to be a winning plan. That's what I plan on doing. On that basis I recommend this book as a worthy read.
