Healthy Brazilian Juices
Brazilians are often regarded as the home of some of the most beautiful women in the world, spawning more than a handful of models and supermodels. Even walking on the beaches and side streets of Rio de Janeiro, it’s easy to see that Brazilian women love to take care of themselves and look good. It’s common for women there to make weekly trips to the salon for manicures, pedicures, skin and hair treatments, and waxing. But another aspect of staying beautiful is certainly the Brazilian diet, which features a range of diverse produce that is grown locally.
Drinking fruit juices is a big deal in Brazil, not only for their cool and refreshing flavors but for their inherent health benefits. The variety and amount of fruits grown in Brazil are huge, which means that juice vendors are commonplace on streets, in shopping malls, and on beaches. While fruit juices have always been popular, the idea of adding non-fruit ingredients just recently became popular.
Mint is a relatively recent addition that is quickly becoming an available ingredient at almost any juice stand, bar, or restaurant. Also, vegetables are adding different flavor combinations and more nutrients to the menu. Brazilians enjoy any combination of fruits for flavorful juices. While some Brazilian fruits come straight from the Amazon and are hard to find elsewhere in the world, there are still some delicious and nutritious recipes that you can make at home with ingredients easily found in any grocery store. And remember: you look good when you drink well!
Pineapple and Mint Juice
One of the most popular juices in Brazil right now is pineapple and mint juice. It offers a unique flavor profile: the sharp coolness of mint combined with the fruity tang of pineapple. This drink is refreshing on those hot, sticky Brazilian days. Remember, when you’re buying a pineapple, the more yellow and stronger scented it is, the riper it is. Here’s the recipe:
- Cut two pieces of pineapple that have been peeled and cored into 1-inch cubes and add them to your blender.
- Add a glass of ice-cold water and ¾ C ice cubes for a nice chill. The less water you add, the thicker it will be.
- Add a handful of mint leaves. You can add a bit of sugar to taste if you want.
- Blend well until ingredients are well incorporated and texture is smooth. Taste and adjust ingredients to taste, blending after each addition.
- Serve immediately and keep a straw or stirrer on hand in case the mixture separates.
Orange and Carrot Juice
Oranges are a great source of vitamin C, calcium, and potassium. Carrots are a great addition to juice because they are filling and very nutritious thanks to carbohydrates and vitamin K. To make this juice:
- Make sure carrots and oranges are refrigerated before making the juice.
- Peel carrots and cut into small, bite-sized pieces. Add to blender.
- Peel the orange and break off the pieces with your fingers. Make sure the pulp is removed. Add to blender.
- Add cold water and ice cubes (remember, less water leads to a thicker juice)
- Blend well and serve immediately.
Can Lemon Juice Cure Acne?
No one enjoys having an acne breakout, and the acne scars it leaves can be damaging to self-esteem. These scars take time to disappear. And while there are plenty of treatments available from the drugstore, with stubborn scars are hard to eliminate, buying creams and other products for this can become a burden.
Fortunately, there are also plenty of cheaper and safer home-remedy alternatives, with lemon juice as one of the more popular choices. Lemon is full of vitamin C, which makes it great to use as an anti-inflammatory treatment. It can help reduce the redness and swelling of the acne and over time, it can help with lightening blemish and acne scars.
The Lowdown on Lemon Juice
Some people call the lemon juice “the wonder juice” because of its curing properties. But before you head to the kitchen and cover your face with fruit extracts, you need to understand how lemon works on the skin to downplay all the expectations.
You can find lemon juice in beauty products like astringents or toners, as it does help clear out the blemishes. Lemon, however, will not completely help scars disappear, especially when they are so deep. For that, you would probably need to go through a mild procedure at the dermatologist’s clinic.
What lemon does is to lighten the acne scars to a point where they almost seem non-existent. Achieving this effect varies with every person, and with each skin type. Some people can see the difference in as little as a week, while for others, using lemon, as with any type of acne scars treatment, may take weeks for the results to appear.
Perhaps the key is in your diligence to get rid of the acne scars. Do this lemon treatment every day, and you should be guaranteed some great results.
How to Use Lemon Juice for Acne Scars
The simplest way is to slice a fruit of lemon and squeeze the juice out into a bowl, then dab cotton or sponge on this juice to slowly rub on your face. You will instantly feel your skin getting tighter, indicating that the citrus acid in lemon is working their way into your skin tissues. The result can be drying, which is why it’s never advisable to leave lemon juice on your face for hours or overnight. If you do, you will have redness and irritation of the skin the next morning. Lemon, after all, is acid. It must be rinsed off with cold water after, maybe, 10 minutes of application.
For variation, you can add other kitchen ingredients to your organic lemon cleanser.
- Sugar with lemon helps remove dead skin cells effectively. Sugar is most common in beauty products like body scrubs, and its effectiveness in making the skin smoother and cleaner.
- Aloe Vera with lemon juice results in a peeling treatment that allows your skin to grow and regenerate new, healthy layers.
- Honey with lemon juice makes a wonderful facemask that helps soften skin. Since lemon itself tends to dry the skin, this combination would keep it moisturized.