Juice Your Way...to a Better Period! 

Periods are not fair. I know menstruation is linked with the moon’s cycles and it’s all mysterious and beautiful and we cis-women are honored to participate in this mystical-feminine-energy every month, but my period is annoying and irregular and full of cramps and puffiness and crabbiness and headaches. Ugh.

This month, in the midst of debilitating menstrual cramps, I decided to make a raw juice designed to ease the discomfort—and it helped! So I’m passing the recipe on to you in the hopes that next month will be better for all of us.

Note: If you don’t have a juicer, this will work in the blender. The juice will come out a lot thicker, but the raw nutrients will still be there.

You will need

6 large carrots
Carrots are a fantastic diuretic, meaning that they fight bloat and water retention by making you pee more. Fabulous!

4 large celery stalks
Celery has anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties, plus a secret power: it helps to alleviate muscle and menstrual cramps and may even tone down migraines. Celery juice has been part of my cramps-relief routine for a year now, and it works!

3 apples (any kind)
Apples are like Mother Nature’s laxative. Their high fiber content makes you have to go Number Two like nobody’s business, especially when combined with carrots. There will be no period-induced constipation with them in the mix.

1 lemon
Lemons are here to heal period-skin; the natural antibacterial and anti-fungal fruit fights acne, excess oil, and blackheads—and also helps detoxify your system.

Piece of ginger (at least as big as your thumb)
Ginger is a miracle anti-inflammatory root, but here’s where we get real: ginger has been proven to fight menstrual cramps. Proven. Drink your ginger, y’all.

Wash everything, then toss in a juicer or blender, and hit the “on” button. (In a juicer, add the ginger last, separately, after the rest has come together. If using a blender, peel the ginger, and add a cup of water to the mixture to help liquefy your fruits and veggies.)

This mixture will be a gorgeous, bright, sunset orange—just looking at it will cheer you up. It tastes sweet, slightly sour, gingery, and delicious! Serving suggestion: try it over ice, with a straw, while lying in bed with a hot water bottle on your throbbing uterus and Netflixing a reality show like Cake Boss.

The recipe will make tons of fresh juice, roughly 45 ounces, which you’ll need to keep in the fridge in an airtight container and stir before drinking. Try divvying it up into 16-ounce mason jars to have the right serving sizes ready to go. Drink it all up within three days. By then, your period symptoms should at least be dwindling, because if they weren’t life would be unfair.

Photo by __Kris Krüg