Oh, happy day. The sun’s out, the plants are alive, the birds are playing and the sky is clear. In case you didn’t know, I am a summer girl and when I say that I am SERIOUS. I am born and raised Alaskan and I used to wear shorts whether it was -20 or +80 (dumb). Then, I moved to Kauai and was sensitized or, as my husband would say, corrupted haha. Now, I am a big whine bag when I can’t wear shorts. I complain throughout the winter because of the lack of sunlight (I’m working on contentment!). I simply want to drink smoothies all year long and when summer comes around, I can! If you follow me on Instagram you have read about my bout with health.

I was nauseas, weak, tired and overall not well for a few months. I’m not blaming it on one thing because it was a combination of several things. Here was the recipe that set me up for an unwell body. 18 years of destructive eating, living and stress + antibiotics + birth control + eating foods I was allergic to + non-seasonal eating + vitamin and mineral deficiencies + heavy working out and lots of emotional degradation. This all flung me into a state of lethargy, weight gain, hormone imbalance, skin problems and leaky gut. This is when Kauai came in. I moved there, began clean eating, removed my allergens, focused on me and forgave. Along the way, I somehow managed to miss out on recognizing the leaky gut that I had and never healed it.

That leaky gut is why I was having these issues for the past few months. Think bandaid. I had placed a Band-Aid on my health but I didn’t have any therapeutic intervention to heal it while the Band-Aid covered it so, when I became stressed, it all came back and it wasn’t going to let me miss it this time!

You’re probably like, I’m just here to read about juice. I’m getting there, I’m getting there. I am going to go into detail about one of the products today because they have so many different flavors that I couldn’t just brush on it. They are organic, from nature and free of junk (as usual). God always amazes me, especially when I am eating food straight from His earth. Seriously, think about the complexity of what we eat and how that living food can bring life into your body. I hope you enjoy these products and if you haven’t tried them, I highly encourage you to do so. And no, I am not paid to say this!

The hype today is all about this delicious juice company that sources clean, organic and local ingredients. They go even deeper than just clean ingredients though. This company focuses on the way they make their products just as much as they focus on what goes into their products. Recently, they released a ton of new products and they have an incredible assortment of flavors. SUJA! This is the brand we are talking about today. They are based in San Diego, California which means their produce (much like me) loves sunshine and summer time. This company was founded by four courageous individuals that believed and still do believe in the power of real food. They are the fastest growing organic, non-GMO and cold-pressed juice company on the market.

As always, their products are organic, GMO-free, filler-free and preservative-free. For you bandwagoners, they are also gluten-free since they are just fruits and vegetables that are naturally gluten-free. They use a high pressure processing instead of heat which means you get more of the nutrients in each bottle. They have expanded their products and now you can get a wide variety of drinks from their different lines: Suja, Elements and Classic. They also have drinking vinegars and probiotic drinks in several different flavors. I will go into detail below, hold on, it’s about to get scientific.

The Suja line is little bit of everything. They mixed different flavors, added boosts and let me just say, they did a wonderful job. She of the flavors in include Mango Magic and Berry Goodness. The Elements line is a variety of green juices that will give you that extra boosts of antioxidants you need. They are, well, GREEN! Classic is perfect for getting your daily vitamins and minerals that are needed for basic day-to-day health and wellbeing. You can find Lavenade, Fuel and Blue Dream in the Classic line. Their unique line of prebiotic waters are made with three simple ingredients: filtered water, fruits/vegetables and vegan probiotics. They contain 2 billion CFUs and only 10 calories with 1 or less gram of sugar. Here are some tasty flavors: Orange Ginger Pineapple, Strawberry and Ginger Lime. I saved the best for last because I am weird and love vinegar. They have an awesome line of drinking vinegars that still have the mother and 4 billion CFUs of probiotics. You can buy these in so many unique flavors like: Hibiscus Ancho Chili, Peach Ginger and Ginger Turmeric.

Another cool way to purchase your products from them is to do one of their cleanses. This is called the Fresh Starts line. They have the Original Fresh Starts and the Core Fresh Starts. If you are new to juicing, I would recommend the Original to begin with because it contains more of the sweet fruits and veggies. I recommend this because your body can go through sugar withdrawals if you remove it ALL at once. These withdrawals can look like headaches, fatigue, irritability or just flat out hanger. The Core incorporates more green juices and is for what I would call an experienced juicer or someone who wants to cut down their sugar intake. These juice fasts are neat because you can customize them to match your needs. You can do them for 1, 3 or 5 days and you will drink 6 juices per day. Just like Suja, I recommend that you begin eliminating heavy foods like red meat, flour, sugar and dairy a few days prior to the cleanse. Removing alcohol and coffee will also make the process a little easier but it all depends on what kind of outcome you want.

 My personal favorite is the Lavenade because who doesn’t love lavender and lemonade! <3 <3

Here in Spokane you can get purchase them at Natural Grocers, Safeway, Albertsons, Walmart (what!) and Target. You can also order directly from them on the website and they come in a super fancy box that’s colorful, big and contains all the goods. They even have a cooler box with ice packs to keep it nice and fresh for you. They make for the perfect hike, road trip and adventure companion. They are so refreshing on a warm summer day (if they ever come) and your body will feel amazing when you down one of these babies. I have tried all of these flavors and am a super fan so, you should probably do your body the courtesy of doing the same thing.

You guys always ask what my fridge looks like so, here it is. I usually have food prepped for the week but I shot this before I did all the prep for the week! The brands in the photo are Bonafide, Maple Hills, Earthbound Organic Farms, Trader Joes, Altereco, Rebbl & Suja!