Cranberry juice pineapple juice lemon juice and honey benefits

In this post: Cleansing Cranberry Lemon Juice Drink. An all-natural and fresh drink that’s easy to make. Cleanses the kidneys and reduces water retention.

Today I’m venturing out of my comfort zone just a bit to talk about something healthy…don’t faint from shock! I want to share this cleansing cranberry lemon juice drink because it really did make me feel better. A lot better. After Christmas, I was sluggish and knew I had gained some weight. I couldn’t bring myself to weigh-in, so I wasn’t sure how much damage had been done. Instead of tackling a diet, I decided to try and jump start my system with a cleansing drink. 

In addition to feeling sluggish, I occasionally had a nagging backache. Not in my low back, but up a little higher on either side of my spine…in the location of my kidneys. I didn’t have any other symptoms of a kidney infection, but I had a feeling if I didn’t do something different, I might get one. 

So I googled…and googled some more. I finally decided on this cleansing cranberry lemon juice drink which is a combination of several recipes I found online. I actually lost track because I looked at so many. Here is what I came up with:

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

• 1 1/2 cups 100% pure organic cranberry juice
• Juice from half a lemon
• Juice from half an orange
• 2 Tablespoons Organic honey
• 1 1/2 cups distilled or bottled water

• Into a 24 oz. mason jar, pour the 1 1/2 cups 100% pure cranberry juice.

• Add the fresh lemon and orange juice.

• Add the honey.

• Fill the jar to the 24 oz. mark with distilled or bottled water.

• Stir or shake well.

• Refrigerate if desired or drink at room temperature.

• Drink all at once or may be consumed over the course of 2 hours.

• I really wanted to make my own cranberry juice but was too late to get fresh (or even frozen) cranberries. So I settled for 100% pure organic cranberry juice from concentrate. The brand I bought was R. W. Knudsen and it’s called Just Cranberry. Any brand found in the organic section of your grocery store will work. 
• Don’t use the Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail. It isn’t the same thing.
• I added the honey because, without it, the taste was very tart. You can add any sweetener you like. Some recipes called for Splenda and others used sugar. It’s up to you. 
• You can substitute a lime for the lemon. A cranberry juice, lime and honey drink would be delicious.
• I tried to drink it all at once because that’s what was recommended, but I couldn’t. I drank it as quickly as I could and it took about an hour. It still did the trick. 
• I was able to get two 24 oz. drinks from one bottle of cranberry juice. I drank the two drinks, two days in a row. To finish off the jar, I added what was left to a glass of diet ginger ale. Very tasty!

When I say I felt better, I really mean it. The ache in my back went away, and I didn’t feel as tired. I also finally had the nerve to weigh myself and the news wasn’t as bad as I thought! I have about five pounds to lose and I think I can handle that. 

*Disclosure: Clearly I’m not an expert. This is not medical advice or any sort of proven treatment. I’m simply sharing something that worked for me!

If you have any tips of your own for feeling better, and you have time, leave a comment so all of us can see. Sometimes my comment section is a wealth of knowledge because everyone is so generous and kind. Thank you all for that! I’ll be back in a few days with some Valentine’s Day decor ideas. Until then…