I started making this one for my knees. There is a lot of talk online about pineapple and achy joints and most of it is overstated, but the juice is genuinely good and it has stayed in my rotation for years. Fresh turmeric and ginger give it a warm, almost peppery bite, the lime stops it going syrupy, and the whole thing takes five minutes with one juicer basket to rinse.
Two glasses, four ingredients, nothing cooked, and nothing strained through anything fiddly unless you are using a blender. It is also the only juice I make where a pinch of black pepper is not an affectation.
Why these ingredients work
Pineapple is the only fruit with a real amount of bromelain, a group of enzymes that break protein down. That is why fresh pineapple makes your mouth tingle, and it is why pineapple turns up in so much writing about inflammation and digestion. Most of the bromelain sits in the stem and the core rather than the flesh, which is why I leave the core in when my juicer can take it. One glass of this gives you about 85mg of vitamin C, more than the 40mg an adult in the UK needs in a day, along with roughly 240mg of potassium.
Turmeric brings curcumin, which is the part of it that gets studied, and it comes with an honest caveat. Curcumin on its own is poorly absorbed. Black pepper is the fix, because piperine slows the way your liver clears it, and the difference is not small. That pinch at the end is the one part of this recipe I would not skip if you are making it for a reason. Turmeric also deserves a bit of respect in the kitchen, since it stains everything it touches, including your hands.
FAQ
Do I need fresh turmeric?
Fresh is much better. It has a bright, gingery heat that ground turmeric does not, and the juice comes out a proper golden yellow instead of muddy brown. Fresh root keeps for weeks in the fridge in a paper bag and it freezes well, so buy a decent handful when you spot it. If you only have ground, use half a teaspoon stirred into the finished juice and expect it to settle at the bottom.
Can I make it without a juicer?
Yes, and the card below has both methods. Blend the pineapple with the turmeric, the ginger, the lime and 100ml of cold water for about a minute, then strain it through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve. Pineapple pulp holds onto a lot of liquid, so press it with the back of a spoon rather than letting it drip. You end up with a slightly thicker glass than a juicer gives you, which I do not mind at all.
How much sugar is in one glass?
About 21g, and all of it comes from the fruit. Pineapple is a sweet fruit and there is no way round that, so if you are watching your sugar, treat this as a one glass drink rather than a two glass one. I do not add honey or syrup, and the lime is there to keep the sweetness in check. Using a slightly under-ripe pineapple helps as well.
More detox juices: see the full Detox collection.
Pineapple, Turmeric and Ginger Juice
Equipment
- 1 Juicer masticating or centrifugal
- 1 High-speed blender for the blender method
- 1 Nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve to strain the blender version
- 2 Airtight glass bottles for storing a batch
- 1 Budget cold press juicer the cheaper option if you are just starting out
- 1 Budget blender works fine here, just strain it a little harder
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium pineapple about 400g peeled weight, cut into chunks that fit your chute
- 15 g fresh turmeric about a 4cm piece, peeled
- 15 g fresh ginger about a 4cm piece, peeled
- 1 lime peeled, pith removed
To finish
- 1 pinch ground black pepper stirred in at the end, optional but it makes a real difference
Instructions
Juicer method
- Peel the pineapple and cut it into chunks small enough for your chute. Keep the core if your machine can handle it, because that is where most of the bromelain sits.
- Peel the turmeric and the ginger with the edge of a teaspoon. It takes the skin off without wasting half the root.
- Feed the pineapple through first, then alternate the turmeric and the ginger with a few chunks of pineapple so they do not just smear around the basket.
- Squeeze the lime in at the end, stir, and pour into two glasses. Add a crack of black pepper if you are drinking it for the turmeric rather than the taste.
Blender method
- Put the pineapple chunks, the turmeric, the ginger and the peeled lime into a blender with 100ml cold water.
- Blend on high for about 60 seconds, until the pineapple has completely broken down and there are no stringy bits left.
- Tip it through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve and press the pulp with the back of a spoon. Pineapple pulp holds a lot of juice, so give it a proper squeeze rather than letting it drip.
- Stir in a crack of black pepper and divide between two glasses.