The smooth way to good health

1 was talking to Angela John son and her mother Barbara at the highly successful Get Joost Smoothie Bar, where I was quickly learning all about the benefits of the natural drinks and meals-in-a-cup they produce every day,

Juice barsare all the rage through out most of the world,and Angela, who came here from Sydney with her mother, previously worked in her native Australia launching the same type of bars throughout the country for a major chain.

If you think the GetJoost Smooth ie bar is just a pub with no beer,sell ing regular fruit juices, then think again. The choice is phenomenal and the underlving dedication is to provide totally healthy drinks that fill you up like a meal and which are also highly enjoyable. Drinks and supplements,such as the hangover cure, or Wheat Grass, for instance.

One 20ml shot of the latter has the same value as eating your way through two and a half kilos of greens, but only takes one second to toss it down your throat.

The enjoyable part is demonstrat ed by the fact that it wasschoolchil dren who first discovered Gel Joost.

"In the beginning," said Barbara, "our customers were 75% school children. Now we deliver all over Gibraltar, to gaming com panies, banks, government offices, Rooke, lawyers... ev erywhere.And tourists from all over the world are de lighted to disI cover that Gifl braltarhasaCet

^ jff Joosl Smoothie F Bar." Delivery is m free for orders of £10 or over, and ' there are fax order forms available in the bar.

1 learned that tod dlers love it, too, and they drink things they wouldn't normally open their mouths for, such as beetroot or car rots, because the bar adds sorbet to make them deliious.

In fact, Barbara pointed out that the customers range from 18 months up to a man who is prob ably in his nineties.

"He comes ev ery day and stands at the door for his order because he can't get up the small front step," she said.

It's popular with pregnant wom en, loo, who can't eat very much — some send their husbands to gel their meals in a cup; it's all takeaway at Get Joost.

And then there is the obesity therapy that follows from a deli cious diet of Get Joost products

— all made to order in less than four minutes. One 11 year old local boy went from obese to sleek and lean in just six weeks,and enjoyed it thoroughly."It's protein,protein, protein," said Barbara, "and just once a week indulge yourself in a pizza or burger if you want." She added that she was very proud of the Gibraltar kids for the way they have caught on to the healthy op tions.One of the daily peak periods is still when the schools finish for the day.

What sort of things are there, then? Well,Dairy Smoothies(using very low fat from skinny cows, as Angela put it) include Choc Roc, Jungle Monkey and the Ultimate Iced Coffee. All contain fat-free frozen vanilla yoghurt,which is just like ice cream to eat. Then there are Nice & Icy Smoothies, in tropical, raspberry, watermelon or lemon; Power Smoothies, which include Breakie (breakfast) on the Run

— a filling mix of banana, honey, toasted muesli, low fat milk or soy, yoghurt and an energizer shot (another one of the half a dozen supplements).

To fullv appreciate the range

— in which wild strawberry is the most popular, closely rivalled by Berry Skinny juice, a blend of apple, blueberries, pineapple, raspberries and a citrin shot (another supple ment) — you should look in at least once. And order without fear — when your choice is blended, you can have a small taster cup,and if you don't like it then you don't have it. No problem.

The only other thing that the Get Joosl Smoothie Bar has become re nowned for,along with the healthy tasty choices that fill you up as much as a full meal, is the natural friendliness of Angela,Barbara and the other two partners, Brian Flem ing and Barry Pullen. "We chat to all the customers," said Barbara, while Angela dug out a copy of an email to GibFocus from an English man who positively raved about the staff's friendly style, "The other establishments in Gibraltar should send their staff there for training in customer relations," he wrote.

Spurred on bv their own success, and the popularity of the concept throughout many other countries, the team are going to open no less than twenty more Get joost Smoothie bars throughout Spain in the coming twelve months.

I've had to leave a lot out — as you can see we are almost at the bottom of the page. Just enough space to let you know that the bar is at 248 Main Street,opposite Tommy Hilfiger and Exchange Travel. It's open every day:8am to 7pm Mon day to Friday; 9am to 7pm Satur day, and 11am to 6pm on Sunday. The phone/fax number is 76699, email contact@getjoost.com

Don't worry, what I've missed out you can learn from the staff.Ask away, they love to talk about it, or have a look at their website: www. getjoost.com,where you can get the full menu and order form.

Get Joost will be giving away £500 Christmas money -see in store for details. Competition ivill run until 20th December 2006.