This is a post I thought I’d made a very long time ago, in fact I only realised I hadn’t ever written it when I tried to link another article to it just now!
Green juices became very fashionable a few years ago.
I can’t recall who brought them to the mainstream consciousness, but for me it was almost certainly The Raw Food World that first introduced the idea.
If you don’t know about them please go check out their website.
This takes you to their shop but I’d also recommend watching their YouTube videos – Matt and Angela are just the most lovely people and will definitely inspire you to eat better, live better and generally be a better person!
As you might guess green juices are made by juicing green leafy vegetables.
From there you can play with different fruits and vegetables to add extra nutrients and flavours.
If you are new to green juices you may want to keep the ratio of greens fairly low compared to the other ingredients as this will allow you to get used to the taste – if you already eat a lot of spinach, kale and other dark greens you’ll probably be ok but it is a different thing drinking them raw.
If you want to make green juices you will need a half decent juicer.
I did a full post on this, but for simplicity here are links to:
My current juicer – Andrew James Whole Fruit Juicer
My dream juicer – Green Star Elite Juicer
My current juicer will manage kale without any problems although if you want to put celery through it you ideally need to de-string it first.
If you want to juice wheatgrass I’d accept that you need to spend the money and buy the expensive juicer.
So, why should you drink green juice?
5 a day the easy way
Many people for some reason struggle with reaching 5 fruit and vegetables a day.
If you drink my green juice recipe below you will get 5 in one glass.
It is worth mentioning that juicing does remove most of the dietary fibre from things so don’t rely on it entirely
Easy Digestion
Juices are already broken down into a liquid form meaning your body has very little work to do in order to digest them.
If the rest of your diet contains things that are not so easy to digest – meat, dairy and processed foods for example – then juices can be a welcome rest for your system
This also means that the nutrients get into your system quickly and as you’ve had to use the minimum of energy to assimilate them you should feel energised and glowing!
Green goodness
Pretty much everyone should eat (or drink) more dark green leafy vegetables.
They are full of iron, phyto-nutrients & chlorophyll and they act as antioxidants which keep you youthful and can help fight cancers.
You will also get great amounts of Vitamins A & C as well as Magnesium.
How do I drink Green juice?
Once you have the juicer and the ingredients its pretty simple!
You may want to dilute your juice to make it into a longer drink that’s more hydrating, this is also a good way to get used to the taste if you find it a little intensely “green” when you start out.
If you decide to dilute your juice use either fresh water or coconut water.
Coconut water is great if you can as then you get all those extra benefits.
This is my preferred method as I don’t like the flavour of coconut water and you won’t taste it in the juice.
Recipe
- Handful of kale or spinach
- 10 cm long chunk of cucumber
- Stick of celery
- 1-2 apples
- 1 lemon
- Optional Extra
1/2 – 1 Inch chunk of ginger
- Wash the kale or spinach.
I use Kale as it lasts longer in the fridge and I often have spinach in salads which means I get to have both in a day instead of doubling up on one - Wash the cucumber and celery. De-string the celery, cut both into chunks that will go down the juicer chute
- Wash and cut up the apples – you can include the core.
- Wash the lemon and cut it up too – you can keep the peel on if its unwaxed as a lot of the goodness in lemons is held in the peel
- Put all your ingredients through the juicer – if you put them through all mixed up you don’t need to stir the juice at the end.
- If you are diluting now is the time to add your coconut water or water – I go about 50/50
If you can digest it OK I highly recommend adding the ginger. It really lifts the flavour and gives the juice a nice warming effect.
Sadly I find it causes me re-flux if I add it to mine in the mornings so I have to omit it nowadays.
Once you get used to the flavour you may want to up the amount of greens in the juice – I now use about half of a bag of kale per juice which is probably more like 4-5 handfuls.
That added to the same amounts of other ingredients makes about 1 pint of juice.
So what are you waiting for? Go get green juicing!
R
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