Let’s Get Green!
No, I’m not talking about recycling in this post, but that’s coming. I’m talking about green juice! If you’ve been following me on social media, you know that’s one of my favorite things to make. Green juice has become more popular over the past few years and that’s because people are realizing that it’s a great way to get your greens in. Drinking fresh green juice is like taking an all natural supercharged vitamin that goes directly into your system! Your body doesn’t even have to digest it because the fiber of the vegetables (and fruits) has been removed and the nutrients go directly into your system.
Drinking green juice regularly is one of the most loving things that you can do for your body. I did this as I was recovering from my thymectomy and was on steroids for myasthenia gravis. The juice helped to detox my system from the drugs, increase my immunity and help me to heal. After I got better I stopped drinking juice for a while, but now that I’m drinking it regularly again, I have noticed increased energy.
Now to the juicy part, pun intended! As a basic rule, you want to include more vegetables than fruits. I like to use a basic 70-30 rule. 70% veggies and 30% fruits. Your goal should be to make 8-10 oz of juice. You’ll get a feel for what that means as you become a more experienced juicer.
Here’s my formula for a basic green juice. (You can include more or less in each category, but try to stick to the 70-30 rule.)
Alkalizing vegetable that’s high in water content– this is a vegetable that will give you a lot of juice and will help to neutralize all of the acidic food that you eat – cucumbers and celery are good for this.
Greens – Greens are generally rich in calcium, folate and vitamin K. My favorites are kale, collards, dandelion greens and cabbage. (I usually put two types in my juice.). If you’re relatively new to juicing, start with cabbage as it has a milder taste.
Liver cleanser – Lemon and beets are very good for detoxifying the system. Beets are sweet, so if you opt to put a beet in your juice, you might want to skip the low glycemic fruit.
Low glycemic fruit – As you know fruits contain sugar or fructose (fruit sugar) and the higher the glycemic index of the fruit or any food for that matter, the faster it will be absorbed into your system and raise your blood sugar. It’s good to keep this in mind as you’re making your food choices during the day and making your juices. Apples and oranges are my favorite low-glycemic fruits.
Ginger – this is a stable for me. It’s a great anti-inflammatory agent, which is great for your immune system in general and it gives the juice a “kick”! I love ginger, but if you don’t, be sure to skip it.
I just shared my secrets on how to make a killer green juice. What did you make? I would love it if you shared your favorite recipe with me in the comments below.
– AmiCietta
