My Favorite Green Juice Recipe: Quick, Easy, Nutrient-Packed, and Delicious!
Green juices are a wonderful way
to pack in your daily vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
There are many different recipes and variations that can be used depending on your unique needs and tastes.
Here we will explore a green juice recipe that I’ve been using for a while and one that remains one of my favorites.
We’ll also explore how to make juices and some of the health benefits of common ingredients.
Juicing Is an Excellent Way to Acquire Nutrients From Fruits and Vegetables
Juices are an excellent way to acquire many vital vitamins, minerals, and nutrients because they are super easy for the body to assimilate.
As opposed to having to go through the digestive process to be broken down further and then assimilated, the nutrients from juices are usually assimilated much quicker and more comprehensively.
This is because of the liquid state of the juice, and the fact that the bulk of the nutrients found in any given fruit or vegetable is usually found in the juice, not the fiber or pulp.
How to Make Juices
When it comes to making juices of any kind, you have a few options regarding the device that you can use to make them.
You can use a blender, juicer, or product such as a Nutri Ninja.
A Nutri Ninja is basically a high-powered blender that can be used just as a blender would be. It is often used to make smoothies and juices because the top portion can be removed and used as a cup. It is also very good at pulverizing the ingredients and is super easy to use.
With both a blender and Nutri Ninja, the pulp and fiber from the fruits and vegetables remains in the final product.
A juicer is a specialized machine that extracts only the juice from any fruit or vegetable that is inserted into it.
These can be purchased and used at home and are also what you will see used at most “juice bars.”
It is important to clean a juicer right after using it. If not, the pulp and fibrous material from the fruits and vegetables will stick to the pieces of the juicer as they dry. This makes it very difficult to clean the juicer.
For my juicer, I just use a natural dish washing liquid and sponge and wipe each piece down, and then run them under warm water and set aside to dry.
There are also manual juicers that are usually used to extract the juice from a lemon and other citrus fruits such as oranges. These are not usually best used for the purposes of making a multi ingredient juice, however.
My Favorite Green Juice Recipe
Most of the following ingredients are considered vegetables and this is on purpose.
Juicing fruits adds a great deal of extra sugar to the juice.
When healing from a chronic illness, and in general, extra sugar (even natural sugar) is not encouraged as part of one’s eating plan. This is explained further here.
Citrus fruits such as lemon and lime are usually the only fruits that I include in juices, with the occasional apple being an exception.
I usually use either a Nutri Ninja or juicer to make juices. It is great to keep the pulp sometimes because it adds extra insoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber is the type of fiber that doesn’t dissolve in water. This kind of fiber helps food to pass through the digestive tract more easily. It also promotes optimal bowel health and regularity and can help to balance blood sugar as well.
The amounts of each ingredient that you use is totally
flexible as well and depends on how many servings you are going for. The following is an approximate amount for making a good-sized single serving.
Green juice ingredients (all ingredients are organic):
- Arugula or spinach – a large handful
- Celery – about 3 stalks
- Cucumber – about 1 whole
- Cilantro – about 1/3 cup
- Lemon and/or lime – 1/2 to 1 whole
- Fresh ginger root (cut into slices with or without the skin) – about 2 or 3 slices, I love ginger 🙂
Each ingredient is cut into small or medium pieces and placed into the juicer or Nutri Ninja. With the Nutri Ninja, all of the ingredients are added at once and blended. Usually pulsing for about 15 seconds does the trick.
With a juicer, each ingredient is added individually and the juice runs into a cup at the opening of the juicer.
You can also add a little raw/organic apple cider vinegar or spring water to the recipe to give it a more thin consistency.
You may also of course play around with different ingredients, and add or remove specific vegetables and fruits as you wish. These types of recipes are totally versatile.
You can also add powdered or liquid supplements to your juices as a convenient way of administering them. I usually make my juices in the morning when I am taking some of my supplements, so it’s convenient to add any liquid or powdered supplements at that time.
You will likely notice that after you switch to a more whole food based eating plan, you appreciate the fresh taste of these ingredients much more than you did any packaged product before.
These natural flavors are very robust and super delicious, which becomes more and more apparent the longer you stick to a whole food based eating plan.
Health Benefits of These Ingredients
The above ingredients have loads of health benefits and are powerhouses for various vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
Some of these include:
- Arugula
Arugula is a green that is a great source of vitamins A and C. It is also excellent for the immune system and for supporting eye, kidney, lung, and heart health.
- Spinach
Spinach is a superfood green that is a great source of vitamins A, C, and K. It is also high in iron, potassium, and folate (vitamin B9). It also has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Celery
Celery is a great source of vitamin K as well as folate, potassium, and calcium. It is also very hydrating, as it has a very high water content.
It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and can help to support optimal digestive function.
- Cucumber
Cucumbers are a great source of vitamins K, C, and A. They are also high in potassium, manganese, and magnesium.
They have excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and help support the immune system, respiratory system, kidneys, and heart.
- Cilantro
Cilantro is also a great source of vitamins K, C, and A. It is also excellent for detoxification and supporting the urinary tract.
This green also has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and can help maintain blood sugar balance and support digestive health.
- Lemon
Lemons are a citrus fruit that are a great source of vitamin C. They are also excellent for liver, heart, and kindey health, and for supporting digestive function.
Lemon can also be used to relieve nausea…I’ve used it for this purpose on many occasions!
- Lime
Lime is also a citrus fruit that is a great source of vitamin C. They are high in antioxidants and support kidney, immune, and heart health and are also excellent for the skin, our body’s largest organ.
- Ginger
Ginger is a root vegetable that has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also antibacterial and can help balance blood sugar. It can also support the immune system.
Ginger is also great of relieving nausea and stomach upset.
Excellent Green Juice Substitutes
Some days we may not have time to juice our own fresh vegetables, and that is totally fine!
There are some awesome products that have been developed that can be used as alternatives on those days when a fresh juice just isn’t in the cards.
Click here to check out my top 2 green juice powder recommendations.
In Closing…
As we’ve explored here, adding green juices to your daily eating plan is an excellent way to acquire many vital vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that help to nourish and support the health of your body.
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