I’m thrilled to introduce you to my friend Tina Pruitt, The Healthy Lifestylist, and a three-time cancer survivor and living foods advocate. Tina will be a guest blogger here once a month to share with us her tips on green juice. She has learned so much from her journey living with cancer and is a powerful advocate of food as medicine. If you enjoy this article by Tina, share your comments below at the end of this article. Sherold
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~ Hippocrates
By Tina Pruitt
What?
Green juice, in essence, is a juice made primarily of vegetables and sometimes a small amount of fruit made in a juicer. Green juicing is more than just a trend, it’s a healthy way of adding much-needed nutrients into your diet.
How?
A juicer, unlike a blender, extracts the liquid juice — the liquid nutrition — from the vegetables and leaves behind the pulp. The result is sometimes referred to as “plant blood.” A blender, on the other hand, creates a thick, blended beverage with all the solids in a pureed form. High-speed blenders, such as the VitaMix, are super great for smoothies, and they can be used for juices if you strain out the pulp. But, this is extra work, so why not just purchase a a high-quality juicer to rock your green juices?! I personally own three different juicers made by different companies, but my favorite by far is the Breville (just in case you were wondering).
The juice produced by the juicer creates a wonderful medley of tastes, even though you may not think of the combination as appetizing when you get out your assortment of vegetables. You may even notice that what you are putting into the juicer as far as vegetables goes is much more than you would care to eat in a serving or even a day.
My favorite vegetables to put through the juicer for my green juice include kale, romaine lettuce, broccoli, parsley, sprouts, cucumbers and spinach. Occasionally I’ll throw in brightly colored peppers, garlic, a single carrot, ginger or garlic to give my juice an extra pop. If you want the “zing” of fruits, remember that lemon and lime are always acceptable. Apples, melons and pears are also go-to fruits for added sweetness — but always keep the fruit to one piece to keep the sugar level down. The nutritional benefits and alkaline perfection of the green vegetables is all you need for a wonderful daily juice!
Why?
The nutritional benefits of vegetables are undeniable, and green juicing highlights the following benefits in an easy-to-swallow form:
- No bulk equals easy digestion
- Liquid form allows your body to consume the nutrients quicker
- Juice allows you to consume more vegetables than in other ways
- Healthy weight-loss and weight management because you are getting the nutrients you need (curbs your appetite!)
- Supports your immune system with the additional pure nutrients
- Alkalizes your body which prevents disease commonly associated with an acidic diet
- Great tasting recipes!
So if you’re new to green juicing, or haven’t even began yet, I hope this post answers your newbie questions and gets you on the road to green juicing success!
