Green vegetables can be great appetite killers for many. A roomful of hungry people can immediately become “not-hungry-anymore” if you mention that only green vegetables are on the menu!
And that’s too bad, for green vegetables are EXTREMELY HEALTHY. You should be reaching out to them, not running away from them.
If you don’t eat as many green vegetables as you should because you don’t find them tasty enough (which, by the way, holds true for many people), here’s a great way to add them to your diet—juicing.
Shared ahead are three healthy juicing recipes, each offering you generous amounts of green veggies. However, first check out the health benefits of juicing and some important tidbits related to it.
Four Health Benefits of Juicing
1. Helps us absorb all nutrients present in vegetables
Years of less-than-optimal food choices can lead to—and usually does—impaired digestion, which in turn restricts the amount of nutrients the body is able to absorb from vegetables.
Juicing helps overcome this handicap. It helps “pre-digest” the nutrients.
2. Helps detoxify
The more unhealthy your diet, the greater the toxins present in the body. These toxins over time can lead to serious health complications.
This is where juicing helps. As home-made juices contain only vegetables and fruits, they provide us healthy nutrients that can help the body flush out the toxins and harmful chemicals present in the body.
3. Weight loss
Homemade juices are not high in calories and do not contain any fat. In other words, they are just ideal for someone who wants to lose weight or prevent weight gain.
Besides containing fewer calories, fruit juice also promotes satiety. That is, it keeps you full for a longer time.
In short, a few glasses of juice can help you lower your calorie count significantly.
4. Allows you to get all essential nutrients
Vegetables are rich in many nutrients that are not found in other foods. Fruits, too, are high on essential nutrients, like fiber, minerals, and vitamins.
Eating less of any or both can lead to deficiency of certain nutrients. As a result of which your risk to certain health conditions might increase.
Juicing gives you an opportunity to get those essential nutrients on a daily basis. Easy to prepare, juices are super tasty and one can make them as per one’s preferences. Plus, there are so many recipes that you can have a different type for juice every day.
Two Important Things to Remember
- At one time, prepare only as much juice as you plan to drink then. This is because fresh-squeezed juice can develop bacteria rather quickly.
- Vegetables, not fruits, should play a big part in your juices. Fruits are rich in sugar, and if you add more fruit than vegetables in your juices, your sugar level and calorie count will increase.
Three Healthy Juice Recipes
1. Super Healthy Green Juice
Celery, a nutritional powerhouse loaded with folic acid, potassium, iron, calcium, essential amino acids, and phosphorus, is the base. Add parsley, green apple, ginger, and lemon to prepare a supreme detoxifying drink.
- 1 bunch celery
- 3-4 kale leaves
- A handful of parsley leaves
- 1 medium-sized green apple
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 1 inch of ginger
Cut all ingredients into small pieces except lemon. Squeeze the lemon and mix in a juicer, shake well before you serve.
2. Beet Juice
Beet is as good a blood cleanser as any. Plus, it is rich in several important nutrients, like manganese, iron, Vitamin C, potassium, and folate. Add blackberries, apple, and ginger to prepare an antioxidant-rich juice.
- 3 small beets
- 8 ounce blackberries
- 2 to 3 apples (green)
- 1/2 inch ginger
Mix all the above into a blender to discover a juice of deep red color.
3. Carrot Juice
Beta carotene, Vitamins E and B, and various minerals are found in plenty in the carrot. Add to it golden beets, extremely high in calcium and potassium, and oranges, a great source of Vitamin C to make a tasty, healthy concoction.
- 3 to 4 carrots
- 2 to 3 red-flashed navel oranges
- 2 golden beets
- 1/2 inch ginger
Mix all the above into a blender to get a tasty juice.
Drink home-made juice if you don’t enjoy eating vegetables or fruits. Juices provide many health benefits and can be had any time.