Top 5 Reasons to Juice

Each day, I wake up, brush my teeth, and head to my kitchen to make a fresh green juice. This is my ritual of starting the day. Afterwards, I feel refreshed and ready to take on whatever the day might bring. There are many reasons why I love green juice (including the taste!) but here are a few of the main healthy reasons I enjoy it:

Daily dose of veggies 

Even as a vegan, it can be hard to fill your pale with enough veggies and fruits to maintain your daily allotment. And when you do, there is usually a stomach ache to follow trying to digest all of the fiber, nutrients, and shear amount of food in your system. When you juice, you are separating the fiber (aka pulp) from the juice other nutrients, allowing you plenty of space to drink down all the vitamins and veggies you need.

pH Balance

Our body is in a constant battle to balance out our pH levels. Most of the time, we are way too acidic. This acidity comes mostly from our lifestyle and dietary choices. Stress, sugar, too much dairy and meat, coffee, caffeine, alcohol, etc can all contribute to acidity in the body. When our blood becomes acidic, our body tries to combat it by leaching calcium from our bones…yikes! It can also deplete our energy levels and cause us to become quite cranky. One of the best ways to bring our body alkalinity back to a normal level is through green leafy vegetables and other low sugar vegetables. As mentioned above, it takes way too long to eat all of these, so juicing gives you a straight shot of enzymes to balance out the acidity in the blood.

Detox

Not only does green juice detox our blood stream and balance our pH levels, it also helps to detox our organs. Juicing with green veggies and items such as ginger and lemon can help to clarify and improve the function of the liver, kidneys, intestines, and even the skin. The enzymes available to the blood stream are absorbed immediately and begin to cleanse the organs and help rid them of toxins. When these are all working harmoniously, we begin to feel (and look) more energized.

Digestion

Greens, lemons, and ginger are all key components to aiding in regular digestion. Greens help keep you regular, while lemons and ginger help to stimulate the body’s’ digestive process. When you combine these in a juice, you are sure to help regulate your digestion. This is key to staying healthy, because as our body detoxes, we have help those systems eliminate the toxins from the body, mainly through our digestive tract.

Hydration

Pure and simple, the more juice you drink, the more hydrated you will be. Juice contains plenty of fluid, obviously, but it also contains electrolytes, without the use of artificial colors, sweeteners, enhancers, or caffeine. So you get true hydration, first thing in the morning.

Here is an easy green juice recipe to get you started. All you need is a juicer and some nice fresh veggies.

Basic Green Juice Recipe

4 kale leaves

2 romaine leaves

1 handful spinach

1 handful mixed greens

1 large cucumber

1 lemon

1 apple (deseeded)

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Start with the herbs and dark leafy greens (such as kale and spinach) and add them to the juicer. These have less water and create less juice. Then add the fruit and cucumber. These juicier items (aka cucumbers, apples, and lemons) help to push out the lingering juice from the juicer. The greens add the nutrients to balance, cucumbers add the bulk of the juice, the apple adds a touch of sweetness, and the lemon adds some brightness to the juice.

Once you have your basic juice down, add in some extra veggies from here. Use this as your base or your go to juice recipe.

Enjoy and Cheers!

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Image courtesy of Flickr