Veggie Juicing

Happy Friday! Before this long holiday weekend I wanted to send you on your way inspired to create some healthy juices.

I like to make both smoothies & juices as they offer different health benefits.

1. Juicing extracts water & nutrients from produce & removes the indigestible fiber.  Without all the fiber, your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard to break down the food & absorb the nutrients. This makes the nutrients more readily available to the body & in much larger quantities than if you were to eating them whole.
2. Smoothies use the entire fruit or vegetable, which includes the fiber.  Due to the absorbed fiber, smoothies tend to be more filling.

I use only vegetables in my juices because I don’t want the added sugar & when you remove the fiber from the produce, the liquid juice is absorbed into your blood stream rapidly. Juicing fruits causes a spike in blood sugar.

Just because I use only vegetables, does NOT mean my juices taste bad!

Let me share some of my tips on making a yummy veggie juice.

• Use cilantro or mint. In my juices which makes about 3 mason jars of juice, I use almost a whole cup of either fresh cilantro or mint.*
• Add one whole lemon & lime.
• Add a thumb of ginger root**
• Use cucumber, celery, or cabbage in all of your juices as they provide the most liquid.

*Mint & cilantro offer many health benefits, they aren’t just for taste. Mint  benefits include proper digestion & weight loss, relief from nausea, depression, fatigue & headache , treatment of  asthma & memory loss. Cilantro rids the body of heavy metals, helps with stress, lowers anxiety, improves sleep, protects against colon cancer & neurological inflammation.

**GINGER… I LOVEEEE ginger.

My favorite benefit not listed, is that ginger has been thought to be a mood booster. I add it to my juices & smoothies & grate about 1 T of ginger root into my veggies while sauteing them.

 

Here is a simple veggie juice recipe that you can modify as desired:

 

Veggie Juice

• Servings: 3-6
• Time: 10 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

• 2 large cucumbers
• A package of celery
• 1/3 head of purple cabbage
• 1 red beet
• 1 golden beet
• 1 c or package of fresh mint or cilantro
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 1 thumb ginger

Directions

1. Simply add veggies at a time to the juicer & press. (Be careful with the cabbage. I have noticed that it can clog my juicer, so I clean out the chamber once or twice while adding the cabbage.)
2. Add the juice to mason jars or another seal-able container & store in the fridge. I like to drink my juice within 5 days for best results. Enjoy!

What veggies do you like in your juice?!