Green Power 30 Day Green Juice Challenge Starts Tomorrow!
2013
The main goal of this 30 day juice challenge is to juice every day. To get into the habit of juicing more, bring out the juicer and re-establish its rightful place in the kitchen. A month of consuming intense, dense pure nutrients, to re-energize, re-vitalize and heal anything that needs it inside our bodies. Think of this as an intense tune up and oil change! Your motor will be purring smoothly and you will be stronger, faster, happier, more optimized and enthusiastic to live a better life.
Why juice?
I love juicing but it is a dedication to do it every day. Sometimes it seems the benefits of smoothies outweigh juicing and so I go for the easiest route. Smoothies are a little easier to make (but not much). The big perk is that they are less expensive to make as you use the whole fruit or vegetables. So as fiber is also good for you, this can lead to the question why even bother juicing?
Juices are pure dense nutrition that goes straight to your cells without needing to be digested first. They provide one of the quickest ways of healing the body naturally that I have seen. Pure green juices are loaded with chlorophyll as well as abundant minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients that streamline directly to the cells and have an intense impact on the state of your health. Juicing is the fast path to healing, energy, vibrancy and feeling optimistic and happy. Green juices work.
I do have to add that I am a huge smoothie fan and I drink green smoothies every day. Big blenderfuls are made 2 times a day regularly around here. These sustain us day to day. You can’t beat the pure fiber and nutrition of smoothies. But if you really want to kick up the nutrition aspect, heal and revitalize your body quickly, juicing is the way to go!
Juices make an intense and huge impact on your health – Fast!
Juicing vs Smoothies – What’s the difference?
Smoothies
Smoothies are made by blending ingredients together in a blender.
Benefits of smoothies: The fiber stays in the drink and so they are filling and will satisfy hunger for longer periods. Smoothies are great for your digestion as the fiber sweeps toxins through the digestive tract and aids regular elimination.
Juices
Juices are made with a juicer that separates the juice from the fiber.
Benefits of juicing: Not having fiber in the drink means you can pack more produce in, thus more nutrients. Juicing gives an intense infusion of nutrients straight into the bloodstream which is immediately carried to the cells of the tissues and organs in the body. You feel immediately energized and healing begins right away. Juices give the digestive system a break so your body can focus more on repair.
Best greens for juicing
The darker the better. Dark leafy greens tend to be more nutrient dense, so keep this in mind when shopping for produce.
Juice a variety of greens. Different greens have different nutrients. To get a broad range of minerals and vitamins rotate your greens.
Always keep a good stock of the basics. I love kale, collards, spinach and romaine. All lettuces juice well. I am fortunate to have lots of these greens in my garden. Keep an eye out for sales at your local supermarket, as we will juice a lot of these greens.
No waste. Juice the tops of carrots, beets and turnips if you have them. These leafy tops juice well, taste good and they often have a larger percentage of nutrients than the root vegetable itself.
Once in awhile, or more if you like them, go for a stronger flavored green. Bitter and strong tasting greens often have intense nutrients and healing properties. Balance these with vegetables you like and pair well with them, as you don’t want to turn yourself off these green juices! Try: Swiss chard, dandelion, wheatgrass.
Every few days pick up a different, unusual or lesser known green. Try: bok choy, tatsoi, arugula, endive or mache.
Herbs can be wonderful to juice to change the flavor. Be careful with the stronger tasting ones. Parsley is one of the most nutrient dense leafy green and does not have a strong flavor. Stinging nettles are lighter in flavor as well and are very healing. Add basil, rosemary, sage or cilantro to add a unique flavor. These stronger flavored herbs have special detoxifying and healing properties as well.
Stock up on other fruits and vegetables as well!
Favorite vegetables to juice
Cucumber Celery, Carrots and Beets are my top favorites to have on hand. I also love to juice Fennel, Cabbage, Broccoli, Peppers
Favorite fruits to juice
My top favorites are Apple, Oranges, Pineapple, Lemon, Limes, Cranberries, Grapefruit, Pear and Watermelon. Almost in that order.
Other favorites juicing items
Ginger, Garlic and Hot peppers
Produce that doesn’t juice so well
Fruit with a lot of fiber do not juice so well and are best left for the blender. I never juice bananas, papaya or avocado.
Sprouts and berries have dense nutrition and juice well, but they are generally quite expensive and so I usually leave these to blending, or to eating whole. However, if I have an abundance of these they are delicious and provide incredible nutrition juiced.
That’s it. Get out your juicer and have fun shopping. The big juicing adventure starts tomorrow!
Cheers, Robin
