Weekend Recipe: Green Juice
Happy weekend! I love sharing easy “recipes” on Friday because honestly, that’s when I make or cook things the most in our house.
Some weeks will be actual recipes or roundups or recipes I love, and others will be things we eat/drink regularly and why!
So let’s talk about green juice.
As a Dietitian this is a question I get often, “Is juice ‘healthy’?'“
The simple answer yes, and no.
All juices aren’t created equal, and if you are replacing whole fruit with juice altogether, no, that’s not going to be the best option. Also, juice is a source of a lot of unnecessary sugar for young kids because they are often offered it so frequently.
Additionally, a lot of adults think they are being healthy by buying and drinking juice, especially green juice products because of labeling and marketing. They may, in fact, be nutrient-packed, but they also may have unnecessary added sugars, or be from concentrate, and so on. Juices consumed without any other foods containing protein or healthy fats can cause your blood sugar to spike and over time that may negatively impact your health.
I recently saw this quote on a new to me Instagram feed and I shared it with my Nutrition students:
“One food or ingredient does not make or break your health.” | Kara Lydon, RD
With this in mind, I wanted to share why I drink green juice, make it for Joe, and let my girls drink it. Any nutrition topic has multiple sides, and my goal in this space and in all of my classes is to present both sides and then share what I do. We all have to make our own informed choices, so here is mine!
I got a juicer for Christmas last year and I love it.
Green juice for us is a way to get a ton of nutrients from a lot of fruits and vegetables at one time. We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and whole grains at our house so I know we are getting a lot of fiber, and I love the nutrition punch that the green juice packs.
It’s a great way to get my girls to try and to love fruits and vegetables, and I have my recipe I use below, but it’s mostly vegetables.
There is also research that shows that green juices can help support the enzymes that impact your digestive help, it may reduce inflammation and its rich in antioxidants.
We make our own so I know exactly what’s in it. I got this recipe from Wynne Elder and I make it on repeat!
Green Juice (serves 2 or 2 1/2 if your baby drinks some :))
1 large cucumber
4-6 celery stalks with leaves
1 green apple*
1 red apple *
4-5 kale stems
1/2 lemon
* If I’m making it just for myself I’ll do 1/2 of each and save the halves for the next time.
There are so many good juice recipes that you can find, and if you make it yourself you know exactly what’s in it.
Do you love green juice too? What’s your favorite recipe? Let me know what questions you have!
