5 Ways Green Juice Can Transform Your Health

There's a reason why many people stumble upon the benefits of juicing only after they experience chronic health issues. They may be given the recommendation to start juicing by a close friend, a family member, a friendly acquaintance at the health food store, or even a doctor. What makes juicing such a go-to solution for better health and vitality? For starters, it is one of the most effective ways to increase both the quality and quantity of nutrition we take into our bodies.While it may be hard to sit down and eat an entire head of celery, kale, a lemon and a cucumber, running these ingredients through a juicer creates a liquid elixir we can easily drink, with a plethora of nutrients that we can easily absorb. It's a no brainer.

Green juice consumption has a handful of beneficial effects on the body that can have a profound impact on our overall health over time. Here are five.

1. Increased Hydration

Our cells are made of mostly water – and many of us are running our system in a state of chronic dehydration. This affects every single aspect of our health, and every organ in our body. While the importance of drinking pure water can't be stressed enough, low sugar fruit and vegetable juices may actually help keep us hydrated on a deeper level, as they also contain valuable mineral salts known as electrolytes. Think potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, sodium and manganese. These minerals help structure the water, and make it easier for our cells to absorb this life-giving hydration.

2. Enhanced Detoxification

Regular consumption of green juice is an excellent way to help support the body's numerous detoxification processes. Since the fiber has been removed, green juice requires little digestive energy – energy which can then be utilized for healing and removal of waste. Green juice is also rich with phyto compounds and enzymes which help break down and draw out waste and toxins in the digestive tract. Like water, juice helps flush toxins out of our system through our kidneys, liver, intestines, and skin. Toxins and chemicals are impossible to avoid entirely in today's day and age, and we can all benefit from daily habits that help support our body's own inherent ability to detox.

3. Nature's Vitamin / Mineral Supplement

Greens offer a rich supply of many trace minerals that are found to be deficient in our modern day food supply. Dark greens like kale, collards, chard, cabbage, and bok choy, offer a wealth of magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, and manganese as well as valuable carotenoids, lutein, Vitamins A, C, and K, B complex vitamins and folic acid. These nutrients are in their food-based form, meaning they are much more bioavailable to the human body. Many vitamin and mineral supplements contain synthetic vitamins that end up being flushed out of our bodies with little to no absorption. The opposite is true with green juice – it's the perfect liquid nutrient solution perfectly suited for our biology. When we are properly nourished we have more energy, look and feel better, and have more robust immunity.

4. Less Unhealthy Food Cravings

We've all been there - those late night chip and ice cream cravings can be real. But many of us don't realize the cravings may actually be our body trying to send us a message about something it needs. Cravings for salty chips may actually be a cry for healthy fats and minerals. Sugar cravings can be amplified by a lack of trace minerals in the diet such as chromium, vanadium, magnesium and zinc. Cravings for chocolate may be a sign that your body simply needs more magnesium (aside from greens, cacao in raw chocolate is actually one of the highest sources of this key mineral). Green leafy vegetable juices offer the body a wealth of all trace minerals. The more mineralized our system becomes, the less likely we are to crave junk food and chow down on empty calories.

5. Better Alkalinity and pH balance

The SAD diet (Standard American Diet) tends to be highly acidic due to an emphasis on bread and grains, refined sugars, meat and animal products, and processed foods with an overall lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. This can tip our body into a more acidic state. Why is this bad news? Research has shown a correlation between chronic disease and the pH of our body. The more alkaline we become, the less likely we are to be chronically ill. Green juice is one of the best ways to counteract any acidity within the body due to its highly alkaline nature.

Green juice is a one stop shop: its hydrating, cleansing, fortifying, energizing and alkalinizing. Basically, all the things we need in order to feel our best. By separating pure vegetable juices from the fiber, it minimizes the amount of energy needed to digest and assimilate the nutrients within. As soon as it enters the body we get a nearly instantaneous nutrient transfusion directly from nature. As a general rule for daily consumption, choose lower sugar options that are mainly greens and low-sweet vegetables and fruits like celery and cucumber. Make a daily habit out of getting your liquid greens on, and reap the profound health benefits.

Need a recipe to help get you going? Keep scrolling for our Low Sugar Cleansing Daily Green Juice.

Recipe

Cleansing Daily Green Juice (Low Sugar)

Serves 1

Ingredients

3 stalks celery

1 cucumber – peeled

1 large green apple (or 2 small)

2 large leaves bushy green kale

1/4-1/2 lemon, peeled

1/2-1" raw ginger root

Optional: handful of fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, or cilantro

Instructions

1. Prep your ingredients by washing them thoroughly under running water.

2. Run all ingredients through your juice. Enjoy!