10 Reasons I Choose to Start my Day with a Green Juice

Juicing has been on the radar for a long time… as the sugary juice cleanse trend seemed to come and go, we’ve seen the sustainable rise of the celery juice trend. What I learned from both of these, is that it’s important to be very aware of the sugar content in your juice. Drinking carrot & beet juice sounds sexy but it’s packed with sugar (albiet natural) and stripped of it’s important digestive fiber. This leads to a spike in blood sugar, which can lead to additional sugar cravings or energy crashes throughout the day. Not to mention, unmanaged sugar can turn right to fat, making your well intended (and expensive) juices counter your goal.

 The point?

Juicing is just fabulous when we juice low-sugar vegetables like celery, cucumber, ginger, turmeric, and alkaline lemon (whoops, did I just list every item in my favorite morning green juice?). It’s especially powerful when paired with an alkaline and anti-inflammatory diet, fresh organic foods, and superfoods.

With the right ingredients green juice is filled with phytonutrients and enzymes, which is why wellness experts agree you should have about 16oz serving of green juice a day. Doing so on an empty stomach can be really healing for the gut. My current fave: celery, cucumber, lemon, ginger, and turmeric.

10 reasons why I choose to start my day with a glass of green juice.

1. Natural sodium in celery and cucumber raise stomach acid, and when drunk first thing in the morning primes you for optimal digestion for the rest of the day. Ginger helps to settle the stomach – high in gingerol, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
2. Celery, cucumber, and lemon are major alkaline foods. They help purge the body of acid and toxic and cleanse the liver and bloodstream like nothing else. 
3. Electrolytes allow energy to flow, passing information from cell to cell throughout the body. Electrolytes in both cucumber and celery help cells receive oxygen, giving them the ability to detoxify and eliminate poisons. Bye-bye bloating!
4. Antioxidants in green juice eliminate fatty deposits and toxic heavy metals from your body—these are usually stored in the brain and the liver. 
5. Celery, cucumber, and lemon are considered to be prebiotic foods as they starve unproductive bacteria, and allows colonies of good bacteria to thrive. Say Adios to Candida!
6. It reduces my cravings. Oftentimes, cravings are the body’s way of calling out for nutrients the are low or depleted in. When all my body’s nutritional needs are met first thing in the morning, I feel satisfied throughout the day. 
7. It controls my appetite. Same reasoning behind #5. I’m able to eat smaller portions and make better food decisions throughout the day because I am much more satiated from the get-go. 
8. Clears my skin from acne and breakouts. This alkaline drink starves strep bacteria in the liver and lymphatic system—which is often the cause for acne. It helps flush out toxic foods that fuel strep growth. 
9. I feel sharper. Natural salts in cucumber and celery fuel stomach acids to break down proteins and amino acids in our food. Amino acids are precursor for creating neurotransmitters, which in fact make me smarter. 
10. Increased energy. The phytonutrients in green juice are a straight-up source of energy. Helping you kick that coffee addiction good-bye!

Storing & Prepping Your Vegetables

I understand it can be a daunting task to bring our your juicer, prep your vegetables, and clean the massive machine before you head out to the door in the morning so prepping these vegetables can help save a little bit of time to make this goal more realistic. Unfortunately, once the veggies are juiced, they only remain fresh for about 24-hours in a glass air-tight container, so if you really want you, you can make it the night before but it won’t be quite as fresh. But hey, you do what works for you! Anything is better than nothing. Here are a few prepping and storing tips:

1. Celery: save time by rinsing the celery and chopping it (if needed) the night before so it’s ready for you to juice in the morning. To keep your celery fresh longer, keep the celery whole and wrap it tightly in aluminum foil, then store it in the refrigerator crisper drawer (keeping it in the grocery store bag actually expedites the expiration of the celery).
2. Cucumber: wash the cucumber ahead of time & dry thoroughly. Do not cut your cucumber until right before you’re ready to juice it! It looses nutrients. To keep the cucumbers fresh longer, keep them at room temperature. Storing below 50F actually accelerates the expiration of these! Keep them away from other fruits. If you prefer them cold, store them in the front of the fridge where it isn’t as cold for up to 3 days.
3. Ginger/Turmeric: store the whole, unpeeled ginger/turmeric root in a resealable plastic bag, with the air pushed out, in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. If part of the ginger has been cut or peeled, be sure to blot it dry with a paper towel before storing — it won’t last more than 24 hours so if you’re super tight for time in the morning, go ahead and peel the night before but it will lose freshness.

Enjoy in good health,

xoxo Jess