I Fully Endorse Day Drinking!
Wait! Before you judge me, take a closer look at the picture. That's a green juice in that wine glass!
So I have a confession. Even as a grown-ass woman, I still hate my vegetables. This is why I have fallen head-over-heels with day drinking (the green kind). I have never really been a "salad girl" and have always struggled with eating enough greens. Conveniently, several years ago, a growing trend was started with juicing. Even if you don't partake in "juicing" you have probably noticed several juice shops popping up around town. I decided to give it a try because although the concept of juicing is a controversial subject, I wasn't eating enough greens so there was no way it could hurt, right? I did try it head-on with a 5-day cleanse (I do not recommend this especially without talking to your doctor first), but I can honestly tell you, I felt great. If you have any questions about how I got through it and what juices I made, comment below.
But this post is not about doing a cleanse, because that is the part of juicing that is controversial. Scientists don't all agree on whether it is necessary to "give our digestive system a break" with an all liquid diet, but if you are purely juicing as a supplement to your normal daily intake, there is really no harm and a whole lot of benefit. When you drink a juice that has been pressed, there is no fiber and the theory is that all the vitamins and minerals go straight into your bloodstream and avoid the slow absorption rate of fiber rich foods. This means that less of the vitamins and minerals are eliminated through the digestive tract. In other words, juicing removes the insoluble fiber from the vegetables, which allows for increased absorption of health promoting phytonutrients including difficult to isolate enzymes. A common misunderstanding in juicing is that by using a food processor you can achieve the same results. I know what you're thinking, fiber is an important part of our diet and you should definitely get plenty of fiber but if you prefer your fiber in other forms than vegetable form, juicing may be the answer you were looking for to maintain your daily consumption of greens.
The weird thing is that although I dislike eating vegetables (with the exception of a few), I love a green juice several times a week for a late afternoon boost. I have a Breville juicer (listed below) and I admit juicing is not easy. The extremely large amounts of produce needed just to make a small juice can be expensive and also take up a lot of storage space in the fridge. Also, another pitfall is how tedious it is to clean the juicer between each juice that is made. You have to hand wash many pieces and parts using a brush to effectively get rid of all the organic material that rots if you do not wash it properly. Also this part is important... is HAS to be all ORGANIC vegetables. When you juice, you are consuming very large amounts of vegetables and if they aren't organic, you run the risk of getting sick from a high intake of pesticides (gross!).
Even though it's not easy, they really do taste great and you will be on your way to healthier habits. You actually start craving them. It's just a matter of finding the juice that works for you. I have listed my favorite juice below. But if this sounds completely overwhelming and you just want to give juicing a try before you commit to an expensive piece of kitchenware, you can stop by one of the many juiceries in town. My personal favorite is Life Bar.
My favorite touch is to pour it into a wine glass because it just makes it seem fancy and fun and WHY NOT?!
My Breville Juicer can be found here
Her Bendy Life's Signature Juice
- 3 green apples
- 5 stalks of celery
- 1 large handful of kale
- 1 large handful of spinach
- 1 cucumber
- Cold Press in your juicer of choice and enjoy!