Juicing has become an ever popular practice as a method for promoting health and well being. Vegetable juices in particular are touted as the healthiest kind of juices because they contain a lot less sugar than fruit juices. So here are a few vegetable juicing recipes you can make at home and a description of their health benefits.
Carrot and Celery Kicker
6 large carrots
4 stalks of celery
1/2 red pepper
Celery is a great diet vegetable because is called a ‘negative calorie food’. This means that it takes more calories to digest celery than it actually provides us!
Promoting heart health is another powerful health benefit of celery. Celery contains plant compounds called phthalides that are one of the best natural agents for lowering blood pressure. Phthaldes have a strong relaxing effect upon the muscles of the artery wall. This lets the arteries dilate (expand) more which in turn allows more blood to pass through the arteries therefore releasing blood pressure.
Carrots also aid in heart health because they are a great source of the antioxidant beta-carotene that helps protect our arteries from inflammation caused by free radicals damage. One study found that elderly people who eat at least one serving of beta-carotene rich foods (carrot or squash in this case) per day are half as likely to suffer a heart attack than those who eat less than one portion per day.
Green Supreme
6 large carrots
1 handful of spinach
1 handful of kale
1 handful of cilantro
Spinach and kale are great for supporting eye health because they contain antioxidants called lutein and zeaxanthin. If you look at any supplements in the market that are aimed at eye health then it is 99% likely these two antioxidant will be key ingredients. This is not surprising because solid research has shown that lutein and zeaxanthin both concentrate in the retina (lens) of our eyes where they protect eye cells from oxidative damage. This helps to slow down the aging process of the eyes and protect against diseases like cataracts and age related macular degeneration. Juicing kale and spinach is a really great way to achieve an abundance of these antioxidants in your diet.
Cilantro is one of the best known chelators of toxic heavy metals, especially mercury. A chelator is a food or nutrient that is able to bind with toxic metals in our cells and remove them from the body. For this reason cilantro has become a central ingredient in most heavy metal detox programs.
For more recipes visit green juice recipes.