Good afternoon! As promised, I will give you my full review of Giada’s ‘Rise and Shine’ green juice. I was going to wait until this morning to try the juice, but the curious and anxious being that I am clearly didn’t let that happen.
Rise and Shine Juice:
I tweaked her recipe by using one apple instead of two and I also forgot to add the ginger. This was my first ever juicing experience (I have made green smoothies) and it was absolutely wonderful! The drink itself was delicious, I gulped it down in about 2.2 seconds. The stronger notes were celery and lemon, so it was sweet/citrus in flavor. Again, you can use more fruit or different fruit to sweeten it up! I used this as my pre-workout energy jolt, however the reverse happened – I fell into an hour long nap. Fear not, I got up energized and ended up having a two-hour long cardio session – a mish mash of sorts, but nonetheless a great one!
Let’s get to the benefits of juicing, shall we?
Phytochemicals, chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants, are responsible for color and organoleptic properties, such as the deep purple of blueberries and smell of garlic. The term is generally used to refer to those chemicals that have biological significance.
Scientists estimate that there may be as many as 10,000 different phytochemicals having the potential to affect diseases such as cancer, stroke or metabolic syndrome. Although certain phytochemicals are available as dietary supplements, the potential health benefits of phytochemicals are best derived from consumption of whole foods and juicing.
Alkalizing- helps promote a healthy PH balance as we eat many foods that are acidic.
Energizing - because the fruits and veggies are stripped of their fiber they are digested much quicker and therefore the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are ingested by the body almost immediately.
Beautifying – you’re giving your body a huge does of nutrients where your body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest (since the fiber is removed) leaving you with healthy glowing skin.
Quick and Easy - it takes all about 5 minutes to throw in the veggies and out comes a juice.
Quantity - the amount of raw fruits and veggies you can consume through juicing are far beyond what you would consume as a whole, thus providing you with greater levels of nutrition.
Variety - juicing allows you to consume a variety of veggies that you would normally not eat on a daily basis (or find tasty enough to eat raw)
Raw - all of your fruits and veggies are raw providing you with natural digestive enzymes (aid in the digestion of food) and also providing you with 100% of the vitamins and minerals (partially lost when cooking)
So, there you have it. An abundant amount of reasons to start juicing! I started my day today with my own Green Goddess drink. I prepped my veggies the night before so all I had to do was throw them in the juicer. It’s noon and I’m still sipping my drink btw.
Ingredients:
1 celery stalk
4 carrot sticks (about 3 inches long and skinny)
2 cups of spinach (guestimate, I just kept putting handfuls in there)
1/2 lemon
1-inch ginger
Yums! If you’re not into ginger, lemon or celery you will not like this drink. It was much more potent than last night’s drink, but I enjoy the lemon/ginger taste and less sweetness. If you’re worrying about the ‘green’ part start by using milder greens like romaine lettuce or spinach into your smoothies first. I promise, you won’t even taste it!
Further reading and recipes:
Everydayglow Green Smoothie Guide
Happy Thirsty Thursday! Drink up 
Tags: green juice, juicing, raw
