Green Lemonade
We are always hearing that we should eat more greens, but how in the world do you make that a reality without feeling like all you are eating are salads? And it seems like everyone is fighting off colds, flu and feeling a bit run down this time of year as the weather fluctuates.
So, I want to introduce a superfood to you that has more vitamin C than any other food on the planet. As well as share one of my favorite cleansing, immune boosting drinks. It tastes amazing and it’s one of the best ways to get those greens into your diet!
If you don’t have a juicer I highly recommend investing in one. Nothing can improve your health like juicing! Ideally I would love to juice every day, even multiple times a day, and I do try to do that a few times a year….. but in reality I aim to juice a few times a week. Even with just one to two juices a week I can tell a difference in how my skin glows and my energy levels are greatly improved. It’s like liquid gold to your body – cleansing, nourishing and transforming every cell.
So what superfood has more vitamin C than any other food on the planet? Camu camu! Camu camu is a berry from the Amazon. You probably won’t find this in the produce section of your grocery store, but it can be found online in powder form. 1 teaspoon contains 1180% vitamin C! It also possesses anti-viral properties, therefore helping to strengthen the immune system to ward off the common cold, flu and other viruses. As if that’s not enough it’s been shown to help with stress and anxiety. It has a tart and tangy taste, that compliments this juice perfectly!
This is what Swiss Chard looks like. This is green chard. You can tell by the color of the stem. I like to buy rainbow chard too. The color of the stems range from red, pink, yellow and orange. Rainbow Chard will turn the juice a muddy color brown, but still tastes amazing!
I have to admit I shied away from juicing about 7 years ago because I was afraid of getting too much sugar from the fruits. I thought it would feed fungus / candida. Back then I wasn’t concentrating on the veggies enough. Now I try to have the majority of my juice comprise of vegetables with an apple or two added in to sweeten it. And I don’t avoid carrots either due to their sugar content (unless you have blood sugar issues).
You see, fruits and vegetables are God’s perfect food and all the nutrients, phytonutrients, antioxiadants, etc., work together to nourish us. So, yes carrots and apples have sugar, but lets take apples for example – they have some fruit sugar, but they also contain antioxidants and malic acid which are both anti-fungal.
The beauty of juicing is that all the components (some discovered and many still undiscovered) in the food work together to nourish the body. So while I don’t overdo it with juicing too many fruits…I don’t worry about the sugar. Juicing is hands down, one of the most powerful things you can do for your health!
There are many great juicers on the market today. I have a Champion juicer that I’ve had for about 12 years now and I love it. It’s a basic mid-range juicer and is easy to clean, which is imperative for me and my busy schedule.
If you need some motivation to start juicing watch the documentary, “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”. It is so inspiring!
Green Lemonade
A green juice never tasted so good! This is my all time favorite green juice. Drinking this even just once or twice a week makes the skin glow and increases energy. It’s also a perfect cocktail if you feel you’re coming down with something like the flu or a cold.
Ingredients
- 1-2 apples
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 lemon (I peel half and keep the skin on the other half*)
- large handful spinach
- 1-3 kale leaves (any variety: curly or lacinato*)
- 1 leaf swiss chard (any variety: green or rainbow)
- 1 cucumber
Optional Ingredients
- large sliver purple cabbage (no taste, big nutrition….but changes the color to a darker green)
- ½ inch ginger
- ½ cup coconut water, or more to mellow the taste if needed
- ½ – 1 teaspoon camu camu powder*
- liquid Stevia (if you need to sweeten, instead of adding another apple)
Directions
- Keep peels on everything and use stalks of the greens as well as the leaves. Process the vegetables and fruit through your juicer. I also have friends that love to make this juice in their high-powered blender like vitamix or blendtec. I find it to be too pulpy and prefer to juice instead, but this is a fantastic option as well!
- Once you are done juicing, taste to see if you want to add more lemon, apple or a few drops of stevia. Add coconut water if you desire.
- If adding the camu camu powder, pour the juice into a blender and add the powder and blend for a few seconds. It tends to clump when just stirring it in with a spoon.
- I like to serve the juice in an ice-cold glass that I keep in the freezer. In the summer I freeze some coconut water in the bottom of the glass to make it extra cold.
- Depending on the size of your fruits and vegetables you can probably get 2 large glasses of juice. It’s best to drink right away, but you can store it in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator and drink throughout the day.
Quick notes
*The peel of the lemon is the most potent medicinal part of the fruit. It does have a strong bitter taste, so I usually only juice half with the peel and peel the other half…. if you don’t mind the taste, the more the better.
*Lacinato kale, also known as dinosaur kale, is slightly sweeter and more mild than curly kale. It has a flat leaf with a pattern that resembles dinosaur skin. It’s sold in bunches in the produce section at most grocery stores
*Camu camu is a berry from the Amazon. It contains one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C of any food on the planet and possesses anti-viral properties, therefore helping to strengthen the immune system to ward off the common cold, flu and other viruses. It has also been shown to help with stress and anxiety.
Kristin, it’s me again, which of the STRONGEST antifungals(and brand!) do your recommend? I spend a lot of money on various ones at the local health food store but I don’t know if I am spinning my wheels or not (fillers, etc, liquid or pill)
Kathy George/ Texarkana, TX
Are you on any other shows, etc? I don’t do facebook.I MISS YOU terribly!
Dear Kristin,
I MISS YOU on Doug’s show, come back!!!!! I mean I do see a few glimpses of you on there, just today you came on and spoke of soup with bones, etc
I just made this green drink this morning in my Vitamix. The flavor is good, although very green! I too think using a juicer might be nice since it is rather pulpy, just had no time for that today, but it is very refreshing!
Hi!
I’ve been wanting to find a green smoothie that I could have every morning as my breakfast. Would this work?
This would be a great way to start the day! You might need some protein and fiber though for a complete breakfast. So instead of a juice you could turn it into a smoothie. Or you could do this juice along with some eggs or something. It depends on what you feel your body needs. Give it a try and let us know!
Kristin, I have been watching for for some time now on “Know the Cause”. I hope you are going to come out with a cookbook soon! I would buy it the instant it came out!! Love your ideas!
Hi Kristin, I have yet to hear much on know the cause about using chia seeds in cooking and smoothies. What is your take on this. Thank you also for your awesome info.
Hi Kristin!
This juice does sound good. :o)
Tell me, is it just as good/ better/ worse to blend our juices (use a blender rather than a juicer)? I like the idea of getting the whole veggie/ fruit, but I’m conflicted.
Thanks!
Hi Liz, great question!
The pro on juicing is that you get more concentrated nutrition in a smaller dose because the fiber is removed.
The pro with using a blender is that you get the whole food, fiber included. So if someone has blood sugar issues a blender would be best. Also, most American don’t get enough fiber, so this is a great way to increase it.
I personally don’t like how pulpy most “juices” become, even in my high-powered blender, but it is just preference. I do a combo of using both a juicer and blender throughout the week to make my juices/smoothies. Just depends on what I’m craving.
You can’t go wrong either way!
This sounds really good! I love juicing! Just don’t love cleaning my juicer.
I’m with you Lisa! Definitely not my favorite part… it’s the first thing I considered when purchasing a juicer, #1 had to be easy to clean. Hugs to you!!
I’m starting phase one next week too and am so excited to incorporate yummy refreshing juices like this one! Thank you for your great website Kristin.
Do you by any chance have an link to some sample menus/ sample days of eating on phase one?
Thanks!
Here’s a link to a segment I did on “Know the Cause” called Phase 1 on a Budget, http://knowthecause.com/index.php/contributor-blog/701-phase-one-on-a-budget. There are lots of great meal ideas and the recipes are on their site and some are on mine. This should help to give you some ideas of breakfast, lunch and dinners.
Hope this helps and excited for you Claudia!
I saw something similar to this on Know the Cause. I was surprised it did not taste “green” and was pleasant. I am getting ready to start a detox next week as I begin to really get into the Phase 1. I had forgotten about this juice. Thanks for the reminder. Will be drinking it midmorning at work next week.
Hi Carolyn! Yes, I did show this on Know the Cause…. so thrilled you liked it! Excited for you and your detox. It always feels so good to do some spring cleaning!