Green Juicing Diet (4 page)

Papayas

• Color:
Orange

• Yield:
1 pound = ¾ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Mildly sweet, musky, and earthy

• Health Benefits:
Though this brightly colored fruit is a bit of an acquired taste, the health benefits are well worth the adjustment. Papayas have a ton of vitamin C and are rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene, folic acid, pantothenic acids, folate, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins E and B. They promote heart health, good vision, and a healthy immune system. Papayas also help prevent colon cancer, arthritis, and asthma.

Pears

• Color:
Translucent green

• Yield:
1 pound = ¾ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Mildly sweet, light, and a bit rustic

• Health Benefits:
Pears have phytonutrients and are a great source of vitamin C and vitamin K. Pears are more easily tolerated by people with food allergies, and they promote good eye health. Vitamin K is used by your body for effective blood clotting and to maintain bone health.

Pineapples

• Color:
Yellow

• Yield:
1 pound = ¾ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Sweet, fruity, and tropical

• Health Benefits:
Pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain as well as manganese, copper, folate, and vitamins B6 and C, which help keep your immune system strong and assist in digestive, eye, and heart health. Pineapples are also a great source of energy because of the sugars and B6. The bromelain is an anti-inflammatory that helps protect you from arthritis, cancers, and other inflammation-related diseases.

Pomegranates

• Color:
Pink

• Yield:
1 pound = ½ to ¾ cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Sweet, rich, and reminiscent of grape juice

• Health Benefits:
Pomegranates provide a healthy dose of vitamins C and B5 as well as potassium, flavonoids, and other natural phenols and polyphenols that act as powerful antioxidants. Adding pomegranate juice to your green juice or smoothie can help protect you from several different types of cancer, heart disease, atherosclerosis, mental decline, kidney disease, and diabetes.

Strawberries

• Color:
Red-pink

• Yield:
1 pound = ½ to ¾ cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Sweet and nectar-like

• Health Benefits:
Like other berries, strawberries are packed with antioxidants as well as vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K, magnesium, iodine, and omega-3 fatty acids. They're great for heart health, including prevention of atherosclerosis, and they help maintain normal blood sugar levels, as well as protecting you from colon, esophageal, and breast cancers. They can also keep you looking and feeling young by preventing cognitive decline, macular degeneration, arthritis, and digestive issues.

Sweet Potatoes

• Color:
Orange

• Yield:
1 pound = ½ cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Sweet and earthy

• Health Benefits:
Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamins A, C, and B complex, potassium, copper, manganese, and tryptophan. These sweetly flavored, richly colored tubers are, in fact, even better for your eyes than carrots while also helping to protect you from such illnesses as heart disease, diabetes, nervous system disorders, and hemophilia.

Watermelons

• Color:
Pink

• Yield:
1 pound = 1 to 1½ cups juice

• Flavor
Profile:
Sweet, light, and refreshing

• Health Benefits:
Watermelon is largely water, so it yields a considerable amount of juice. It's rich in potassium, magnesium, and lycopene, which makes it great for your eyes. It also contains vitamins A and C, and it can help prevent breast, colon, endometrial, lung, prostate, and rectal cancers. It gives you a nice energy boost and helps keep you looking and feeling young because of the amino acid arginine. Finally, watermelon helps you avoid high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and erectile dysfunction.

Green, Grassy, and Fresh

Once you get the hang of juicing and your palate adjusts to the textural difference of drinking your produce in addition to eating it, you'll start appreciating the subtle differences that each fruit or vegetable can add. The grassy flavors of some greens may be too much for you at first — if so, just add in some cucumber or apple juice. If you want to go hard-core green, start with some of the lighter-flavored produce until your body adjusts to the delicious green freshness.

Alfalfa

• Color:
Green

• Yield:
1 pound = ⅔ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Earthy but extremely mild

• Health Benefits:
Alfalfa is considered the richest land source of minerals because the roots go down thirty feet deep in search of minerals. It boasts vitamins C, E, A, K, B1, and B6, as well as calcium, carotene, protein, iron, potassium, and zinc; it is also an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Alfalfa helps get rid of kidney problems in addition to assisting with arthritis, digestive issues, high cholesterol, urinary problems, and an entire array of other ailments. In other words — drink it!

Artichokes

• Color:
Green

• Yield:
1 pound = ⅔ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Strong, earthy, and sometimes a little bitter

• Health Benefits:
Artichokes are one of those foods that many people just don't bother with because they're somewhat exotic and awkward to work with, but they have some truly incredible health benefits that make this leafy little vegetable well worth your time. They're rich in cancer- and disease-fighting antioxidants (eight different ones, more than any other vegetable) and have actually been shown to cause apoptosis (cell death) in leukemia, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Artichokes may even reduce your chance of developing breast cancer to begin with.

They are also excellent for digestion and the health of your liver — as a matter of fact, studies show they may actually promote liver tissue regeneration. They are a natural diuretic, so they're good for your kidneys, too.

Asparagus

• Color:
Green

• Yield:
1 pound = ¾ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Green and rich

• Health Benefits:
Asparagus is a great source of both vitamins and minerals and even contains protein. Just some of the nutrients found in this crisp delicacy include phosphorus, potassium, manganese, molybdenum, choline, selenium, calcium, and magnesium, as well as vitamins A, C, E, K, and B complex.

Asparagus contains several antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, and is proven to lower your chances of developing colon cancer, Lou Gehrig's disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. It also helps with digestive health, because it contains the carbohydrate inulin, which promotes absorption of nutrients in your large intestine.

Barley Grass

• Color:
Green

• Yield:
1 pound = ¾ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Grassy

• Health Benefits:
Barley grass contains four times the amount of calcium as a glass of milk, and as much protein as one ounce of steak. It also has about twenty times more iron than spinach does and is rich in vitamins A, C, E, K, and B complex. It has every amino acid that your body requires and is great for those trying to lose weight or get a good night's sleep.

Since it has so many antioxidants, it helps protect you from numerous conditions, including cancer, heart disease, cognitive decline, and digestive issues. Finally, it helps protect against signs of aging and alkalizes the body so that your immune system functions well and diseases such as cancer are unable to thrive.

Bell Peppers

• Color:
Green for the chlorophyll, though all colors have amazing health benefits

• Yield:
1 pound = 1 to 1¼ cups juice

• Flavor Profile:
Sweet, green, and mildly peppery

• Health Benefits:
Peppers boast significant quantities of phytonutrients and antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, C, E, K, and B complex, magnesium, potassium, and manganese. They also have anti-inflammatory properties that protect you from several types of cancer, including digestive cancers, and such diseases as arthritis, heart disease, and atherosclerosis. The beta-carotene in peppers helps keep your eyes healthy, too.

Broccoli

• Color:
Green

• Yield:
1 pound = ¾ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Extremely rich and green

• Health Benefits:
Broccoli has nearly every vitamin and major mineral as well as protein. It's actually got about as much calcium as a glass of milk, and is packed with phytonutrients that help support detox at every single stage, starting at the DNA level.

Because it's so rich in antioxidants and is also an anti-inflammatory, broccoli helps protect you from several types of cancer, such as bladder, breast, colon, and ovarian cancers. Finally, the beta-carotene in broccoli protects you from such eye diseases as macular degeneration and cataracts.