Healthy Green Drinks: Beetle Juice

So today, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and make a juice that I would almost never make. It is called, the Beetle Juice from the book, The Healthy Green Drink Diet by Jason Manheim. I wasn’t too excited to make this juice, but I did want to try it, and I have to say, it wasn’t as bad as I thought ti would be.

                         Ingredients:

                         1 yellow bell pepper

                         1 Fuji apple

                         1 small crown broccoli

                         1 small beet

                         ½ sweet potato

                         1 handful parsley

                         2 carrots

First, I took a yellow bell pepper, washed it, took out the seeds, and sliced it up.Then I took a Fuji apple and washed and chopped it up. After that, I did the same for the broccoli, beet, and the sweet potato then put them all into the blender. For the parsley, I first washed it, then I chopped it up. After that, I took the the carrots, chopped them up, and and put them into a food processor before putting them into a blender so they would blend more smoothly. Lastly, I put in some water for easier blending.

Now for this drink, the first ingredient would be bell pepper. When I first looked over the recipe for this juice, I was kind of weirded out by putting bell peppers in my juice, which is also the reason for why I wanted to try it out. Yellow bell peppers are a great source of vitamin C. Also, they actually contain many vitamins. They also contain fiber, protein and iron and add a sweet flavor to the juice. The next ingredient was apples which are very rich in important antioxidants, flavonoids, and dietary fibers. Moving on to our greens, our first green is broccoli. I have talked about broccoli in my last post, but what I didn’t mention before is that broccoli is also known to help combat many diseases and cancers: “Things like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stomach, breast, lung, and colon cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and more” (Manheim 14). So as you can see, broccoli has many great health benefits relating to many different diseases or cancers that you may have been unaware of and that I was unaware of too. The next green in this drink is parsley which according to Jason Manheim is a great source for folic acid. Folic acid helps keep your heart functioning in a healthy way so no matter who you are, you should be taking in lots of folic acid to keep your heart healthy, Along with that, folic acid also helps combat colon and cervix cancer. After that, the next ingredient we have is beet. Beets are very high in immune-boosting vitamin C, fiber, and essential minerals. They also contain manganese and vitamin B folate. So even though you do not eat beets, like me, it is good to at least have them once in a while because they are great for your immune system. The next ingredient is sweet potatoes which are supposed to be very good sources source for vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B6. I personally do not like sweet potatoes because I feel as if they are ruining the vegetable by them being sweet. Though, if you are into the current trends, you must know that many people are starting to consume sweet potatoes because of their great health benefits. The last ingredient for this juice is carrots. Carrots contain a lot of beta-carotene and fiber content. Beta-carotene also converts into vitamin A which is very important for eye health and good vision. So make sure to have yourself a carrot here and there. 

This juice is something I never would have tried if I hadn’t gotten into  making green juices. It did taste kind of weird, but it was not as bad as I had thought it would be.The consistency was not my favorite and I probably would never make it again. But, I do recommend you to try it, maybe you’ll like it more than I did.

What’s the weirdest juice you’ve ever tried?

Manheim, Jason. The Healthy Green Drink Diet. New York, Skyhorse, 2012. 

Healthy Green Drinks: Heavy Green

For today, I chose to make a green juice called, the Heavy Green from the book, The Healthy Green Drink Diet by Jason Manheim. So recently, I got hit hard with the flu and I am not enjoying it as I am typing this out surrounded by a bunch of nasty tissues. So this morning I decided to make the Heavy Green specifically because it is filled with many greens that should help me feel better.

                       Ingredients:

                       1 cup broccoli

                       2 leaves collard greens

                       1 cup spinach

                       ½ green apple

                       ½ cucumber

                       ½ avocado

                       1 lime (juiced)

For this drink, I first took one cup of broccoli and washed it all down. Then, I chopped it up into smaller pieces so it would be easier to blend, and put it into the blender. Then I took the collard greens and the spinach and washed them and put them into the blender. After that, I took a half of a green apples and cut it up into smaller pieces and put that into the blender. I also took the cucumber and avocado and did the same. The last ingredient was lime, so I juiced out one whole lime and put it into the blender. Lastly, I put in some water and turned on the blender.

Moving onto the ingredients for this drink, the first ingredient is broccoli. A lot of people are not very big fans of broccoli because of the taste, though it is very beneficial to your health. It is loaded with “vitamins C, K, and A, folate, and fiber” (Manheim 14). Broccoli is great for your body because the fiber helps with digestion so that your body is able to absorb vital nutrients from foods. The next ingredient in this drink is collard greens. Collards are known to be one of the best cholesterol-lowering foods ever and according to Jason Manheim, they are also overflowing with many vitamins such as A, C, and K, manganese, folate, calcium, and dietary fiber. This is very beneficial to people who struggle with their cholesterol or for people who have cancer because collards help fight it. The next green in this drink is cucumber. I absolutely love cucumbers. They are very refreshing and help with digestion and also help contain beneficial nutrients that promote health and maintenance for the cells in your body. The last major green for this juice is spinach, one of the healthiest vegetables in the world which says a lot. I talked about Spinach in my last post so if you want to know more about it, make sure to look back at that. Moving onto the superfoods the major superfood in this green drink is an avocado. Avocados are also sometimes called the food of the gods. “It is one of the healthiest sources of monounsaturated fats you can eat” (Manheim 32). This means that your are getting good fats. Some people do not know what avocados are made out of and will say that avocados are filled with fat and are bad for you. But in reality, if you eat the right amount, avocados are actually filled with fats that are very good for your body. When avocados are added into green drinks, they can increase the absorption of carotenoid antioxidants lycopene and beta-carotene. They are also known for their anti-inflammatory properties. Moving on, the next ingredient is green apples. All apples have great health benefits, but the green ones in particular have a lot of protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber, so you already know they are great. The last ingredient in this drink is lime. Lime are different from lemons and are very beneficial as they help with skin care, digestion, constipation, eye care, peptic ulcers, respiratory disorders and much more.

I would not recommend this drink for the people who are new to green drinks. This is definitely for the more hard-core green juice drinkers. It was pretty bitter for me but some of that bitterness could have been because I am sick and cannot taste too well. If you want to try this out but are not a big fan of green drinks, try adding in some fruits. 

So, what are your favorite major greens or superfoods? 

Manheim, Jason. The Healthy Green Drink Diet. New York, Skyhorse, 2012.