Drinking green juice is one of the best ways to provide your body with the much-needed nutrients in a form that tastes delicious. Many people create their own signature flavors in their blend of homemade green juice by adding unconventional ingredients, but certain things should never be added to a green juice mix for various reasons. What ingredients should you never put in green juice?
The ingredients you should never put in green juice are kale, spinach, and dark leafy greens, but only if you have a history of kidney stones. Otherwise, these are fine within reason. Never juice the skins of citrus fruits, and never blend apple cores as the seeds are minorly toxic to the body.
This article will show you how green juice is made, show you the key ingredients common to almost all green juice mixtures, and provide some of the most popular recipes around. Finally, we will examine the ingredients that should never be added to green juice and the reasons why.
In This Article
What Is Green Juice?
Before discussing the ingredients that should never be added to green juice, you need to understand what green juice is and how it’s made.
It is a blended mixture of different vegetables and other secondary ingredients and should consist of mostly vegetables, with minimal fruit added for desired sweetness. Ideally, fruit should be eliminated from most green juice recipes.
Green juice offers the following health benefits:
- Improved metabolism
- Reduced inflammation
- Increased energy
- Better digestion
- Improved immune system efficiency
How Is Green Juice Made?
Properly making green juice requires the use of a specially designed juicer machine. While blenders can work, they are not exactly designed for the job and may prove impractical for making green juice. However, if you want a green smoothie, blenders are fine for this purpose.
According to their overwhelmingly positive customer reviews, the Mueller Austria ultra power is the highest-ranked juicer on the market, and the price is more than affordable. For these reasons, we recommend this product to anyone looking to get into juicing and improve their health. For more recommendations check out this article.
You can make green juice with whatever ingredients you like, but there are certain ingredients that do not belong in any green juice mixture and should never be included. Some ingredients will make the juice very bitter, while other ingredients can aggravate certain health conditions. Let’s take a look at some of the ingredients you should never use.
The Key Ingredients of Green Juice
While green juice is a general term, and there is not a specific recipe that defines what it is, there are certain common ingredients that you can expect to find in just about any blend you encounter. These are what we may refer to simply as the key ingredients of green juice.
As the name implies, green juice emphasizes the inclusion of green vegetables in the recipe, and it gets its name from the green color that is produced as a result of this.
Some of the most common ingredients of green juice are:
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Kale, if you don’t have kidney stones
- Mint
- Spinach
- Lime
- Ginger
The items included in this list are just the beginning of what is possible regarding green juice, but every recipe you find is sure to feature multiple of these. For that reason, these are the key ingredients of green juice.
Popular Green Juice Recipes
Certain green juice recipes have stood the test of time and emerged as the most popular options. We recommend that you begin with one of these recipes at first, and then over time, you may begin to modify it as you like.
Using a professional green juice recipe when starting out will potentially save you from wasting time, money, and produce due to making unsatisfactory blends.
While a large part of the appeal of making your own green juice is the fun of customizing it, the process is not total guesswork, and the base ingredients of green juice are relatively unchangeable.
It is so important that your green juice tastes good and has a pleasant texture because otherwise, it will feel difficult and chore-like for you to drink it, rather than enjoyable, and will lessen the probability of you juicing regularly.
One of the simplest and most true to form green juice recipes consists of:
- Ginger root
- Kale
- Granny smith apples
- English cucumber
- Parsley
- Celery
That’s it! This recipe is basic, nutritious, and best of all, it promises to taste great, if you like the above ingredients, that is.
The amount of each ingredient that you add should be relative and proportional, but it does not need to be exact. For many more great-tasting green juice recipes for beginners to advanced levels, read this article by Prevention.
Ingredients You Should Never Put in Green Juice
Although there are many possibilities for experimental concoctions and unique recipes, it is important not to get too carried away when making your green juice ingredient list. Certain ingredients should not be juiced, either because they won’t blend well in your juicer or because they may pose a health risk.
Dark Leafy Green Ingredients
We mentioned throughout this article that leafy greens are an important component of green juice and even went so far as to claim that kale, parsley, and spinach are key ingredients. But those who have had issues with kidney stones should avoid dark leafy green ingredients.
Studies by the Department of Urology at the University of Alabama have shown that oxalates play at least some definite role in forming kidney stones. Kale, spinach, parsley, and other similar leafy vegetables contain these oxalates.
That being said, as long as you have no prior kidney-related issues and juice these ingredients in moderation, you have nothing to worry about and are fine to go ahead and do so.
Skins of Citrus Fruits
Another thing to not include in your green juice is the skins of citrus fruits, such as lemons and limes. Leaving the skin on citrus fruits and blending them into your green juice can upset your stomach.
Apples
Apples are another green juice ingredient that must be properly prepared before juicing, as the apple seeds are mildly poisonous. They contain a chemical compound known as amygdalin, which releases harmful toxins, including cyanide, into the body.
While these toxic content levels are far too low to kill or cause damage to the human body, it is still best to avoid them altogether by removing the cores from your apples before juicing them.
Broccoli
Some people have claimed that broccoli should be excluded from all green juice recipes because it can cause indigestion. Use this ingredient at your own risk, but those with a predisposition to getting upset stomachs may want to avoid broccoli in their green juice.
Fruits and Vegetables With Low Water Content
Finally, you should avoid some ingredients simply for the fact that they have low water content and will not juice well, which include bananas, avocados, rhubarb, and any other similarly textures fruits or vegetables. However, if you choose to make a smoothie in your blender using the green juice you just made, you can add a banana or avocado for additional nutrition. However banana won’t juice and neither will avocado, you’ll just make guacamole.
Conclusion
Dark leafy greens like spinach, parsley, and kale should be strictly avoided by anyone with a history of kidney stones or kidney issues in general. You should also avoid juicing citrus skins as their pulp will upset your stomach.
Never allow apple cores in your green juice as the seeds have toxic agents in them that are not ideal for ingesting. Switch your ingredients often and enjoy green juice in moderation.
Leave a Reply