Green Lemonade

So, I've got another juice. It's almost the same as the last one, except it's expertly called a "Green Lemonade" by Natalia Rose. Her book, "The Raw Food Detox Diet" was given to me by that friend Whitney I mentioned earlier. Although I don't think my body would ever do well on a completely raw food diet, this book definitely gave my warped cheese-fry loving brain some nutritional insight.

One of these insights was how good fresh juice is for you. It's extremely enzyme-rich, which makes all the nutrients easily absorbed in your body and can therefore fuel you better! How cool!

And why not just eat vegetables, you may ask? Well, for one, that's a lot of chompin! And two, there are enzymes (what the heck is an enzyme?) trapped inside the fibers of fresh vegetables that can't be absorbed through normal digestion. But guess what? A juicer can release those darned enzymes! How miraculous (much like childbirth...or not).

I'm done rambling. This is Ms. Rose's favorite juice, the "Green Lemonade". She recommends enjoying it first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach.

Green Lemonade

Natalia Rose

1 head romaine lettuce

5 to 6 stalks kale

1 to 2 apples

1 whole lemon

1 to 2 inches fresh ginger

Process in juicer. Gulp 'er down!

Juice

I used to think I knew a lot about nutrition. You know, calories in, calories out, and all that jazz. Yeah, fruits are veggies are important, but it doesn't really matter as long as your full. Thank goodness I met my friend Whitney who, even though a raw foodie, taught me so much about nutrients and feeding my body what it needs to take me through the day. I have such a healthy obsession now with vegetables and eating clean and am so thankful to her for turning me on to the benefits of a healthy diet.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't sit every day just eating carrot sticks. My sweet tooth is still in full bloom! I do, however, take more pride than I ever have before in what I put in my body and have found that I can get much more out of a dance class if I am eating more than potato chips, french fries and chocolate cake.

One thing Whitney really turned me onto was fresh juice. There is a grocery store in the city called Westerly's (8th and 54th) that she took me to to experience my first fresh juice. Since then I have been hooked! So hooked, in fact, that I asked for a juicer last Christmas to enjoy the benefits of juice without the epic six dollar price tag each time.

I have played around with different juices for a year now and just love figuring out different combinations of fruits and vegetables I can get together! Here is my latest creation!


Sugar's Juice of the Day

Handful of blackberries
1/2 lemon, peeled
1/4 cucumber

2-3 stalks of kale
Several handfuls of spinach
1 green apple
1-2 stalks of celery
Thin slice of ginger

Viola juice! Isn't she a beauty?