If there were a Nobel Prize for beverages I’d be putting all my money on green juice. This humble drink has taken centre stage of late, along with its cousin the green smoothie, to answer all of our health woes as the ultimate superfood. But nothing is ever really as simple (or as easy) as it first appears and as much as I love my greens, I don’t consume them just because it’s the trendy thing to do.
Greens are super and they are a food, and they should form part of your diet now and forever. Now, I’ve loved the colour green since I can remember and it’s the chlorophyll in plants that give them this lovely hue which also means tons of nutrients and minerals for you such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A, B, C, E and K – skin food a plenty indeed!
The thing is though that you’ve often got to eat a ton of the stuff to get high enough levels so include greens every day as a plate staple or, opt for a green juice a couple of times a week to fill in the gaps. I like to keep my green juices and smoothies vegetable-based to avoid too much sugar but remember juicing often removes all important fibre that is not only important for gut health but keeps you feeling full – so put eating the real thing first and that means breakfast, lunch and dinner with dark leafy greens at the top of the list.
Kale may have got all the PR of late but spare a thought for the wide array of Chinese vegetables and the many varieties of spinach that come in and out of season plus broccoli, peas, beans, cucumber, zucchini, asparagus, celery and herbs galore. So don’t let a food trend rule your shopping basket, let it be a gentle reminder to include an all important food group and drink (and eat) up to great skin health!
