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Weight Loss Exercise

Drinking Green Drinks



With summer in full swing, I am thinking about drinking green drinks. I’ve turned to juicing expert and founder of Juice Generation in NYC and Cooler Cleanse, Eric Helms, for the best ways to drink your greens and have them taste great. Packed with essential vitamins, nutrients, incorporating “green drinks” into your diet will keep you feeling and looking great this summer.

The Benefits of Drinking Green Drinks

Drinking Green Drinks

Drinking Green Drinks

Dark green vegetables contain a rainbow of vitamins and minerals essential for the cleansing functions of the kidneys and liver. Dark, leafy greens also give the system loads of water-soluble fiber to sweep toxins out. These greens are highly alkalizing to your cells—countering the damage done by the corrosive acidic waste products from meat, sugar, dairy and other common foods.

Helms says, “Customers are typically intimidated by the idea of a green drink” and that he and his team are constantly thinking of new ways to encourage customers to give green a chance.

Green Drink Recipes

Hale To Kale– from the menu at Juice Generation’s new Equinox location in NYC

Ingredients of Hale to Kale

  • 2 handfuls of kale
  • 1 apple
  • 1/4 lemon
  • 8oz watermelon juice

Instructions for Hale to Kale

Bunch up kale and push through juicer with apple.  Follow with watermelon and lemon. Scrape off the foam and serve over ice. Makes 12oz serving.

 

Supa Dupa Greens

  • Handful (3 oz) spinach
  • 2 medium stalks (3 oz) of celery
  • Small handful (1/2 oz) parsley, long stems removed
  • 3 medium stalks (3 oz) green kale
  • 2 Bartlett pears, cored and quartered
  • 1 lemon, cut and peeled
  • 1 cucumber, cut into pieces small enough to fit through a juicer

Instructions for Supa Dupa Greens

Process all the ingredients through the juicer. Run any wet pulp back through the juicer. Scrape off the foam and serve over ice. For variation, add dandelion greens or watercress.

Drinking green drinks this summer is a great way to supplement your diet with lots of micronutrients.

Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Lutein for Better Eye Health

Lutein has over the last few years become a very popular supplement and nutrient to improve vision or to actually stop and reduce cataracts. You can not only find Lutein in most multivitamins but also a lot of those green leafy veggies are high in Lutein as well.

Lutein for Better Eye Health

Lutein for Better Eye Health

Lutein for Better Eye Health

Lutein was found to be concentrated in the macula, a small area of the retina responsible for central vision. The hypothesis for the natural concentration is that lutein helps keep the eyes safe from oxidative stress and the high-energy photons of blue light. Various research studies have shown that a direct relationship exists between lutein intake and pigmentation in the eye

Several studies show that an increase in macula pigmentation decreases the risk for eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration

A six year study by the National Eye Institute found that lutein and zeaxanthin (nutrients in eggs, spinach and other green vegetables) protect against blindness (macular degeneration), affecting 1.2 million Americans, mostly after age 65.

There is also epidemiological evidence that increasing lutein  intake lowers the risk of cataract development. Consumption of more than 2.4 mg of lutein daily from foods and supplements was significantly correlated with reduced incidence of nuclear lens opacities, as revealed from data collected during a 13- to 15-year period in the Nutrition and Vision Project

One Strange Fact about Lutein

As I was researching about Lutein I found this really strange info about Lutein. Apparently it was traditionally used in chicken feed to provide the yellow color of broiler chicken skin. Consumers viewed yellow chicken skin more favorably than white chicken skin. Lutein also makes egg youlks a darker yellow color which I always though was great. This darker yellow is the really only reason for feed fortification in chickens now.

Sources of Lutein

As I mentioned earlier Lutein can be found in most multivitamins as well as those vitamins that are specifically made for better eye health.

There are also many vegetables that are high in this super nutrient including Kale, Spinach, Garden peas, Zucchini, Brussels sprouts, Pistachio nuts, Broccoli

Lutein for Better Eye Health

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on Age Related Macular Degeneration