A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier. ~Tom Stoppard
Drinking green juice immediately makes you feel “good” or rejuvenated but for those who have discovered its lasting and amazing benefits, they know it’s not a one-off event. You want to make green juicing a habit in your life if you want those lasting benefits.
When you’re starting out, it could be easy to make some common mistakes until you get it down right. I’ve been drinking green juice since 2007 and trust me when I say I’ve made all of these mistakes in the past!
Through trial and error, I’ve come to know better. I want to save you the time and energy so you can better spend it enjoying delicious nutritious green juices rather than constantly course-correcting.
Here are some common green juicing mistakes to avoid:
Green Juicing Mistake #1: Not using a variety of green leafy vegetables
Use a variety of green veggies in your juices. Experiment with different greens every time and rotate your recipes regularly.
Many new green juice enthusiasts will only use kale and spinach for all their green juicing recipes. It’s a good start, but there are other greens you can use too.
Experiment with parsley, cilantro, Swiss chard, dandelion, lettuce, collard greens, carrot tops, beet tops, and so many more greens available in your community. Use them in place of kale and spinach every once in a while for best results.
Green Juicing Mistake #2: Substituting green juice for a whole meal
Another common mistake is to “live” on green juices. Unless you’re juice fasting for a detox for a specific period of time, say one week to 10 days, understand a glass of green juice is not a meal by itself. Consider it as a way to put additional nutrients, vitamins and minerals in your body, not to replace your regular meals.
Drink your green juice at least 2-3 hours before you consume a meal. It is not as efficient for your system to absorb the juice if you immediately eat solid food afterwards as opposed to when you drink it by itself.
Additionally, it’s important to “chew” or swish your juice in your mouth before swallowing it. This helps mix the juice with saliva. Saliva releases useful digestive enzymes that will help deliver nutrients straight to your cells.
Green Juicing Mistake #3: Drinking your green juice at the same time as your meal
It’s very common to see green juices served with breakfast at raw food restaurants. Some people also advise to have them with a snack.
Personally, I prefer drinking my green juice on an empty stomach just by itself. Like I said, it’s best to keep a gap of at least 2-3 hours before and one hour after you’ve had your green juice. When you drink your juice in this way, your body can easily absorb all the nutrients and your digestive system also gets a break.
There is also a chance of getting your stomach upset when you mix solids with green juice. Simply, your body will thank you for not doing so.
Green Juicing Mistake #4: Not listening to your body
As a new green juicer, you love to delve into all the new recipes you’re learning and try them out one by one (and sometimes all at once!). I get it. It’s very natural to feel excited because you’re making an awesome change to your lifestyle. Kudos to you for that!
BUT – please remember that your body is speaking to you all the time. Listen to it. For example, when you start juicing, you might feel slight nausea because you’ve just had your green juice on its own without any food or other drinks.
This is normal, so don’t panic. You may also get a headache. For both these situations, the best solution is to stay hydrated all the time. Drink lots of water, preferably filtered tap water.
To heal yourself from nausea, eat one or two slightly salted crackers (do this only when you feel the nausea otherwise avoid eating anything immediately after juicing). If the condition doesn’t improve, take a break from juicing and come back when you’re feeling healthy and better.
Do you know someone who might be making these 4 mistakes? Then please share this post with them and let everyone be able to take 100% advantage of this yummy way to stay healthy and wise!
Still have questions or want to learn step-by-step about juicing? For a thorough A-Z guide to juicing, learning the right way to juice, recipes and benefits, get my Healthy Juicer’s Bible here.
