Raw vegetable juice is packed with vitamins, minerals, and important phytonutrients, and juicing is a great way to take advantage of the nutritional potential. Discover the best vegetables to juice, in order to give yourself a health boost.
From vegetables that pack the biggest nutritional benefits to vegetables with a high water content that deliver delicious juice, here’s what you should buy for juicing.
Leafy Greens
Most leafy greens, from lettuce to collard greens, dandelion greens, kale and spinach, deliver vitamins A and C, along with other important nutrients, from potassium to folic acid. You can even add parsley for its powerful detoxifying effect. Unlike other vegetables for juicing, leafy greens won’t actually produce a lot of juice, so you should mix them with more water-rich vegetables.
Tomatoes
Rich in potassium and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, tomatoes are definitely one of the best vegetables to juice. Used a lot in the Mediterranean cuisine, which is linked to a longer life expectancy, tomatoes go well with almost every other vegetable and even with many fruits when juicing. For more of the cancer protecting lycopene, eat their skins too.
Celery
For maximum nutritional benefits, don’t just juice celery sticks. Use the whole plant in order to get a healthy dose of iron, potassium, and magnesium. Celery is over 80% water, so you can use it in many combinations, with more tasty vegetables.
Beets
Among the best vegetables to juice, beets are also great when you’re juicing both leafy greens and roots. With a deliciously sweet flavor, beet roots get their dark red-purple color thanks to a high content of beta-carotene, along with iron, vitamin C, and calcium. They’re the best option when you’re looking to improve the taste of another juiced vegetable or mix.
Carrots
Rich in vitamins A and B, carrots are another delicious addition to any combination of other vegetables. Their sweet flavor aside, carrots have a high content of beta-carotene, which is better absorbed when eaten cooked, but if you’d rather have them juiced, use them with more fragrant vegetables, to improve the taste of your vegetable juice.
Broccoli
It’s one of the best vegetables to juice or eat raw, but broccoli can also cause bloating and gas. If you’re having digestive trouble, steam this nutritious vegetable.
Its high content of antioxidants can reduce the risk of developing multiple types of cancer, however, those benefits are higher when the vegetable is eaten raw or juiced.
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Cabbage
While the Cabbage Soup Diet is not considered healthy, since it’s a crash diet that provides less than 1,000 calories per day, this vegetable is very good for you when juiced, especially in combination with other vegetables with a high water content. It can help you detoxify, thanks to folate and it’s also rich in antioxidants like vitamin C.
Sweet Potatoes
Though often overlooked when it comes to the best vegetables to juice, sweet potatoes deliver great health benefits, whether it’s the high content of beta carotene or minerals like potassium, copper, and iron. They’re also rich in vitamin C, as well as being a good source for vitamins B5 and B6.
Cucumbers
One of the vegetables with the highest water content (over 95%), cucumbers go well with every other vegetable or fruit you might be juicing. They don’t deliver the same nutritional value as other vegetables that are good juicing options, but they do contain plenty of vitamin K.
Wheatgrass
A great way to detoxify, wheatgrass is also one of the best vegetables to juice, since it can help balance your body pH, thanks to its alkalizing effect. If you add wheatgrass to your mix of vegetables before juicing, you’ll be getting vitamins E and K, along with magnesium, potassium and powerful antioxidants.
See also: Detox Juice Recipes
While most juiced vegetables are free of side-effects, some raw vegetables might not be right for everyone. Spinach, chard, and beet greens can block the absorption of important nutrients when their juice is consumed excessively. Raw cabbage, broccoli, collards, and kale can be responsible for bloating or gas.
