The topic of discussion today is juicing, and the different healthy green juice ingredients you can use to create your own juice inside your home.
Now I’ve seen a lot of different green juice recipes on the internet, which is great. It’s awesome!
But, what if you don’t want to follow a recipe?
What if you just want to which ingredients are the best for you, and which ingredients you can buy to start experimenting with your own green juice?
I found it very difficult to find a list on the web of just pure, healthy organic ingredients that you can include to make your green juice.
Which brings me to this article.
An article that simply lists 20 popular healthy green juice ingredients. For anyone who wants to experiment by themselves and create their own, unique, green recipes.
But firstly…
What is Green Juice?
Green juice is essentially a mixed blend of different green-leafed vegetables and fruits. All combined together to give you a tasty nutritious drink, naturally green in color.
It’s a chance to mix your favorite fruit juices with some healthy vegetables, to great a nutrient packed drink that can be quickly consumed.
This concept has been very popular for years, in particularly for those who are looking to do a juice cleanse, usually for 3-7 days.
It’s very easy to make your own green juices inside your home, and if you don’t want to follow other recipes on the internet, you don’t have to.
So what are the 20 most popular healthy green juice ingredients you can have fun with?
20 Healthy Green Juice Ingredients
Below are the 20 best healthy green juice ingredients for you to buy and experiment with in your own kitchen.
I’ve listed some of the benefits of each ingredient, so that you can take this information into consideration when creating your own juice.
You might want to create a juice that contains high levels of a few specific vitamins. With the info below, you’ll be able to pick a few ingredients that best suit your goal.
1. Kiwi
Kiwi is actually one of my favorite fruits!
It’s a really good and popular base fruit for green juice, since it’s naturally very juicy and can be combined with ingredients such as kale and spinach to form the ultimate nutritional drink.
As for nutrition, 46 calories, 1g protein and 0.3g fat.
Some of the benefits of kiwi are as below:
- Rich in Vitamin C
- Rich in Vitamin K
- Good source of fiber
- Good source of Vitamin E
Kiwis actually contain 5 times the amount of Vitamin C in an orange, per serving. they’re good for helping reduce your blood pressure and improving the health of your skin.
2. Avocado
Avocados are the bomb!
There not exactly the tastiest of foods. I mean, there’s basically no flavor to them whatsoever.
Which is good… because it causes people to innovate.
Hence why they’re an awesome fruit to include in green juice recipes, because we want the benefits, just with a slightly better taste attached to them.
Check out these avocado benefits:
- Rich in potassium
- Full of healthy fatty acids
- Nutrient packed (Vitamins K, C, B5, B6 & E, Folate)
- Can help prevent cancer
- Lowers cholesterol
- Rich in fiber
Avocados are an excellent food to include in your diet, and in your green juice. The benefits are endless. They can prevent cancer, lower your cholesterol levels, improve digestion and radically improve your general health.
This is one of the most nutritious green juice ingredients to experiment with!
3. Pear
Pears have kind of gone under the radar what with apples being most people’s first choice fruit. However, they’re not to be forgotten.
Pears are still seriously healthy for you, no joke.
Here are some of the popular benefits of eating pears:
- Rich in fiber
- Can help prevent osteoporosis
- Contains beneficial antioxidants
- Good levels of Vitamin C, K, B2, B3 & B6
Pears have one of the highest fiber content levels out all other fruits. They also contain a nutrient ‘boron‘, that’s a key component in helping our bodies retain calcium. Therefore it helps prevent osteoporosis.
Plus, it has a healthy dose of the vitamins I mentioned above, and contains antioxidants that can help reduce blood pressure and prevent cancer.
4. Apple
You know the old saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
Is it true?
Well… it might just be.
Some of the benefits of apples are:
- Great source of fiber
- Rich in antioxidants
- Very filling, though low in calories
Apples are often included in diets for weight loss, since they are both high in fiber and low in energy density. This leads to a reduced calorie intake, therefore promoting weight loss.
If weight loss is your goal, this would be a good fruit to include in your juicing routine. Just note that there’s a lot of sugar in apples, so don’t over-do it.
5. Lemon
Lemons are notorious for their sour taste; it’s rare to come across anyone that actually eats them on their own.
Most people tend to put lemon juice on their food to sweeten it, and it’s often subtly added to juices like the green juices we’ve been talking about.
Some of the benefits of lemons are:
- Rich in Vitamin C
- Boosts your immune system
- Aids digestions
- Promotes healthy liver function
Lemons are very anti-bacterial. They help cleanse your body, promoting healthy liver function, digestion, immunity and healthy skin. They are also a very alkalizing food, which can be great for neutralizing PH levels if you have a highly acidic diet.
6. Wheatgrass
Wheatgrass is another of those superfoods that’s extremely good for you. In fact, a shot of wheatgrass contains the equivalent amount of nutrients in comparison to 1kg of fruit and veg, which is incredible!
It’s strong stuff, so you only need a small serving per day to experience the benefits. People tend to either drink it as a shot or as part of a smoothie or juice.
If you’re not quite sold, here are some of the major benefits:
- Rich in protein
- Rich in Vitamins A, B’s, C, I, K
- Helps detoxify the skin
- Improves digestion
- Can promote liver and kidney health
- Rich in fiber
Wheatgrass is proven to be very beneficial for your body and overall health. Packed with tonnes of different nutrients, antioxidants and fiber, it can help prevent and aid the treatment of cancer, contribute to the proper function of your lungs and kidneys, and detox your skin.
7. Spinach
There’s no doubt that Popeye made spinach famous. Pretty sure we can all agree on that fact.
If you don’t know who Popeye is then I have no idea why you’re reading this article, since all hope for humanity is lost.
Anyway, spinach is the real deal, and for those who still don’t know why…
Here are some of the benefits of spinach:
- Rich in Vitamin A, B2, B6, C, E & K
- Rich in essential nutrients such as manganese, folate & magnesium
- Contributes to overall bone health
- Reduces the risk of developing asthma
- Contributes to a healthy heart
The main recommendation for eating spinach is because of its high vitamin K content, to help improve your bone health and reduce the chances of any bone related problems occurring in the future.
8. Kale
Kale is a very popular vegetable among bodybuilders and other fitness enthusiasts. You’ll soon see why.
A fellow member of the cabbage family, kale is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. One of the main things to mention is that kale has a few different variations.
The leaves aren’t always green like the picture above. Sometimes they can be purple, smooth, curly, etc.
Some of the main reasons kale is so popular are:
- Rich in Vitamin A, K & C
- Rich in Manganese
- Loaded with impressive antioxidants
- Contains nutrients that protect the eyes
- Can help lower cholesterol
1 cup of kale actually contains 684% of your daily recommended Vitamin K intake. It’s seriously nutrient dense and can help prevent many conditions by lowering your cholesterol, protecting your eyes, and many other areas of your body due to all the antioxidants it contains.
Basically what we’re saying here is chuck some of this into your green juices. You’d be an idiot not to!
9. Cucumber
Cool as a cucumber baby…
Cucumber is a great vegetable to add to the list of awesome green juice ingredients. They’re made up of 95% water, and contain anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants.
These properties prove great for keeping wrinkle-free, healthy skin.
Some benefits of cucumber include:
- Great for hydration
- Promotes healthy skin
- Can help prevent cancer
- Rich in Vitamin K
- Various antioxidants
So cucumbers are a great green juice ingredient for improving the health of your skin, boosting your immune system, improving bone health and potentially preventing cancer.
This is definitely a vegetable you’ll want to include in your juicing routine.
10. Grape
Grapes probably get undersold when it comes to organic health. We tend to look at green foods like avocado, spinach, kale and so on in much larger lights.
However, grapes are actually pretty damn good for you. They’re also a food that you can continue to eat without ever realizing just how much you’ve consumed.
Why are grapes so good for you?
Check out these top benefits of grapes:
- Rich in Vitamin A, B6 & C
- Rich in Folate
- Rich in antioxidants
- Can contribute to bone health
- Reduces the chances of heart diseases
- Prevent fatigue
The reality is that there’s so many more amazing health benefits to grapes other than the ones I’ve listed above.
They can prevent breast cancer, be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, boost your immune system, contribute to healthy kidney function… the list goes on!
This is due to all the essential minerals and antioxidants they contain.
Has this made you think differently about grapes?
11. Romaine Lettuce
Romaine lettuce is a variety of lettuce growing tall sturdy heads of leaves, with firm ribs down the center. It’s sometimes also referred to as ‘cos lettuce’.
What makes romaine lettuce different to the other varieties of its kind?
Romaine lettuce is very high in levels of Vitamin A & K, as well as folate. Plus, 1 cup of romaine lettuce is only 16 calories.
So let’s lay out the benefits of romaine lettuce:
- Can promote weight loss
- Rich in Vitamin A & K
- Good for digestion
Romaine lettuce is a great green juice ingredient to include in your recipes, and especially if you’re looking to increase your Vitamin A and K intake.
12. Celery
Celery is a crunchy green vegetable that is pretty low in calories, yet it contains a lot of different nutrients important for keeping our bodies healthy.
A lot of people tend to eat this vegetable when they’re on a diet, due to the low calorie content, however there’s also a number of different health benefits that can come from eating celery.
Here are a few celery benefits:
- Low in calories
- Rich in Vitamin K
- Rich in molybdenum
- Can lower cholesterol and blood pressure
Celery can be used to help lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, and is a rich source of vitamin K for healthy bones. Another of the most popular green juice ingredients to have a play with.
13. Pineapple
Who doesn’t love pineapple?
Firstly, it’s impossible to dislike a food that looks as cool as a pineapple does.
Now that we’ve got my love for the look of pineapples out of the way, here’s why you should be interested in adding them to your diet.
The powerful benefits of these crazy looking pineapples are:
- Rich in Vitamin C
- Rich in Manganese
- Rich in Thiamine
- Boosts your immune system
- Contributes to bone health
- Anti-inflammatory properties
- Good for digestion
Pineapple is a great fruit to add to your green juice to help boost your immune system and improve your bone health.
14. Mint Leaves
Mint leaves actually have some awesome benefits attached to them, and mint isn’t just beneficial as a flavor ingredient for certain foods.
The benefits of mint leaves include:
- Good for digestion
- Rich in antioxidants
- Natural remedy for nausea
- Reduces fatigue
- Stimulates memory retention
Mint leaves are a great ingredient for detoxing your body, and strengthening your mind due to the fact it can reduce memory loss and cure common illnesses such as nausea.
You don’t need to put too much mint in your juices to extract the benefits from it. This is definitely up there on the list of healthy green juice ingredients.
15. Lime
Lime is a sour citrus fruit very similar to its yellow brother the lemon.
Usually, you’d come across lime in some of the most unhealthy ways. It’s added to a lot of sugared beverages, sweets and snacks, some of which will be fairly familiar to you.
There are a lot of different health benefits associated with lime, when we actually consume it organically that is, and not along with all the junk food products above.
Check out a few of these lime benefits:
- Rich in Vitamin C
- Can reduce the risk of heart disease
- Contributes to healthy skin
- Helps with constipation
- Promotes gum health
The fact that limes, just like lemons, are incredibly rich in vitamin C, means that they can include a great deal of health benefits associated with this essential vitamin.
Vitamin C is great for your skin, your gums and other tissues in your body, so including limes in your diet is a great way to get enough vitamin C in your diet.
16. Zucchini
Zucchini (courgette) is a summer squash, treated as a vegetable, which can either occur as a dark green or light green color.
Zucchini’s are low in calories, containing only 17 calories per 100g, and provide a lot of important nutrients that contribute to your overall health.
The main benefits of Zucchini’s are as below:
- Rich in Vitamin A & C
- Good source of antioxidants
- Good source of folates
- Can reduce blood pressure
The nutrients in Zucchini’s can help you maintain optimal health and reduce the risk of any potential diseases. It’s also proven to contribute to a healthy prostate in men, and reduce the risk of any associated problem such as BPH occurring.
17. Orange
Oranges are one of the most common fruits, known for their rich vitamin C content. Orange juice is one of the most popular juices to drink, in particular in the morning with breakfast.
The benefits of orange are below:
- Rich in Vitamin C
- Beneficial for the skin
- Can boost your immune system
- Contribute to heart health
The main benefit of orange is the fact that it’s so rich in vitamin C, with 1 orange containing roughly 70mg of vitamin C. This is beneficial for your skin, your heart and your immune system.
If you’re looking to get more vitamin C in your diet, then add this wonderful creation to your list of healthy green juice ingredients.
18. Watermelon
Watermelons are incredibly juicy, made up of 92% water!
However, despite it being made up of over 90% water, watermelons are packed with essential nutrients, including vitamin A and vitamin C.
Take a close look at several benefits of watermelon:
- Rich in Vitamin A, B6 & C
- Rich in lycopene
- Good for hydration
- Prevents muscle soreness
- Beneficial for the heart
Not only is watermelon good for hydration, but it can also help lower the risk of heart disease, and reduce muscle soreness post workout due to the amino acids it contains, which improve blood circulation.
19. Parsley
Parsley is rich in a lot of the essential minerals your body needs to stay healthy, and for that reason, it can contribute to many potential health benefits.
The benefits of eating parsley are as follows:
- Rich in Vitamins A, B12, C & K
- Helps control blood pressure
- Contributes to proper functioning of your kidney
- Good source of iron
The high vitamin content means that parsley can help boost your immune system, keep your bones healthy, and heals your immune system.
20. Grapefruit
Last on the list of healthy green juice ingredients, grapefruit. This sour and juicy fruit is overloaded with nutrients, and although it may not be to everyone’s taste, it’s worth adding to your diet.
Grapefruit’s hue can range in color, from white, yellow, pink and orange. The fruit is known to contain very little in the amount of calories, and although can be beneficial for weight loss, may also have some other benefits attached to it.
The key benefits of the grapefruit are:
- Rich in Vitamins A & C
- Promotes clear and healthy skin
- Can lower the risk of strokes
- Helps lower blood pressure
- Can play a role in preventing cancer
A study was conducted in women, whereby when consuming a high intake of citrus fruits such as orange, grapefruit etc. reduced the risk of women having an ischemic stroke by 19%.
Grapefruits can also control your blood pressure, keep your skin looking healthy, and play a role in fighting cancerous cells in your body.
Summary
Since we’re coming to the end of the article, here are the most popular healthy green juice ingredients, listed once again below:
- Kiwi
- Avocado
- Pear
- Apple
- Lemon
- Wheatgrass
- Spinach
- Kale
- Cucumber
- Grape
- Romaine Lettuce
- Celery
- Pineapple
- Mint Leaves
- Lime
- Zucchini
- Orange
- Watermelon
- Parsley
- Grapefruit
In Conclusion
Green juices are pretty awesome, and it’s great fun creating your own recipes and doing a little experimenting!
This list has an awesome number of healthy green juice ingredients for you to include. Anybody who plans on creating their own juice needs to start with the above!
If you go out and start experimenting with the ingredients above, let us know in the comments below what your favorite combination is. As long as you don’t mind sharing!
What are your favorite green juice ingredients? Leave a comment below.