Your Heart Will Benefit From Green Juices – Today!
Green juices are great for your overall health – and even better for your heart health!
With heart disease a major killer, it just makes sense to try to prevent it – and what better way than with yummy green juices.
(Of course, if you’re anything like me when I started with juicing, I thought green juices were revolting – but you can make them really enjoyable. “Ultimate Juices and Smoothies for Fun and Health” shows you exactly how to do this).
A green juice or smoothie is any drink made from fresh vegetables. Spinach and kale are probably the most common ingredients in green juices, but you can also use Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, wheat grass, broccoli, bitter melon and many others.
These green leafy veggies offer more essential nutrients and vitamins than non-green vegetables. You’ll benefit particularly from iron, Vitamin K, and antioxidants.
And did you know that the darker the green colour, the more nutrients you’ll get? So there’s more goodness in kale for example, than there is in an iceberg lettuce.
It’s much easier to drink a glass of juice or a smoothie full of kale or spinach, mixed in with some fruits, than it is to eat a whole plateful of green vegetables. And that’s one of the main reasons why juices and smoothies are fun, as well as healthy!
Let’s look at why green juices are so good specifically for your heart.
Green Juices and Heart Health Benefit #1 – Iron
The benefits you get from a green juice depend on what ingredients you use.
For example, a juice made mostly of kale will give you a lot of iron (approximately 1mg per cup), compared to 0.4mg per cup of cabbage, according to the USDA.
Iron is great for your heart because it helps to create haemoglobin in your red blood cells. These cells move oxygen around your body. If there isn’t enough iron in your body, not enough oxygen molecules will be carried from your lungs and you’ll feel tired. Your heart might then need to overwork itself to compensate, which could then weaken the heart muscle resulting in heart disease or other ailments.
Green Juices and Heart Health Benefit #2 – Antioxidants
Antioxidants are tiny miracles that offer huge health benefits. In terms of the heart, antioxidants help to restore damage that comes from daily activity, strengthening the walls of your heart over time and allowing it to function more efficiently.
Green Juices and Heart Health Benefit #3 – Vitamins
Many green juices also contain vitamins that help keep the heart pumping properly and strongly. Similarly, the nutrients and minerals in the juices can help improve circulation by expanding the blood vessels and lowering blood pressure, which allows the blood to flow more smoothly throughout your body.
Green Juices and Heart Health Benefit #4– Fibre
Green juices also bring fiber into your diet, which is essential to a healthy heart because it can lower blood cholesterol levels. High cholesterol causes the heart to work harder to pump blood through your body because it literally blocks the passageways in the circulatory system.
Overworking the heart, combined with the lack of oxygen and build-up of toxins due to poor blood flow, can result in a heart attack or similar issues. The fiber in green juices helps ensure proper blood flow and thus keeps your heart and body functioning normally. Fiber also helps combat other conditions that can lead to heart disease, such as obesity or diabetes, offering an additional layer of health.
Green Juices and Heart Health Benefit #5 – Weight Loss
Green juices and smoothies are generally low in calories and make a great addition to a sensible low-calorie diet, which will help you achieve and keep a healthy weight. This benefits your heart health because both obesity and being overweight are major contributors to heart disease, heart attack, and premature death.
Conclusion
If doesn’t really matter which specific green vegetables you put into your juices and smoothies (although it’s good to vary them). Nor does it matter how often you drink them.
The fact is that green juices and smoothies are most effective when you combine them with regular exercise and a balanced diet. And they’re a delicious (and easy and convenient) way of “eating” lots of healthy green veggies!
P.S. Find out how to really enjoy green juices and smoothies (even if you thought they were horrible) by downloading “Ultimate Juices and Smoothies for Fun and Health” now!
