Here’s a healthy idea for the New Year: make green juices for boosting your health and vitality. Everyone can take advantage of these healthy drinks, which provide many of the nutrients we need for good health. You can purchase greens in the markets, or better yet, grow them at home.
No matter if you live in an apartment or a ranch in Costa Rica, it’s easy to grow a potted Mediterranean kitchen garden on a porch or balcony. All you need to start are planting pots or recycled containers, good potting soil, seeds and perhaps a table to display your plants.
Here’s a basic recipe to get started making your own green juices at home.
Let’s begin with coriander, known as culantro in Costa Rica. It’s the queen of the garden herbs and is packed with nutrients like vitamin A and C, magnesium and potassium. It also contains antioxidants, which can help to prevent chronic degenerative diseases.
This green also helps to remove toxins from the body, such as heavy metals like lead and mercury. Coriander also helps to lower cholesterol, prevent diabetes and reduce anxiety and promote good sleep.
Next comes parsley, the king of herbs, which contains antioxidants, folic acid, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and K, as well as the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. Parsley boosts the immune system, reduces inflammatory conditions and acts as a tonic for the entire body.
Now let’s include a slice of ginger, the juice of one half a lemon and pure water. Ginger is known as universal medicine in India because it acts as a tonic for all the organs of the body. It also contains high levels of zinc, which helps prevents colds and flu, as well as improving natural hormone production. The lemon juice acts as a natural anti-bacterial agent and helps your body assimilate the green juice.
Finally, you may find stevia useful for sweetening your green drinks. Stevia can be grown at home or purchased in liquid form. Stevia has no sugar or artificial chemicals and helps to prevent diabetes. So, that’s the basic recipe. A small handful of cilantro and parsley for each person, a slice of ginger to taste, lemon and stevia. I prefer to blend them with pure water in a blender, but you can also use a juicer for the job.
Once you get started on making your daily garden green juice, you’ll find it pleasant to blend different greens for the cocktail. I like gotu kola, which is an Asian herb with health promoting benefits. You’ll find celery, kale or mustard nice additions to the basic recipe.
So here’s a healthy toast to you and the garden, nature’s dining table.
