Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko

I’m officially addicted to green juice! While I unfortunately don’t have enough time to make my juices myself every day, I start almost every morning off by taking a class at the LA Sports Club and then either making or picking-up a dark green juice. When I first started drinking them I couldn’t imagine getting one of them down without a least one apple blended in, but now I’m all about the dark leafy greens like kale and I credit these daily juices for helping me with my sugar cravings. I’ve always considered myself a total chocolate addict, but I’ve noticed that when I start consuming more vegetables it actually makes me crave fruit which cuts down on my need for a chocolate fix. I’m stunned at how much my sugar intake from processed foods has decreased over just the past few months and I’ve been very interested in finding out the mechanism behind it all – which is where “Green for Life” comes in. I first came across Victoria Boutenko’s “Green for Life” book at my local health food store and it really honed in on why it’s so beneficial for us to all be drinking these juices. Jump for more! 

Without going into all the details of the studies Boutenko discusses throughout her book, she makes it clear throughout that consuming

vitamin-packed smoothies is not only the most effective way for our bodies to absorb essential nutrients, adding just

one quart of green smoothie a day to one’s diet can help with everything from weight loss and cravings, to healing skin conditions and reversing diabetes. She literally has pages and pages of inspiring testimonials, which is helpful for us as readers since we can pinpoint our trouble spot and then look through the book for a way to tackle it with the help of greens.

Everything is organized by chapter, so you can skim around depending on your topics of interest (health information on the abundance of protein in greens, the benefits

of fiber, the role of greens in homeostasis, the significance of stomach acid, how greens make the body

more alkaline, the healing power of chlorophyll…), and at the end of the book there are 45 green smoothie recipes including  sweet, savory, super green, and pudding smoothies. A bunch of the recipes include unexpected ingredients like avocado, oregano, aloe, and dandelion greens – very fun (and healthful!), to play around with!