November to end of January the buzz words inevitably include “juicing” and “detox”…we all want to forget about those holiday treats and warm, soft chocolate chip cookies we inevitably eat every day (I know it’s not just me!), but I don’t think the answer is doing an all juice cleanse – and I’ve tried them…often. I do however think that adding juices to your diet is optimal for overall health and can help with digestion. Juices and cleanses are a dime a dozen these days and I’ve had many juices from pretty much all the big name brands out there. My favorite so far however have been the ones from an up-and-coming brand called Love Grace. They have very unique combinations along with traditional green juices and they’re not loaded with tons of sugar like most of the big brands (and I’m not just talking the fruit juices, even the green juice from Blueprint has 24g of sugar and no fiber!!). The only exceptions are Love Grace’s high calorie (300), protein mixes which have about 30grams of sugar, but they are not sweet!! Also by comparison, Blueprint has some juices that have over 40 grams of sugar and no fiber and just 1g of protein. Love Grace has figured out the optimal combos for truly balanced juices. They also have a coconut water-based green juice, which I thought was pretty cool even though I preferred their standard one made with only vegetables. Everything they use is organic and for their version of the master clean concoction they use pink Himalayan sea salt.
You can buy the juice individually, but I would suggest buying them as a cleanse because they are cheaper and the juices will keep for about two weeks so you can buy a three-day cleanse and spread them across a week or two. I do wish these were blended (versus juiced) so they would have more fiber, but most of the juices are high enough in fiber that they will have an impact on your digestion even if you just drink one or two a day (there is almost no fiber in any of Blueprint’s juices). Again, I am a workout fanatic and love to CHEW so I don’t believe in juice cleanses especially not ones that are basically starving yourself (which is what I call living off of 1,000 or so calories of juice), but we all know how beneficial it can be to drink a juice or two a day, and with combinations like the ones offered by Love Grace and their ease of delivery there’s no reason not to make 2014 our healthiest year ever…(cheesy but true!). Green Sunshine, Restore, Probiotic Smoothie, and their Green Protein Smoothie are my favorite. Don’t be turned off by their smoothies because they have 300 calories – trust me they will go through your body with ease thanks to flax seeds and other good-for-you, fiber-rich ingredients.
On a side note I am always concerned about my sodium levels and was confused as to why some of these juices had high level of sodium since many had no salt in their ingredients list. Turns out the sodium comes mostly from the celery. I was told “many vegetables naturally have high amounts of sodium. The sodium present in our juices comes from celery. Sodium from table salt and sodium from celery is obviously quite different. We like sodium present in our cleanse and juices because it is an important electrolyte used for many functions. To learn more click here. Also check out their partnership with Tay Organics.
