As you slowly undo the dietary damage you did over the holidays, you might want to consider what I call ‘G-toxing’— incorporating a daily green juice that replaces a meal, snack or coffee break into your routine.
Rather than doing a strict liquid diet for a few days or weeks, which can wreak havoc on your metabolism, people across the country are opting to G-tox with a concoction that consists of greens like kale and spinach, blended with fruits and nuts. It’s like drinking your salad!
Related: 3 Yoga Moves to Detox Your Holiday Naughtiness
Green Juices Are Everywhere
It used to be that you only came across a green juice at a vegan restaurant or at your hippie-yoga instructor’s house. Now you see bottled juices (like Naked and Evolution Fresh) at the supermarket, coffee shops, the gym and on the menu at mainstream restaurants. There’s even a green juice food truck outside my office in Rockefeller Center in New York City. And believe it or not, I’ve met people at parties who carried their juicer in their backpacks!
They also sell at-home juicers in many retail stories. My favorite is the no mess, no fuss NutriBulletwhich seems to be pretty popular. It has its ownTwitter account and over 15,000 followers.
Boost Your Liver Function
In a nation where obesity is an epidemic and there’s practically a bar on every corner, G-tox could help clean up Americans’ acts. The American Liver Foundation (ALF) warns that liver damage from alcohol is taking a back seat to Fatty Liver Disease caused by poor diets. It affects up to 25 percent of people in the United States.
“You’ve heard that sitting is the new smoking? Well, sugar is the new alcohol when it comes to liver damage,” says the ALF’s Nancy Reau, MD, an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago who specializes in diagnosing and treating liver disease.
The trend of juicing once a day can be a more convenient and appealing way of getting more produce into people’s diets instead of sugar and fat.
“There are certain fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, nuts, and other foods that help boost your liver function,” explains Dr. Reau. “If people start consuming more of these foods through green juices, we could see fewer cases of liver disease in America.”
Related: Try A Vegan Diet Cleanse For A Week
Liver Detox Recipe
There are juicing recipes for increasing your energy, brightening your skin, and boosting your immunity. If you want to cleanse your liver, Dr. Reau suggest adding the following ingredients to your next green juice:
- Spinach or Kale
- Beets
- Limejuice
- Grapefruit
- Pineapple
- Apples
- Cranberries
- Goji berries
- Brazil Nuts
- Coconut water
Now that you’re drinking your greens, you’ll be glowing from the inside out.
Nicole Glor – NikkiFItness – is a fitness expert based in NYC, author of The Slimnastics Workout, and the star of 9 fitness DVDs including her new Seasonal Affective Disorder Workout DVD. You can follow her onFacebook and Twitter and get free newsletters, music playlists, video demos and DVDs.
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