Can You Juice Leafy Greens?

Juicing involves more than just apples and oranges. Many vegetables, including leafy greens, are excellent to juice. Not only are leafy greens healthy to juice, they are quite easy to juice. In fact, it’s very common to see leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and even parsley and wheatgrass in juice bar offerings.

So, the basic answer is yes, you can juice leafy greens. They are healthy, easy to juice, combine well with many fruits and vegetables, and it’s also a great way to get nutrients into your diet.

What Leafy Greens Can You Juice?

For the person who has never juiced leafy greens before, the decision as to what leafy greens to pick to juice might seem difficult. But it’s quite easy. There are some basic and popular leafy greens that everyone who makes green juice will know about. These popular leafy greens to juice include:

• Kale
• Spinach
• Wheatgrass

With those three leafy greens, you have a great foundation for making healthy green drinks. In fact, I think that you could use only kale or spinach and wheatgrass in your green juices and have everything covered. Kale and spinach are two leafy greens that are pretty similar in health benefits. So, it is often a comparison of how they taste and then it’s a personal preference.

Wheatgrass is something that everyone who has been in the juicing world long enough will know about. It’s one of the most discussed and studied leafy greens in the health food world. I’ll link to some scientific studies at the bottom of the page if you’re interested in reading some of the data on wheatgrass and juicing.  Suffice to say, it’s a popular leafy green to juice. That said…it’s very pungent and if you are planning on juicing wheatgrass make sure to not overdo it the first time and end up getting turned off it forever! Start slow and use lemons to mask that flavor.

There are other leafy greens that you can juice, such as beet greens, but for all intents and purposes, kale and spinach and wheatgrass will have you covered.

 

What Leafy Greens Should You Not Juice?

There are some exotic types of greens that you might encounter that could have negative health effects. That’s why I stick to juicing kale,spinach,wheatgrass and sometimes parsley.

Some leafy green tops such as the greens you see on carrots and tomatos have been long considered something you should not eat. Basically, they contain a chemical compound that can cause an upset stomach. Alkaloids in tomato leaves and carrot leaves are there to protect the plants from animals and insects that would otherwise want to eat them. These alkaloids are toxic to insects, and in a much less severe way, they are toxic to humans.

So, steer clear of toxic leaves from tomatoes and carrots. I’d also suggest that you not juice certain herbs as these can be intense and by juicing them, you might over do it.

What’s The Reason To Juice Leafy Greens?

So, why exactly would you want to juice leafy greens to begin with? I figured that it’s a good idea to answer this question before finishing up. So, why exactly should you juice leafy greens anyway? And what exactly are leafy greens as opposed to greens?

First, let’s look at the terminology. Greens usually refer to leafy greens. So, for instance, even though cucumbers and granny smith apples are green, people don’t refer to them as greens. When you are discussing greens, what people are referring to are things such as lettuces, kales, spinach, collards, and the like.

These are packed with super nutrients that you are not going to find in other vegetables or fruits. At least in the same amounts. For example, lutein (a powerful antioxident that protects your eyes from macular degeneration) is found in kale and spinach and almost no other food source. You’d have to eat lots of egg yolks  (the only other food source) to get it.

And juicing leafy greens provides you with all of the benefit without the trouble of eating a ton of fiber. And don’t get me wrong. Fiber is not bad. Everyone needs to have fiber in their diet. But there is a limit at which point fiber is overkill.  And you won’t be able to get all of the nutrients from leafy greens (at least not in the high amounts that are considered therapeutic).

So, by juicing leafy greens you are removing the bulky fiber and isolating the nutrients into the juice. You still get some fiber (that’s one of the benefits of juicing at home…you get healthy soluble fiber) but it’s not too much and you won’t get the bloating and gas that eating several salads might give you.

And there are a ton of health benefits besides protecting your eyes! People drink green juice made from leafy greens for all sorts of ailments. Heart health, cancer prevention, Alzheimer prevention, lowing blood pressure. The list goes on and on.

Should You Mix Fruit With Leafy Greens?

It depends on what leafy greens you’re planning on juicing, but overall, I certainly think that it’s fine to mix fruit. There is nothing bad about mixing fruit with greens, aside from some weird taste combos! There used to be some old adage that you should not mix fruits and vegetables, but that’s been tossed aside and most people, myself included, make juices using a mixture of fruit and vegetables.

Whenever I make a leafy green juice I always add some sort of fruit. Honestly, I cannot recall the last time I made a pure vegetable juice without either a lemon or apple.

Fruits can help make a juice more palatable. Also, fruits are healthy in and of themselves, so you should not think that you’re just drinking the lemon or apple juice in order to be mask the flavor of the leafy greens! Lemon oil (which you will get if you use organic lemons and juice their skin) has great anti-bacteria properties, for instance. And apples help with blood pressure.

 

Can You Juice Spinach Raw?

Yes. In fact, you only want to use raw spinach. You shouldn’t juice any cooked leafy greens, including spinach. There is only one benefit to cooking spinach or kale and that is the removal of some of the oxaliac acid. However, you are also destroying much of the healthy enzymes and vitamins when you heat the spinach.

I suggest juicing spinach raw, but not drinking too much! You don’t need to juice 8 ounces of spinach juice day. That’s too much. Simply add handful of spinach ( i use baby spinach, organic if at all possible).

The thing with spinach is that it’s got an earthy flavor. So even if it wasn’t something that you wanted drink in moderation due to the nutritional profile, it’s just not that flavorful!

I would suggest mixing a cup of spinach with a green apple,some celery and then a bit of ginger or a half a lemon.

Can You Juice Kale Raw?

Yes, you can and like spinach, I only suggest that you juice raw kale. It’s the same story as the one with Spinach. Kale and Spinach both have oxaliac acid (kale has less,which is why I tend to prefer juicing kale over spinach).

When it comes time to juice kale, I like to choose dino kale (it’s also called tuscan or Lacinato). It’s easier to clean compared to curly kale. However, if you do not have access to organic dino kale, then choosing any organic kale would be my choice.

Just don’t juice too much kale. Those news reports about people who were getting sick from eating too much kale, that was because they were ingesting too much oxalic acid. Kale is great for you, but if you over do it you could get upset stomach or stiff joints.

But let’s clarify that before we move on. The people who got sick from eating kale were going kale crazy! They were blending up kale shakes morning noon and night and they were eating kale chips as a snack and just going hog crazy over kale. If you act like a reasonable person and have a leafy green drink with kale a few times a week, you’re good!

What Type Of Juicer Should You Use For Leafy Greens?

Technically, you can juice leafy greens with any juicer. So, if you already own an old standard juicer that you got at BJs or some other big box store…then you can start juicing.

But if you’re going to go out and buy a juicer and you’re doing your preliminary research, then I highly recommend that you buy an auger masticating juicer. I’ve got an entire write up with detailed information on several of the best juicers for leafy greens that you can read.

Basically, it comes down to a juicer that can squeeze out as much juice as possible. And juice it without damaging the juice. And the only juicers that accomplish that are masticating slow press auger juicers.