leafy green juice for muscle

Fresh Vegetable Juice For Muscle Recovery: Post-Workout Green Drinks?

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Step into any GNC or Vitamin Shoppe and you will see an enormous amount of products designed for post workouts. There are a ton of shakes, powders, pills, and bars that you can opt for. Most of these are centered around the intake of protein and, for people who are really involved in the muscle building, weight lifting, serious gym routine, carb intake as well. That’s why you see big containers of dextrose lining up on the shelves. The intake of protein and carbs (in the form of dextrose since it’s believed to be the most easily and quickest absorbed) is well documented and discussed and analyzed over and over.

However, there is less discussion about drinking vegetables juices. Some people do drink a glass of fruit juice in order to spike their carbs but there are other reasons that you might want to drink fresh juice and not just fruit juice.Some people even go so far as to eating candies after they workout (a popular one are the classic pixie sticks since they contain dextrose which is the most popular form of post workout sugar). However, people who are lifting weight but still want to live a healthy life and not eat a ton of sugar in an form should look at other post-workout drinks and meals.

 

Fresh Green Juice Post Workout: Benefits

Post workout your body is recovering from the heavy stress that you put it through in the gym. This includes everything from hitting the weights super hard to running on the treadmill. If you hit the gym hard, then your body needs help to recoup. This can be in the form of protein powders (which are necessary and you should definitely check out some of the best protein powders as a vegetarian) but also with respect to nutrients and sleep.

The benefit to drinking green juice, especially in the form of fresh leafy greens (such as the most popular spinach or kale or even parsley–not too much parsley, though) is enormous. You shouldn’t confuse ingesting protein post workout with recovery drinks. There are issues that help with recovery that have nothing to do with protein.

 

Antioxidants In Green Juice To Fight Inflammation and Stress

The big things to consider are the amount of antioxidants that you ingest. Whenever you breakdown your muscle fiber, it creates stress to your body. Part of the repair process involves ingesting quality protein powder (or protein in any form) but another aspect will involve making sure you get enough anti-oxidants that help your body recovery. You don’t want to languish in an ever recurring cycle where you get exhausted and tired and fail to see progress. Antioxidants have been shown to have enormous positive results on recovery.

The amount of nutrients that you get in a normal day  (unless you eat a tremendous amount of green salad) is not going to be sufficient to help you post workout. You will want to make a drink that is rich in antioxidants and which will aid in preventing muscle damage, as well as long lasting stress. The increase in stress that working out creates can, if unaided by enough sleep and proper nutrients, create an increase in cortisol. If you have an increase in cortisol, then you are going to have a decrease in testosterone. So, it is best to try and limit cortisol production which is done by limiting stress.

Vegetable juice, leafy greens in particular, are fantastic at lowering stress by giving your body as much nutrients as you can get. Limiting the fiber and sticking to the liquid allows you to intake a huge amount of vitamins. Fiber is great and necessary, but it doesn’t have the vitamins or antioxidants that you need post workout.

 

Should You Add Fruit To Green Juices?

 

That’s a popular question and one that many people consider a preference. However, there are some fruits which you should consider adding to a fresh green juice if you are going to be drinking it after a workout. Namely pineapple. The reason has more to do with what is in the pineapple as opposed to the flavor.

Yes, it’s true that pineapple makes green drinks  taste better, but the reason that you will want to get the benefit from the enzymes that the pineapple has that help fight inflammation. This is why adding a few slices of fresh pineapple to your leafy green drink. A great mix would be to take a few sprigs of parsley, some pineapple, a bunch of either kale or spinach, and then juice it up in your auger juicer. You can add a lemon (make sure to always use organic lemon since you want to juice the lemon skin).