A lot of people hear the words "green juice" and have a vivid vision of drinking spinach and doing shots of wheatgrass.
That's a vision that may induce some to pretend-choke and feel no pleasure at all. Hey, green juice is definitely not a green M&M. Not everyone is naturally inclined to like greens in juice form -or any form- so if that sounds like you (or someone you know, love and are trying to help eat better) then we have your back:
Green Juice doesn’t have to taste like spinach - even if it has spinach in it.
In this post we’ll talk about:
- How to make green juice taste better without adding sugar or sacrificing nutrition
- 7 natural green juice sweeteners to make green juice more palatable
- Green juice powder: an easy alternative to get superfood green juice in your diet, without the hassle or bitter taste
- The benefits of regular green juice intake for kids and adults alike
So, why should you drink your greens?
Green vegetables owe their dark green color to chlorophyll and they’re incredibly healthy to eat given that they are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber while staying very low in calories. Green vegetables may be used to fight cancer, aging, improve the digestive system, boost the immune system, and more!
However, since we usually eat them in salads, cooked, sauteed or steamed, we’ve grown used to associating them with savory meals - meals you don’t drink.
Many people have a hard time enjoying green veggies in juice form, in fact:
28% of Americans thought green juice "looked scary” in a 2014 survey.
The survey highlighted that even though 32% of polled subjects thought “green juice is the healthiest juice option available” it was the one “they like the least.” So what can you do to make green juice taste better and be more attractive?
How to Make Green Juice Taste Better
- Sweeten it with some fruits. Most green juice recipes have apple or lime in them because the tart and sweet combination brings that ‘rabbit-food-flavor’ down a bit, which is what most green-juice-deniers dislike. However, apples are not the only fruit you can use to naturally sweeten your green juice - I have a few ideas for you later in this post!
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Make green juice, not green: Who says all the green juices of the world have to actually be green? Even if you’re drinking green juice powder or going after the benefits of celery juice, you can always mix your superfood greens with some other colorful foods. You can look to other fruits and veggies, but you can also get creative, a bit of maple syrup or your favorite nut butter can totally change the flavor of that green smoothie.
Pro Tip: cucumbers, parsley, celery, romaine lettuce, carrots, and even zucchinis have a naturally sweeter taste that makes them great bases for your green juice. Mix them with colorful and delicious fruits or vegetables that you already like, such as strawberries, blackberries, beets, and oranges to help conceal the green color and flavor.
- Avoid bitter mixes: some green vegetables are a bit bitter in taste, especially when raw. Avoid mixing two or more bitter-tasting greens in the same mix when you start.
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Pro Tip: for better results don’t mix kale, wheatgrass, spinach, dandelion, arugula, and watercress with each other, try them on their own if you’re beginning to get a taste for a healthy drink. All of these DO go well with celery juice and reap the benefits.
- Make it a meal replacement: if you add your green juice mix -or green juice powder- to a mix that has fruits, chia seeds (presoaked for thickness) or even vanilla based complete protein, you can turn the juice into a green smoothie meal replacement.
- Think outside the sweet box: we’re naturally drawn to sweeteners as a way to make a green juice mix more attractive, but you can actually have a little fun with other natural additives that aren’t sweet.
- ry mint, lime, cayenne pepper, jicama, jalapeno, ginger root, pomegranate juice, parsley or dill to make really zesty concoctions that please your taste buds!
Think of it as the Mexican Michelada or Spanish Gazpacho, most people wouldn’t add lime, salt, and spice to a beer, but they all go well together. Similarly, gazpacho is a veggie-loaded tomato juice that the Spanish consume as a refreshing summer or breakfast drink regularly. In short - keep an open mind!
7 Natural Green Juice Sweeteners to Make Green Juice More Palatable
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Bananas: Bananas are some of the easiest and most effective fruits to sweeten green juices and replace the grassy taste with a fruity one. If you’re not a fan of the banana flavor itself or find it too powerful, then cut ripe ones into four pieces and freeze them. Adding them frozen to your green juice powder mix, or green juice recipe will improve the overall taste of the drink without overpowering it with banana.
Bananas have potassium, Vitamin B6, C, magnesium, fiber, protein, and even healthy fats, so you’re just adding more good stuff to your drink.
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Dates: Whole pitted dates or date paste made out of blended and/or soaked dates, are perfect ways to candy-up your green juice. Surprisingly they are also very healthy: dates are rich in antioxidants and have potassium, manganese, magnesium, iron, and Vitamin B6 among others.
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Pineapple Fruit or Juice: Looking at the benefits of celery juice? Add pineapple to it to superpower it. Pineapple plays great with others; it’s good roasted, diced, raw, in juice, you name it - pineapple can do it. Better yet, pineapple can make any green juice taste better, fresher, and even more tropical. Mix it with coconut water for extra flavor points.
One cup of chopped raw pineapple (about 165g) has 11g of sugar, so avoid adding the whole cup: ¼ cup should be enough for an 8 oz. green juice serving. Pineapples have Vitamin A, C, fiber, sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, and more.
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Kiwi: Devilishly sweet and refreshing, kiwis are vivid green by nature, have a powerful presence in juice, and contain significant amounts of Vitamin C - a whopping 150% per 100g (almost twice the percentage in limes and oranges).
In short, they’re a quick and easy way to make your green juice yummier while adding fiber, Vitamin K, E, and folate to your drink.
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Pears: Pears add a creamy and delicately sweet touch to your green juice or green juice powder mix. The not-as-popular apple cousin has Vitamin C, K, B6, potassium, calcium, iron, riboflavin, and folate. Adding them to your mix is a sure win-win a great seasonal option when they are ripe!
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Figs: Honey-sweet but vegan approved, this fruit has a subtle hint of berry flavor and its own syrupy inside that makes it the perfect green juice sweetener. This often overlooked fruit goes well with avocado, wheatgrass, kale, spinach, and broccoli.
Figs have Vitamin A, K, C, B, potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper, and iron, so put them in the juicing menu rotation.
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Grapes or Grape Juice: Sneakily sweet, low-calorie, and truly delicious, grapes are so good they’re often used as a base for other juices and healthy drinks (like aloe-vera based ones). You’ll need at least ½ a cup for the more bitter greens, but it will be worth it.
One cup of grapes has 28% the recommended daily intake of Vitamin K, additionally, grapes have Vitamin C, B6, thiamine, riboflavin, potassium, copper, and manganese.
Green Juice Powder: a Healthy Alternative to Green Juice
If you want to get your green superfoods in for the day without chopping, juicing, and testing different sweeteners, then you can choose an easy, healthy, effective, and FDA approved alternative: Green Juice Powder.
Our juice is a unique powder blend of the most potent superfoods you need to get your recommended daily vitamin, antioxidant, and immune-system-boosting greens in a convenient package. They retain all the nutritional value, and you skip all the shopping, cutting, blending, and trial-and-error hassle of figuring out your own recipe.
Mix them with plant-based milk like almond or coconut, to make a tasty smoothie that falls on the sweet side, and all you have to do is stir with a spoon.
Why Green Juice At All?
Before we part ways, let's look at why a daily green drink is worth it.
Green fruits and vegetables may have the ability to act as a gentle diuretic, help cleanse your kidneys and detox your liver, they may also help cleanse skin, clear acne, improve digestion, help alkalize your body, reduce inflammation, and support your health with nutrients pizza, skittles, and french fries won’t give you.
It’s not just “woo-woo (we here at Organifi believe in real science).” A systematic study of numerous research papers concluded that approximately 7.8 million premature deaths worldwide could be prevented if people ate 800 grams of fruits and vegetables every day.
Now that’s about 10 portions a day, and while yes eating our greens will make mom proud and potentially stave off cardiovascular disease, cancer, aging, and other illnesses, not everyone has the time to prepare and eat so many portions a day.
The best and most efficient way to do so is to stir yourself a quick superfood drink with our Green Juice powder! That way you can get all the health benefits of this magical drink and also save time, resources, and energy.
If the grassy flavor is the only thing turning you off or scaring you away, try any of the strategies or sweeteners included in this post and stick to a routine where you just keep having a green juice every day.
Ready to get the benefits of celery juice -or any green juice- in a yummy way?
We thought so! Try one of these green juice sweetener alternatives (or our crowd-favorite, Green Juice), check your energy levels, skin, and performance in a month and let us know how it went.