From tablets to ready-made juice, we test the best ways to get your greens
GREEN juice is big news.
So big in fact that in America on Thursday they will celebrate National Green Juice Day.
Devoting a day to it is a bit much, but drinking green juice can be beneficial.
Regular intake may ease inflammation as well as support heart and brain health.
Fresh juice might also play a role in promoting healthy digestion.
For optimal benefits, you need about 450ml per day.
Here, JANE ATKINSON looks at great ways to get your greens . . .
EFFERVESCENT TABLETS
8GREENS, founded by cancer survivor Dawn Russell, is the world’s first effervescent tablet made from real greens.
It contains spinach, kale, aloe vera, wheatgrass, blue green algae, barley grass, chlorella and spirulina.
Many drinks are made from greens powders and extracts, whereas these are real, whole greens that have been dehydrated.
The brand has just landed in the UK.
I tried the blood orange flavour.
You plop a tablet into 240ml of water and it was tasty, light, refreshing and sweet (thanks to the sweetener).
Just 15 calories per tablet and as much vitamin C as six oranges.
There is a bulking agent, sodium bicarbonate, starch, safflower oil and flavouring.
But in such a convenient little tablet you can forgive that.
Tastes like something you’d give to the kids.
A joy to drink.
From £1.11 per tablet, uk.8greens.com.
PACKED POWDER
AG1 by Athletic Greens combines 75 ingredients into one scoop for gut health, immunity, longevity, and performance.
It provides daily essential multivitamins, multiminerals, probiotics, prebiotics, functional phytonutrient (greens) blend, immune support and hormonal complexes.
The list of ingredients is huge, from apple to artichoke, ashwagandha to inulin and magnesium to wheatgrass.
Amazingly, this doesn’t taste bad.
There is vanilla and cocoa bean polyphenol extract, which makes it taste a tiny bit chocolatey.
It isn’t as pleasant as the other two but is more than just a green juice – packing a wide range of health benefits into one 240ml drink.
You need to mix a scoop of powder with water in a provided bottle and give it a good shake.
Drink swiftly or stir so you are not left with a green sludge at the bottom of the glass to contend with.
From £2.50 per serving, athleticgreens.com.
READY-MADE DRINK
B.FRESH’S Force Field is a lean, green juice made from 91 per cent green vegetables.
It contains 30 per cent cucumber, 22 per cent iceberg lettuce, 19 per cent romaine, 15 per cent spinach, five per cent kale, five per cent lemon and four per cent ginger.
Have a pile of them in the fridge and stick one in your bag for when you want breakfast on the go.
Just 33 calories in each 250ml bottle. It tastes light and refreshing, a joy to glug.
This is a cold-pressed juice made fresh, so you need to keep it in the fridge.
But the bottles last about two weeks.
These are high in vitamin K for bone health, and potassium for function of muscles and the nervous system.
Out of the three, you can’t beat this for freshness and convenience.
From £3.65 each, b-fresh.co.uk.