Ultimate Guide: Juicing Recipes to Reduce Inflammation
Understanding Inflammation & How to Support Your Wellness
Before we dive into how juicing protects against inflammation, let’s talk about inflammation and the purpose it serves for our body.
Inflammation is one of the body’s most sophisticated defense mechanisms.
It plays a crucial and highly functional role in the body’s consistent orientation toward homeostasis and healing.
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Inflammation brings the body’s attention to a site of injury or infection so that necessary cells (typically immune system cells) can move to that part of the body to promote healing or restoration of equilibrium.
This eventually allows the body to return to its preferred state of optimal health and functionality.
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Inflammation may occur due to multiple bodily “threats” such as:
- Open wounds (a cut or graze)
- Injuries (a sprained ankle that then becomes swollen as an inflammatory response)
- Virus (inflammation may cause the familiar symptoms of fever) or disease
When inflammation is acute, it supports the body; jump-starting the process of recovery.
However, when inflammation is chronic, it becomes problematic.
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One thing we often misunderstand about inflammation is that our patterns of reacting to our lives and stress play a huge role in the presence or absence of inflammation in our bodies, just as much as the toxins we ingest.
Higher stress levels lead to higher cortisol levels. High, chronic cortisol levels register as stress to the body and stress creates inflammation.
Therefore, low-grade, chronic levels of stress lead to chronic inflammation (varying extents). The chronic presence of inflammation acts as the perfect soil for disease to take seed and progress in the body, hence the importance of taking necessary steps to manage our levels of inflammation.
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When we experience symptoms of chronic inflammation, we must pay attention to them.
It's important to evaluate what our body is trying to communicate with us.
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We can then deduce that inflammation is a call to awareness which translates into a call to action. This call to awareness is our body’s attempt to tell us that something is amiss and needs adjusting – in our diet, our sleeping patterns, our work life, our work environment, our stress levels, or daily habits that aren’t supportive of our highest expression of health and vitality.
Therefore, avoiding inflammation requires active mindfulness.
Being mindful of how the choices we make on a day-to-day basis affect us is a crucial part of minimizing inflammation.
An important consideration is what we consume daily.
What foods and beverages are we putting into our bodies?
Are they made from whole food sources that will support our health or do they contain preservatives and chemicals?
Food is a controllable aspect of our daily lives that we can change – what we eat and drink directly affects us, thus making it one of the most effective pathways to reducing inflammation.
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Luckily for us, because we can (and do) eat and drink our way into an inflammatory state, we can also eat and drink ourselves out of it.
Fruits and veggies are an invaluable way to support your journey to reducing inflammation in your body.
There are minimal risks to using a whole-food, natural approach to reducing inflammation.
On the other hand, using other synthetic means of reducing inflammation (by way of prescription medication) may have negative consequences to consider.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods to Focus On
Foods with anti-inflammatory effects on the body are, in a general sense, all fresh fruits and veggies. The wide range of polyphenols and phytonutrients found in unprocessed, thus allowing whole fruits and vegetables to facilitate decreased inflammation.
Creating your weekly grocery list just became a whole lot easier with the knowledge that most fruits and veggies will support your anti-inflammation goals!
Not only do fruits and veggies contain anti-inflammatory properties, but they also contain anti-oxidant compounds which support health. Incorporating more fresh produce into your daily life also contributes massively to establishing a healthy microbiome (gut health being the key to overall health) and impacts levels of inflammation in the body.
Even better, is that certain foods contain compounds that are used specifically for their potent anti-inflammatory qualities, thus making these food items must-haves.
A powerful way of incorporating more of these healing foods into your everyday diet is to juice them.
Vegetable-based juices that are comprised of an array of herbs, greens, vegetables, and certain fruits are one of the most efficient and effective ways of getting raw-state, healing nourishment into your body.
Talk about bang for your buck – juicing enables you to get all the nutrients of a larger quantity of fresh produce than you would during a typical meal in one glass of easy-to-gulp-down goodness.
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Below is a list of anti-inflammatory compounds along with the foods they are found in. This will help you narrow down the list of food items to add to your juicing grocery list to support your anti-inflammation goals.
If you want to streamline your juicing experience, you can sign up for a weekly juicing box delivery. With this, you will receive a box of organic, fresh, anti-inflammatory produce delivered straight to your doorstep.
Some of The Top Anti-inflammatory Compounds Are:
- Bromelain
- Carnosol
- Curcumin
- Gingerol
- Quercetin
- Anthocyanin
- Resveratrol
- Folate
- Vitamin C
A Go-To List of Anti-Inflammatory Juicing Foods:
- All berries: high in anti-oxidants and quercetin.
- Red fruits: red apples, grapes, and pomegranates - all contain quercetin, resveratrol, and sometimes anthocyanin - all of which have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
- Green leafy vegetables: think along the lines of kale, spinach, chard, arugula, and all herbs – all of these contain a rich mixture of phytochemicals and other important micronutrients that support reducing inflammation.
- Pineapple: contains an anti-inflammatory compound known as bromelain which supports health. This compound is also used to reduce muscle soreness and support muscle recovery after strenuous bouts of exercise.
- Beetroots: contains betalain (a compound that supports the body’s detoxification processes) and serve as an excellent anti-inflammatory vegetable.
- Citrus: lemon, lime, & grapefruit are particularly high in vitamin C and help to reduce inflammation.
- Ginger: contains a compound called gingerol that is beneficial for reducing inflammation.
- Celery: has been found to reduce inflammation, particularly in the digestive tract and colon.
- Cucumber: has a cooling effect on the body, along with a host of important minerals and vitamins which all work together help to reduce inflammation.
- Turmeric: contains curcumin. You can stir powdered turmeric into your juice if you don’t have access to the whole root. If you add turmeric to your juice – adding black pepper substantially helps to increase the absorption of turmeric.
Other Foods to Support Anti-Inflammation:
- Walnuts
- Avocados
- Flaxseeds
- Salmon
- Broccoli
- Coconut and coconut oil
- Bone broth
- Bok Choy (and all other dark leafy greens)
- Mushrooms
- Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, and split peas)
- Most herbal teas are also anti-inflammatory (so get some tea a-brewing!)
- Use more spices in your cooking – spices are little medicinal powerhouses.
After reading that list, we hope it becomes clear that establishing go-to juicing recipes to reduce inflammation is easier than you might have thought!
Juicing Recipes for Inflammation:
Juice Number 1: Pineapple Zinger
- Pineapple
- Spinach
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Lemon
- Ginger
- Mint
Juice Number 2: Ginger Lemonade
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Lemon
- Lime
- Grapefruit (or substitute apple if you don’t like grapefruit)
- Celery
- Coconut water
Juice Number 3: Beetroot Glory
- Fresh beetroot
- Swiss chard
- Ginger
- Lemon
- Apple
Juice Number 4: Your Ultimate Booster
- Fresh bunch of parsley or cilantro
- Spinach or kale
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Lime
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Green apple (granny smith) or pineapple
- Add a teaspoon of moringa, stir in, and enjoy!
Juice Number 5: Sunrise Surprise
- Beetroot
- Carrot
- Red apple
- Lemon
- Parsley
- Add in a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper and turmeric with a crack of black pepper and enjoy!
Our Top Take-Aways for Reducing Inflammation:
- Diet: make fresh juice, eat whole and unprocessed foods that are rich in phytonutrients, and drink herbal teas
- Sleep: prioritize getting sufficient high-quality sleep
- Mindfulness: do things in your life to actively combat stress – read a few pages before bed, take a moment to meditate, go for a slow walk in nature, connect mindfully with loved ones, take a long bath, listen to some relaxing music, do yoga, dance, and reduce stress in your everyday life wherever possible
- Eat mindfully: mindful eating is an important health topic – as it is one of the most effective ways of relieving gastrointestinal distress and supporting better absorption of nutrients
- Move your body in ways that feel good to you every day: mindful movement supports well-being in important ways
