Want to try cannabis juicing? Check out these recipes and guidelines

Spring is in the air, which means it’s time to shed our winter skin, get out into the sunshine, and burst forth with a clean, healthy body. If you want to give your body a spring cleaning, I recommend trying a seven-day “green” cannabis juice supplement.

In many different cultures, juicing has been used for centuries as a holistic method for supporting overall health and wellness. It’s only in recent years that the idea of juice “cleansing” or “detoxing” has been considered somewhat controversial in the medical community. Our body has five major organ systems in place that are naturally “detoxifying” all the time (skin, liver, kidneys, colon, and lungs). Over time, several factors can overload these systems (such as poor diet, lack of exercise, stress, and environmental pollutants), leaving them working at less-than-optimal capacity.

If you’re feeling fatigued, sluggish, or backed up, incorporating seven days of green juice into your diet can be a simple way to nourish, cleanse, and reset your systems. And if you have access to fresh cannabis leaves, you can implement them in your recipes as well!

What is green juice?

Fresh green juice is the extracts of fluid and nutrients from the solid flesh of (primarily) vegetables and some fruits. True green juice does not contain any added sugar, chemicals, or preservatives. The nutrients provided from fresh green juice are quickly digested and readily absorbed by the body. Depending on the variety of the ingredients, green juices will be loaded with vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants.

What are the health benefits of green juice?

In addition to helping cleanse your body, the vitamins and minerals in green juice provide natural energy, boost your immune system, and have anti-inflammatory effects. Fresh green juice is also an easy way to meet the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables.

The benefits of cannabis juicing

There’s no debate that more is better when it comes to eating your veggies (especially leafy greens!), so why not add fresh cannabis leaves into the nutrient-rich mix? While the exact nutrient profile of fresh cannabis will vary from plant to plant, organically grown fresh cannabis, like other leafy greens, is sure to be full of health-boosting goodness, delivering vitamins and minerals as well as anti-inflammatory benefits.

Cannabis juicing tips

If you’re planning on throwing some cannabis leaves into the mix, here are a few recommendations:

• Keep it raw! The same amount of raw cannabis that provides 500-1000 milligrams of THC-A will only provide about 10mg of THC if heated.
• Choose organic! Always choose organically grown plants that are well flushed. Any nutrients in the plant will also be in your juice extract!
• Fresh is best! Use a combination of 15-20 large fresh fan leaves, 30-40 fresh small sugar leaves, or 2 large fresh buds.
• Blend it together! For best results and taste, blend your cannabis with other fresh juiced greens and vegetables.

Recipe suggestions for 7 days of green cannabis juices

You’ll need a juicer for the following cannabis green juice recipes. Try to purchase organic produce if you can, and wash your produce thoroughly before juicing. Make sure you clean your juicer as soon as possible after using it (before the pulp starts to dry and stick to the insides of your juicer). Lastly, cold-pressed juice is the best method to maintain the integrity of the plant and retain the most nutritional benefits.

1. Basic green juice

• 5 handfuls of spinach
• 3 kale leaves
• 7 large cannabis fan leaves
• ½ cucumber
• ½ lemon
• 1 Fuji apple

2. Spicy and sweet greens

• 3 handfuls of spinach
• 5 kale leaves
• 10 large cannabis fan leaves
• 20 small sugar leaves
• 1 large cannabis bud
• 1 cup pineapple
• ½ jalapeño
• 1 cucumber

3. Super greens

• ½ head Romaine lettuce
• 1 handful spinach leaves
• 10 sprigs cilantro
• 1 green apple
• ½ lime
• 1-inch fresh ginger root
• 1-inch fresh turmeric root
• 2 large fresh cannabis buds

4. Green goddess

• 6 Swiss or rainbow chard leaves
• 2 handfuls spinach
• 1 cup green grapes
• 1 cucumber
• ½ green apple
• 1-inch fresh ginger root
• 20 fresh cannabis fan leaves

5. Unbeetable green goodness

• 1 large red or golden beet
• 1 bunch beet greens
• 1 cucumber
• 1 green apple
• 3 Swiss chard leaves
• 10 sprigs parsley
• 2 large fresh cannabis buds

6. Minty green juice

• 1 cucumber
• 1 green apple
• 15 large fresh cannabis fan leaves
• 15 sprigs of fresh mint
• ½ head Romaine lettuce

7. Green green grass

• 2 cups dinosaur kale
• 1 cup curly kale
• 5 sprigs parsley
• 2 handfuls spinach
• ½ cup wheat grass
• ½ cucumber
• ½ green apple
• 30 fresh cannabis sugar leaves

Image Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr Creative Commons