Complete Protein Raw Green Juice

Living a raw foods lifestyle, there’s definitely no shortage of people asking me “where do you get your protein from?” There’s so much misconception and socially engrained myths about protein, concerning quantity, quality and source of protein and especially about complete vs. incomplete proteins. That’s why I wrote this article series answering your questions about protein to help clarify these many misconceptions surrounding the overcomplicated topic of dietary protein.

Most people don’t know that the simple combination of cucumber and celery makes a complete protein – they have a complimentary amino acid profile. But it’s not imperative, like most believe, to eat complete proteins at every meal – not even in every day – as long as we eat a varied plant based diet, we get all the necessary protein that we need. This is repeatedly being shown with the trend of top athletes transitioning to plant beased diets and experiencing immense success in their athletic careers. I’m even going to dare to say that eating animal based proteins could quite possibly have more harmful rather than beneficial effects on your health. I know! Crazy right? We only need about 5%-10% of our calories to come from protein, and ironically enough, this is the range that almost all fruits and vegetables fall into.

I call this juice “Complete Protein Green Juice” to let you know that there’s protein in all fruits and vegetables. This green juice is easy to make and is simply delicious.

Essential Kitchen Equipment

For this Complete Protein Green Juice all you need is a juicer, one of the top four essential raw food kitchen tools.

Raw Ingredients

Wash each of the following organic ingredients and cut them up small enough to fit through your juicer:

1/5 bunch celery
1 apple
1 bunch kale
1 large cucumber

You can make as much juice as you like! This one’s super delicious!

Health Benefits of the Complete Protein Juice

This juice is extremely alkalizing and hydrating to the body. Celery and cucumber are very alkalizing and kale offers the rich benefits of chlorophyl. This green juice will help stimulate bowel movements, cleaning out the colon and help the body detoxify itself.

Health Benefits of Apples

Apples are a great source of potassium, B vitamins and vitamin C. Make sure to buy and eat organic apples and eat the skin because that’s where the pectin is, a type of fibre. In a 2008 study, researchers at the University of California-Davis concluded that apple pectin is an antioxidant and can lower cholesterol levels, reduce and prevent gallstones, promote a healthy digestive tract and regulate blood-sugar levels.

Health Benefits of Cucumbers

Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need to stay healthy on a daily basis. Cucumber contains vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. Proteins comprise 11% of total calories in cucumber.

Health Benefits of Celery

You may be surprised to hear that celery has 18 amino acids and protein comprises 17% of total calories. It’s pretty incredible to see how much protein the plant based foods actually have. It is also a good source of riboflavin, vitamin B6, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, pantothenic acid, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, and a very good source of dietary fiber, folate, potassium and manganese. It’s also a great natural source of sodium, essential when you completely eliminate salt from the diet.

The Health Benefits of Kale

Kale ranks in at 16% of calories from protein and is extremely mineral dense, offering a wide mineral and amino acid profile. It’s also a great source of chlorophyl, and dietary fibre.

Are you surprised to find out how much protein plant based foods have to offer? Hopefully this information will help to dispel the myth that plant based foods offer ‘inferior’ protein quality. As I’ve mentioned, they provide the exact range of protein that our bodies are designed to require.

Have a beautiful day,

Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii,

Laura Dawn