I bought a used juicer and started doing the green juice/smoothie thing this week by trying random recipes on the Internet. You will be shocked to hear that many of them are blech. But! The other morning I made a good one. And then I picked out a pretty glass and straw and took photos of it next to an air plant in my bathroom, like so:
It had mango, spinach, pineapple, and bananas, and even Hank was into it. It’s called the Beginner’s Luck Green Smoothie if you’re game to try.
KALE CAN EFF UP YOUR THYROID? YES.
Also, my friend Molly warned me that she knocked out her thyroid by drinking juiced kale too regularly. Has this happened to any of you? I looked it up and found out that all cruciferous vegetables (kale, spinach, broccoli, and so on) can tax your thyroid. Here are some links to info, which can be summed up as “Moderation. Etcetera.”
JUICING IS NOT THAT HARD TO CLEAN UP
Also, I was afraid of juicing because of the general complaint about how hard it is to clean up afterward. It turns out that’s not a thing. My juicer is a Breville Juice Fountain, and it’s a little easier to clean than a food processor. I also have an old Vitamix blender that I was paranoid about purchasing because it’s ludicrously expensive, but I use it every day and it’s incredible. It’s a beast when it comes to blending vegetables, and it’s even easier to clean.
Mighty Girl 
My husband had kidney problems from overdoing it with green smoothies (the spinach has oxalic acid or something?).
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I actually drank spinach juice/smoothies every day for seven months for medical reasons (so fun!) and I co-sign the spinach-mango combo, it’s a winner. I also found that if I used baby spinach, instead of full-grown spinach leaves, the other fruit and veggie flavors really stood out and the spinach was a very mild (but healthy) background flavor. My favorite combo was carrot/apple/mango/spinach. Simple, usually easy to source and requiring very little prep for the Breville.
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(To clarify: I was using the spinach to regulate the amount of Vitamin K that was in my system, since I was on anti-coagulant therapy, so I was using a fairly small amount of spinach, I think 1/2 a cup of leaves, in each drink. I don’t think I’ve had any thyroid problems resulting but that’s a pretty mild dose of cruciferous…ness.)
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I usually do green smoothies because my juicer sucks and I have yet to buy one that juices greens sufficiently. But yes, I’ve heard that about kale as well! I still love the damn stuff though…moderation for sure.
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2 cups kale (or spinach), 1/2 frozen banana, 1/4 cup frozen blueberries, 2 tablespoons of flax powder, 1 scoop of Vega Vanilla Protein Powder, splash of almond milk, water. Blend it up in the Vitamix and it pretty much tastes like eating candy for breakfast.
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I figured out that I could put as much greenery into my juicer and like it as long as I put in enough sweet fruit to counter balance. With the exception of broccoli. Don’t ever try broccoli in the juicer. You will burp up stinky broccoli for the rest of your life. Carrots are also a good filler. They’re cheaper than apples and you can put four carrots to every one apple and still taste mostly apple.
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Juice nerd and endocrinologist alert – spinach isn’t cruciferous, but it can be goitrogenic (thyroid inhibiting), as can peaches. Just adding a handful of kale to a smoothie generally reduce thyroid function in most people, but if there is a family or personal history of Hashimoto’s or postpartum hypothyroidism, be judicious. I love juicing lettuce, cukes, sunflower shoots, celery, wheatgrass, and dandelion greens for my veg and lemon or other citrus. I tend to avoid a lot of fruit because I refuse to allow joy in my life. 😉
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Hey Maggie! Looks like OLO has released their new Victory Wolf formulation…if you plan to try it, would you let us know if it has the same magic as the old one? Thanks :)!
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Hi Katie! Sure thing. -M
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