Grapefruit* and Mint Juice
Today, during a rather intense (as in a lot of cardio!) tennis match, a girlfriend gave me a HUGE Silver Lining when she introduced me to Grapefruit and Mint juice. She was telling me that it is her new favorite morning treat and that when she drinks it, she feels amazing!
Well, I decided that it would be a much better option than Gatorade and stopped on my way home from tennis to buy the ingredients – two grapefruit. Fortunately, mint grows like crazy at our house (i.e., I can’t kill it!).
You can’t believe how easy it is:
- Juice 2 pink grapefruit. I use my ancient Oyster juicer (see photo). Actually Suddenly Seven uses it because she loves to juice.
- 1/2 cup of mint leaves
- Blend the juice, mint leaves and a handful of ice and voilà.
There are some wonderful Silver Lining health benefits of grapefruit:
- Immune function. Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C & A, vitamins that helps to support the immune system. Vitamin C-rich foods like grapefruit may help reduce cold symptoms or severity of cold symptoms
- Vitamin C also prevents the free radical damage that triggers the inflammatory cascade, and is therefore also associated with reduced severity of inflammatory conditions, such as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Anti-cancer. The rich pink and red colors of grapefruit are due to lycopene, a carotenoid phytonutrient. Lycopene appears to have anti-tumor activity. Among the common dietary carotenoids, lycopene has the highest capacity to help fight oxygen free radicals, which are compounds that can damage cells.
- Lower cholesterol. Grapefruit contains pectin, a form of soluble fiber that has been shown in animal studies to slow down the progression of atherosclerosis.
There are also great benefits to consuming mint:
- Help with nausea and headaches. I consumed a fair amount of mint water when I was so sick…and now anytime I have even the slightest hit of a headache or nausea, I always make hot water with mint leaves.
- Did you know that Mint is considered a natural stimulant, and the smell alone can be enough to charge your batteries and get your brain functioning on a high level again? I didn’t know this until today, but it makes sense because I always feel better when I include mint in my day! So, if you are feeling sluggish, anxious, depressed, or simply exhausted, mint and its derivative essential oils can help.
- Alertness. A recent study showed that that mint has on alertness, retention, and cognitive function.
Hope you enjoy this treat as much as I am!
* As an aside, sometimes Grapefruit can adversely interact with medications. Annoying, I know. But true. As always, be sure to talk with your doctor about what foods or complementary therapies could counteract your medications.
…just an FYI you might want to include with this recipe is that with some drugs (a few I'm taking) advise that grapefruit is contraindicated. Huh? Who knew? But I'm one of those OCD types who reads allll the fine print when I have new meds. The grapefruit no-no was listed in the miniscule print and when I read that, ummm, let's just say I didn't take it well. I LOVE grapefruit, especially the Texas Red variety and sigh disconsolately whenever I pass it in the market. So you might want to tuck an asterisk into this recipe.
Have pre-ordered your book and about the same time, snapped to the fact that Elizabeth Messina is an old friend of my daughter's from said daughter's Montecito sojourn. These days, it seems that 6 degrees of separation is closer to 2.
I really appreciate your note, Joie and will do so now.
How amazing to hear about the small-world connection. Amazing.
THANK YOU for pre-ordering the book. It means so much to us both!