What good is kale with heightened levels of antioxidants if we don’t eat enough to get those benefits? We can drink our kale by juicing it along with a variety of nutritious, organic vegetables and get most—though not all—of the benefits of a bowl full of raw veggies. Champion makes a fine juicer, as does Acme Juicerator. Right now I’m using one made by L’Equip of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania.

 

Whenever possible, the vegetables are from my own garden. When they’re not, I get them at Whole Foods or at Oliver’s, a local chain of excellent, organically oriented markets in Sonoma County, California. I will not juice conventional vegetables because they may contain harmful agricultural chemicals.

 

My daily juice regimen is about two-thirds of a quart to a full quart of the juice of these raw vegetables: carrots, red beets (with the tops if they’re in good, fresh shape), parsley, kale, spinach, celery, and Swiss chard. These vegetables are full of enzymes that start to disintegrate right after juicing and exposure to air, so I drink my juice immediately after making it. Maybe it’s my imagination—or maybe not—but I feel enormously energized after slugging it down. It’s surprisingly sweet and delicious and chock full of phytonutrients, including carotenoids.