Parsley Juice for Kidney Cleansing and Liver Detoxification
Parsley juice is a potent and concentrated version of all the nutrition in the herb, including a rich array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, chlorophyll and volatile oils.
Some of the best known parsley juice benefits include kidney cleansing and liver detoxification.
Ahead are two special recipes for using parsley as a natural kidney treatment and liver healer.
The first is a potent parsley juice with a combination of natural ingredients for effective detox and cleansing.
The second is a great tasting parsley, cucumber and watermelon smoothie that is especially good for flushing your kidneys of toxins.
First, a couple of precautions before using the amounts of parsley recommended in these recipes.
Potential Side Effects
Importantly, despite its many benefits, parsley juice should not be used in large amounts by pregnant women or those taking certain prescriptions. There is also conflicting advice regarding parsley for people already suffering from kidney disorders.
Some resources caution against using too much parsley, as it contains substances known as oxalates, sometimes suggested to be avoided by people with kidney problems.
On the other hand, parsley has a long history as a beneficial herb for detoxification. Both the fresh plant and dried parsley tea are often recommended for kidney infections or to help with kidney stones.
It would be best to consult a healthcare professional before using the larger amounts of the herb in these recipes if you have been diagnosed with a kidney condition.
Juicing Parsley with Detoxifying Vegetables and Fruits
Parsley juice, like most green superfood drinks, is generally considered too powerful to have on its own and is better mixed with other complementary fruits and vegetables.
Some of the best of these for kidney cleansing and liver detoxification include:
Beet
Beet or beetroot juice is an excellent cleanser and detoxifier, particularly for the liver. It is also said to purify the bloodstream and help eliminate calcium oxalate stones.
Organic Celery
Celery juice strengthens the liver and kidneys and helps to eliminate toxins. Unfortunately conventionally grown celery often has a high pesticide load so organic is definitely preferable, or scrub it with vinegar first to minimize them.
Watermelon
Watermelon juice is great for flushing the kidneys and watermelon seeds are especially beneficial for kidney stones. If this is something you’re concerned with, then look for a watermelon with the brown seeds rather than the seedless varieties.
Organic Carrot
Carrot juice is another potentl body cleanser and particularly good for the kidneys.
Carrots can absorb pesticides and heavy metals from the ground they’re grown in so they really should be organic to make this recipe as healthy as possible.
Organic cucumber
Cucumber is a diuretic that helps flush uric acid out of the body and dissolve kidney stones.
The skin is full of antioxidants but conventionally grown cucumbers have a significant pesticide load and are also usually coated with wax. If you can’t find organic cucumbers to juice you’d be better off peeling them.
Lemon
Lemon juice from a fresh lemon is an excellent cleanser and can help dissolve mineral deposits that lead to calcium oxalate stones. Lemon will also help delay oxidation of the other juices.
Parsley with a Juicer
While you could use as standard centrifugal juicer, unless it’s a particularly good one you won’t get much juice out of even a whole bunch of parsley.
In the past I’ve tried squeezing the parsley heads into a ball between two carrots, but in the end I realized a proper masticating juicer just makes more sense.
While they cost more initially, a masticating juicer is an essential item if you want to juice green superfoods like parsley, spinach or wheatgrass effectively.
They also get far more out of regular fruit and veggies, as well as keeping the heat and oxidation right down. This greatly improves both the quantity and quality of the juice they deliver.
If you are juicing greens like parsley regularly, both from a nutrition perspective, and financially in the long run, it’s well worth looking for a good masticating juicer, like this highly recommended cold press juice extractor I have in my kitchen.
Parsley Juice Recipe for Kidney and Liver Detoxification
Ingredients for 2
- 2 large or 3 medium organic carrots.
- 2 sticks of organic celery.
- 1 medium beetroot.
- 1 small or half a large organic cucumber with the peel (peel non-organic cucumbers).
- The juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons (always discard citrus seeds).
- 1 ounce of organic parsley (roughly half an average sized bunch) soaked in warm water and a dash of vinegar.
Method
- Pour lemon juice into your collection container along with a couple of ice cubes. This will help lessen the degradation of the parsley juice.
- Push all of the ingredients through the juicer, alternating between the harder carrots and beetroot with the softer cucumber and celery.
- Scrunch the parsley up into a ball and feed it through between the harder vegetables. Once again, you will get much more parsley juice out of a masticating juicer than a centrifugal one.
- Stir to mix the juice and drink immediately. It’s best to sip this parsley detoxification juice down slowly over a couple of minutes. It won’t keep and should be enjoyed straight away.
Parsley in a Blender
A well-designed blender can pulverize parsley heads up into a refreshing smoothie. In this state you’re getting all of the benefits of parsley in an easily digestible form.
Cheap ones can struggle to chop it up, but a powerful blender, like this brilliant one I’ve been using for years, will turn parsley into an extremely healthy, dark green puree.
Kidney Cleansing Smoothie Recipe
While you could chop up watermelon and juice it, it’s so high in water content that it is especially suitable for blending. The same goes for cucumber.
There are also beneficial nutrients in the seeds of both watermelon and cucumber, so if you’re not afraid of a little texture, then keep the seeds in (the better the blender the smaller these will be chopped up).
Ingredients for 2
- Half an ounce of organic parsley (less is needed than in juicing as the whole herb is used).
- The juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons (minus the seeds).
- 1 organic cucumber, diced with the peel on and seeds kept (peel first if you can’t find organic).
- As much watermelon with the seeds as you can fit into the blender.
Method
Blend all these ingredients up until you can see the parsley leaves finely pureed and the watermelon seeds chopped up into tiny pieces.
With all the watermelon in this smoothie you shouldn’t need extra liquid but you can add a splash of healthy ‘milk’ of your choice if you like. Though coconut water would be even better.
This smoothie is extremely refreshing and very good for cleaning the kidneys in particular. Watermelon doesn’t keep once blended though, so you’d want to drink it immediately for the richest supply of antioxidants and enzymes.
Recommended Treatment Time
As previously mentioned, parsley juice is quite potent. Given this, it’s best not to make it up for too many consecutive days. Even once a week will provide many benefits.
If you are doing a juice cleanse then making up the parsley juice recipe above on every second day would be highly beneficial. After the first week of treatment a week off is recommended.
After that, if you would like to continue with using parsley juice for liver detoxification and kidney cleansing, you can make it up whenever you feel your body could use some cleansing.
There’s several other healing juice and smoothie recipes for detoxification on Superfood Profiles, including this tropical fruits smoothie with papaya seeds to eliminate intestinal parasites.
I’d appreciate hearing any feedback on how you feel after making up either the parsley juice or smoothie recipe for yourself.
For a really potent combination you could first juice carrots, celery and beetroot and then add it to the blended watermelon, cucumber, lemon juice and parsley. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more potent and better tasting liver and kidney cleanser.