Juice Queen {FOOD – Evolution Fresh Juice at Starbucks}

It is somehow strangely fitting that the week I sell my Breville juicer to a friend (it was just sitting around in  my kitchen collecting dust), I become addicted to the new green juice at Starbucks.

I certainly don’t regret selling it. Juicing is way too much work and I just don’t have the time or desire to make my own… And not owning a juicer makes me enjoy the Starbucks juices even more (no guilt for buying when I could, conceivably, make my own).

The Starbucks juices are not their own brand; Sbux has partnered with Evolution Fresh to sell bottled, cold-pressed juices in Sbux stores around the city (not sure if all Starbucks are doing this or just NYC stores, to be honest).

sweet-greens-lemon-juice

My drink of choice has been the Sweet Greens and Lemon Juice. I have it for breakfast since I’m usually not that hungry in the morning (IBS = morning bloating) and actually since I started drinking these for breakfast (most of last week) the bloat has significantly improved. (Which makes me more hungry, which makes me want more than juice, ha.)

Ingredients: celery, apple, cucumber, spinach, parsley, romaine lettuce, lemon, lime, wheat grass, and clover sprouts. (The only non-fodmaps-friendly ingredient here is apple.)

At only 80 calories and 16 grams of (plant-based) sugars per bottle, I think this is a pretty healthy juice choice. The sugar content sounds a bit high, but come on – it’s juice, people – of course it’s mostly sugar. If having a juice for breakfast makes my stomach feel better I will certainly try it for a while.

The price tag is $5.95 for the bottle though I do have a reusable $1 off coupon I’ve been using (only good until the 27th). I’ll probably keep getting it for breakfast until then and reevaluate if the money is worth it.

The benefits so far of having this juice for breakfast – first, it really is helping the bloat which is huge for me. I don’t know if you have ever been plagued with constant bloat but it is miserable. I don’t want to start up into a negative, complaining rant here, so I will keep it brief, but living with a distended stomach 95% of the time is generally unpleasant, terrible for body image, frustrating when you have to wear anything but stretchy pants, and uncomfortable while working out (or doing anything really – including simply sitting at a desk). After over 8 years of living with IBS (it really hit sometime in my freshman year of college, though I’d had minor symptoms starting in middle or high school) I *still* haven’t learned the best way to manage it. FODMAPs honestly does work, but I am so bad about being strict enough – too many lists to memorize, and very difficult to eat anything without first checking online to see if it’s an “OK” food. (Yes I should dedicate a month to figuring this out. No I don’t know when.) Second benefit, it’s delicious!

The cons of having juice for breakfast – it’s pricey and it’s not that filling. Though “not that filling” is kind of a pro because I generally have my biggest meals of the day for lunch and dinner and I don’t enjoy having a large breakfast.

I have juiced in the past and the Evolution Fresh recipe is close to what my favorites always were – lots of greens, about 1/2 an apple, lots of lemon, plus ginger (Evolution is missing the ginger). Here are some of my faves (I love looking down memory lane – most of these posts are from the summer of 2009 when I was out in Cali).

There you have it.

Will you try Starbucks’ green juice (they have other Evolution Fresh juices, too, by the way – not only green juices)? Are the Starbucks near you selling these juices?

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