Green Juice Recipes for Weight Loss: A Cucumber-Celery Juice

Start with good cucumbers and the rest is easy. Of all the green juice recipes for weight loss, this one is the simplest: 300 g of cucumber juiced with celery, spinach, apple, lemon and ginger makes one big glass of about 172 calories. Studies we read do not show that juice alone helps you lose weight.

This is a green juice you can make in ten minutes, in one glass, with nothing you cannot find in an ordinary shop. Below you will find the recipe, the numbers from USDA data, the swaps, and the honest answer to the question behind the search: does green juice help you lose weight?

Green juice versions at a glance

Version	What it adds	What studies show	Main caution
This recipe (cucumber, celery, spinach, apple)	About 172 calories and 40 g of carbohydrate per glass (USDA)	No study of this juice found	Spinach contains vitamin K (MedlinePlus)
Cucumber, celery and lemon only	Fewer calories, no apple	No study of this juice found	Same as above, without the spinach
Blender version, strained	Same ingredients plus water	No study found	Same as the main recipe
Juice replacing meals ("cleanse")	Fewer nutrients than a meal	No study of a juice cleanse found	Not a substitute for meals

Calories are from USDA FoodData Central and are estimates.

What goes in the glass

Cucumber and celery are the base: mostly water, so they give plenty of juice for few calories. Baby spinach brings the green colour and a mild taste. The green apple adds a little sweetness so the juice does not taste like a salad, and the lemon and ginger give it a fresh edge. Wash everything well and keep the cucumber unpeeled if the skin is clean, because the peel is part of the colour.

Want it with less sugar? Leave the apple out and add a second stalk of celery. Want it greener? Add a handful of parsley. Want to bring in protein? Our high-protein shake is a better place for that, because a vegetable juice has almost none. If caffeine is what you are tracking in your other drinks, our matcha vs coffee guide compares the two.

How to make simple green juice at home

The recipe card above has the steps. Two details make the difference. Feed the leaves in first and push them through with the wetter pieces, or the juicer leaves them half-dry. And stir the lemon in at the end, off the machine, so it stays bright. Drink it fresh; it tastes best in the first half hour.

No juicer? The blender method in the notes works well: blend with a little water and strain. The result is a thinner juice, and the water adds no calories.

Healthy green juice: what is in a glass

One glass of this recipe has about 172 calories, 40 g of carbohydrate, 5 g of protein and 1 g of fat, according to USDA data for the whole ingredients. Juicing removes the pulp and some of the fiber, so the juice in your glass will differ somewhat from these figures. Most of the calories come from the apple, which is why the apple-free version is lighter.

For fiber, eat the vegetables whole on other days of the week: our guide to high-fiber foods has plenty of ideas.

Green juice recipes for weight loss: what studies say

We searched PubMed for trials and reviews on vegetable juice and weight and found no study of a green juice recipe like this one. What we found is a handful of trials where vegetable juice was one part of a larger plan:

• A 2025 randomized trial in adults with overweight or obesity in Ulaanbaatar (PMID 39924530) gave vegetable juice together with monitoring of dietary biomarkers. The authors suggest the combination improved dietary habits and metabolic syndrome components, including waist circumference. The study did not look at juice alone.
• A 2010 randomized trial in people with metabolic syndrome (PMID 20178625) gave a low-sodium vegetable juice alongside DASH diet counseling. The authors conclude that vegetable juice can be a simple way to add vegetable servings to the day.
• A 2005 trial of a high-vegetable, fruit and fiber, low-fat diet in women previously treated for breast cancer (PMID 15309460) found diet changes toward more plant foods, but no difference in weight or body composition between the groups. This was a whole-food diet, not juice.

So the honest summary is that juice can help some people eat more vegetables, and the trials do not show that juice alone changes weight. A glass that replaces a sugary drink may help you cut calories, but we cannot promise any result. If you want something that keeps you full between meals, our high protein snacks for weight loss are a better place to start.

Green juice recipes to lose belly fat: what to expect

We found no study showing that a juice reduces belly fat, and the same goes for any single food. The word "belly" sells juice, but a drink cannot choose where the body loses fat. If your goal is weight, a steady eating pattern, vegetables you enjoy and enough protein are better places to put your energy.

Tips for a better glass

• Chill the produce first. Cold cucumber and celery give a cooler, fresher juice with no need for ice.
• Choose a tart apple. A green apple is less sweet than a red one, so the juice tastes greener.
• Juice the ginger between softer pieces. A small piece goes a long way, and the next piece pushes its flavor through.
• Clean the juicer right away. Pulp dries fast and is hard to remove later.
• Save the pulp. Stir it into soup, pancake batter or a smoothie so it does not go to waste.

Kerth made this juice exactly as written and found it delicious and easy. It came out a little watery for Kerth, who would make it again.

Variations on the base recipe

• Lighter: cucumber, celery and lemon, no apple.
• Greener: add parsley or a few mint leaves.
• Spicier: use 20 g of ginger instead of 10. See our ginger tea and ginger water recipe for what research says about ginger.
• Pear instead of apple: a softer, rounder sweetness.

Safety: who should be careful

Spinach and other green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K. MedlinePlus says that if you take the blood-thinning medicine warfarin (Coumadin), vitamin K or foods containing it can affect how the medicine works, and that sudden changes in vitamin K consumption can change its effect. If you take warfarin, ask your health care provider before making green juice a regular habit.

A juice cleanse that replaces meals is not what this recipe is for. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or take medicines, talk to your health care provider before changing how you eat.

Storage

Drink the juice fresh. If you have some left, keep it covered in the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below (USDA cold food storage chart). We found no official shelf life for homemade juice, so our rule of thumb is to finish it the same day. The USDA says not to leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it is above 90°F.

Where the numbers come from

• Nutrition: values come from USDA FoodData Central for each ingredient: cucumber, celery, spinach, apple, lemon juice and ginger root. They are estimates for the whole produce.
• Studies: a PubMed search on October 22, 2026 for trials and reviews on vegetable juice and green juice with weight, satiety and obesity. We read the conclusions and cite only what they say.
• Vitamin K and warfarin: we read the MedlinePlus page on vitamin K on October 22, 2026.