For Martha Stewart, author, media mogul and the first female self-made billionaire in America, waking up before 7 a.m. is the standard. At 84 years old, she starts her day with a 4 a.m. wake-up and sticks to her thorough morning routine all before her staff arrives.
“Everybody comes to work at seven, so you can’t be in bed. You have to be up and you have to show them that you’re as lively as they are at 7 a.m., so that’s what I do,” Stewart said on the Lipstick on the Rim podcast, which is hosted by Molly Sims and Emese Gormley.
Her morning routine includes reading the New York Times, completing puzzles, going to Pilates and especially having her daily green juice.
“I grow all my vegetables,” including the ones she adds to her homemade juice, Stewart said during the podcast episode. “It’s a fragrant, delicious juice.”
Here are the ingredients of Stewart’s green juice that she has every morning:
SpinachParsleyCucumbersLots of celery including its leavesGingerHalf of an orange with the peel
In 2021, she also added pomegranate juice, arugula and different types of lettuce to her green juice, she told CNBC Make It.
That’s an essential part of my everyday diet because it really does help with anti-aging.
Nutritionists and neuroscientists agree that eating green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and lettuce is key to boosting brain health.
Leafy greens are rich in B vitamins, especially B9, according to Dr. Uma Naidoo, a Harvard nutritionist who spoke to Make It in 2022. Certain conditions that affect the brain like depression and dementia have been associated with vitamin B deficiencies, a study done by researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine shows.
Green leafy vegetables are also rich in “brain-boosting nutrients” such as folate, lutein and beta-carotene, said Lisa Genova, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist.
Researchers found a connection between lutein intake and improvement in brain function for older adults. Taking beta-carotene supplements was also linked to an increase in “verbal and cognitive memory,” according to a 2023 systematic review.
Stewart’s green juice is “an essential part of my everyday diet because it really does help with anti-aging,” she said in 2021. “I don’t like the word ‘anti-aging’ — I say successful aging.”
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