Juicing

Spotlight: Juicing

Fun Food Facts: Using juice as medicine has been practiced in ancient cultures. It dates back to biblical times. Juices were promoted for healing in the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found in the 20th century in caves written by the Essenes and Jews who were well know for their vegetarian diets. In ancient India, many writings portray juices for medicinal purposes in concordance with Ayurvedic medicines.

In the 20th century, Dr. Norman Walker created the first juicer back in the 1930s. He knew the benefits of juicing. He lived until 108 years old. Remember Jack Lelanne? He is the best "in shape" old man I've ever seen. He has been referred to as "the godfather of fitness", and at the ripe old age of 98, he doesn't intend on slowing down.

Most people are not getting enough fruits and vegetables. Many people lack energy and stamina. People can reduce the risk of many diseases if they increased their fruit and vegetable consumption.

Once you get hooked on juicing, you’ll never stop. Initially, I had the hardest time to get motivated to juice. I’ve read about so many wonderful reasons why I should make fresh juicing part of my daily diet, but never really made the effort to do so.

I started off by buying fresh juice smoothies from Jamba juice. That turned out to be too expensive. I then started buying Naked Juice type products, such as carrot juice, Green Machine etc. That just wasn’t as good. It wasn’t fresh tasting and I couldn’t find organic.

I usually purchased my ½ gallon juice for $6.99 at Costco. So, upon leaving Costco one day, I stopped to watch an in-store demonstration for VitaMix blenders (these are the professional blenders that Jamba Juice uses). I watched the demonstrator quickly whip out wonderful, fantastic juices, smoothies, soups, sherbert….the list goes on. Well, guess what? I had a VitaMix blender in my closet. My husband bought me one four years ago. All I ever made with it was the occasional fruit smoothie during hot summer months. I had a treasure in my closet and didn’t even realize it. So, I whipped out the recipe book that came with it and started stocking up on fruits and veggies to make fruit and veggie drinks every day since then.

What I really like about this VitaMix is that it keeps the fiber in the drink. It’s very filling. I think it is a better choice for diabetics. It’s a blender, not a traditional juicer. No sweat if you don’t have a VitaMix, a really good blender can do the trick, or a traditional juicer has great benefits as well. Here are some reasons why you should consider making juicing/blending fresh fruit and veggie drinks part of your regular diet:

Juicing/blending is a great way to get a head start on the recommend 5-9 veggies and fruit servings per day. Also, diets high in plant based foods reduce the risk of disease: including cancer, heart conditions, and reduces obesity (as opposed to diets high in animal based foods which contribute to these conditions). For example, broccoli contains indoles that may prevent breast cancer. Citrus fruits have nutrients that make it easier for your body to remove carcinogens, thus decreasing the chance of cancer. Grapes contain a phytochemical that appears to protect each cells' DNA from damage. Similarly, a number of green vegetables contain phytochemicals that appear to offer protection against cancer.

The problem is that most Americans only eat 1-1/2 servings of veggies per day and no fruit for the most part. There is a direct correlation of the rise of cancer and the rise of chemically processed foods in place of whole, nutritious, fresh veggies and fruit. Juicing and blending fruits and veggies can help our fruit and veggie deficit.

Raw fruits and veggies provide important enzymes in our diet. Enzymes are your body's work force. They act as a catalyst in hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions that take place throughout the body. Enzymes are essential for digestion, absorption of food, and for the production of energy at the cellular level. Enzymes play an essential role in protecting our cells from damage. Enzymes are critical for most of the metabolic activities taking place in our body.

Fresh fruit and veggies are a tremendous source of enzymes. Enzymes are destroyed by heat. So cooking foods at temperatures above 114 degrees will destroy the enzymes. Therefore, lightly sautéing them or lightly steaming them is the way to go. Juicing and blending fruits and vegetables give you the opportunity to get several servings of fruits and veggies - drinking them raw, the enzymes are still viable.

Recipe Idea:
Try this with a good blender at home
Chop one inch pieces:
orange - peeled
apple - wash thoroughly - skin on
2 carrots - wash thouroughly with brush - skin on
a sliver of cabbage - about 1 inch thick - more if you like
Orange juice to cover fruit and veggies

Start blending on slow speed - then increase to high.

If you like it thinner - add more juice.