Fresh Juices for Health and Healing

Do you ever wonder what is so healing and health-promoting about fresh juice? Why all the excitement about juicing? I’ve devoted my life to promoting juicing because of the unique health benefits it offers. Juicing changed my life. I was very sick with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia in my 20s. There was not one medical professional that had any hope for my recovery. That’s when I went looking for answers and discovered juicing. I tried a five-day vegetable juice fast, after having heard that juice fasting was very healing. On the fifth day, my body expelled a tumor the size of a golf ball with blue blood vessels attached. I was actually shocked. My mother had died of breast cancer when I was six years old. What I was staring at looked like something that could kill me. And those blue blood vessels that looked like something had cut them…. What was that? I’ll explain more about that later. For now, my story ends well, with a complete healing of my body after three months of juicing and eating a very strict, healthy organic diet.

People that I have worked with report that they feel better, are happier, have more energy, sleep better, and look better when they juice. They have healed their bodies of everything from cancer to diabetes to heart disease. Energy has increased, cholesterol has decreased, blood pressure has normalized, pain has disappeared, and stubborn conditions that have plagued people for years vanished. At our Juice and Raw Foods Retreats, people have had a myriad of conditions healed in just one week—from arthritis, pain, and even tumors shrinking. 

A while back Teresa called me for nutrition advice because nothing had helped her lose 50 pounds of water weight she’d gained. Her health was so poor she could barely walk to her mailbox. In fact, her doctors suggested she get her affairs in order because she would probably not live. I suggested she add a glass of green juice to her good diet and drink that before each meal. In a rather short time, she’d lost the 50 pounds, was walking a mile a day, and chopping and stacking firewood. 

You may be praying for a healing miracle for yourself or a family member. In answer to your prayers, God may be asking you to make some dietary changes or help someone else make changes. Many of the illnesses people suffer are caused by poor food choices or just not getting enough good nutrition. When people stop eating the foods that make their bodies sick and adopt a healthy lifestyle including juicing vegetables, they not only give their bodies a chance to heal, but they also continue healing. When people who’ve had an illness get sick again after being prayed for and healed, it’s typically because they continued the lifestyle that made them sick in the first place. Prayer and juicing plus a healthy-diet lifestyle go hand in hand. 

There are many reasons why juicing makes a powerful difference. Following are just a few reasons: 

• Juice delivers easily absorbed nutrients—amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, biophotons (light rays of energy) and phytonutrients in a highly 
• Juice is broken down very well. It’s similar to a pre-digested food. It’s easily assimilated making it a highly absorbable food. Plus, it allows most people to consume far more vegetables than they can eat.
• Juice heals the body. Doctors at Norway’s Oslo Rheumatism Hospital found that rheumatoid arthritis patients who drank fresh carrot, celery and beet juice as part of a special dietary program had a substantial reduction in disease activity.1 The Kame Project showed that those who drank juice more than three times per week (compared to less than once a week) were 76 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.2 These are among the many studies showing how vegetable juice has helped people heal from a variety of ailments. 
• Juice is very alkalizing. Many people are too acidic, which prevents healing. The majority of the foods Americans eat are acid-forming such as meat, dairy, sweets, coffee, and grains, but juice is extremely alkaline, so it helps restore pH balance. 
• Juicing encourages weight loss. Acids act on your tissues like a meat tenderizer on a New York strip. Your body will do whatever it can to protect your delicate tissues and organs; therefore, it will store acids in fat cells. It will even make more fat cells for storage if needed. When you begin alkalizing your body with delicious juices, your body can let go of the acidic fat stores. 

Six Reasons Why Vegetable Juicing Is Important In Healing and Preventing Cancer

1. Juices are easy to absorb; they are broken down so well that they become an infusion of nutrients that get right into your cells helping you correct nutrient deficiencies.
2. They offer biophotons that feed the mitochondria of the cells that produce ATP—our energy fuel.
3. They are rich in antioxidants, which helps the body detoxify.
4. Juicing helps to liberate key nutrients from the tough plant cell walls so you will receive the most nutrition you can.
5. Juicing helps you get more cancer-fighting nutrients than you can eat.
6. Juices are rich in cancer-fighting phytochemicals;  According to research, people who regularly ingest a variety of phytochemicals have the lowest incidence of cancer and other diseases.

Following are some the top superhero juices that fight cancer head on:

Carrot Juice

Carrots are loaded with carotenes—antioxidants that bind toxins and carry them out of your body. One of carrot’s phytonutrients, known as polyacetylenes, has been found to inhibit colon cancer cells. The research findings suggest an interaction between carotenoids and polyacetylenes.3 Another study suggests carrot juice may offer an excellent source of bioactive chemicals for the treatment of leukemia.4 Carrot juice also offers falcarinol, an antioxidant that has proven anticancer properties.5 Researchers in the UK and Denmark reduced cancerous tumors by one-third in mice and rats with lab induced cancers utilizing carrot juice. 6

Celery Juice

Celery juice has been found to be effective in killing ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, breast, liver and lung cancer.7 Its flavonoids apigenin and luteolin combat free radicals. Apigenin was found to inhibit the initiation, progression and metastasis of tumors.8 It interferes with molecular signaling, decreasing the production of chemicals needed by cancer cells. Apigenin has also been found to inhibit angiogenesis, thus depriving tumors of blood, oxygen and nutrients they need to survive.9 I said I would discuss those blue blood vessels that were attached to the tumor my body expelled at the end of my juice fast. Angiogenesis is the word science uses to describe those blood vessels the body forms to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tumors. It’s that supply that we want to cut off to cancer cells. And a number of phytonutrients in vegetables and fruit have been shown in studies to cut off those blood vessels. It was that phytonutrient action that I saw right before my eyes. I believe I’m here today because of that juice fast.

Kale Juice

This mighty green cruciferous vegetable has been shown to lower your risk of getting cancer. Its Isothiocyanates have been identified as having the most benefits. It also offers impressive support for detoxification. There are forty-five different flavonoids that help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the body. Kale is also rich in glucosinolates; which, when they are broken down, stimulate cell death in tumors.

Watercress Juice

Watercress is rich in isothiocyanates. Extracts of watercress are shown to prevent DNA damage. Watercress reduces levels of a growth factor that promotes tumor development. Nasturtiin, a phytonutrient in watercress, is the precursor of phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), which stops phase I enzymes found in the liver. Why should you care about too many ‘phase 1 enzymes?’ These enzymes are known to activate many carcinogens, which trigger cancer cell growth.

Want a Happier Mood?

In one analysis of the eating habits and moods of 80,000 British adults, the researchers at Dartmouth and the University of Warwick found that people who consumed the most fruit and vegetables each day rated themselves as significantly happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who ate fewer amounts. When researchers looked at the numbers, they discovered that the well-being score for people who ate 7-8 servings of vegetables and fruit per day was consistently three points higher than for those who ate little or none.10

Eating fruit and veggies also perked up college-age young people.  A study of 281 adults with an average age of 20, conducted at the University of Otago, New Zealand, showed that those who had the highest daily intake of fruits and vegetables said they were happier, calmer and more energetic than those who ate less. Even better, the healthy foods left a beneficial carryover. Participants who ate the most produce reported that their positive feelings lasted to the next day.11  Now that’s a desirable “hangover!” Researchers at Duke examined the diets of 278 subjects aged 60 and over, and discovered that those with the lowest intake of fresh fruits and vegetables were most likely to suffer from depression.12

If energy, a happy mood and a calmer demeanor haven’t convinced you to include live food elixirs in your daily routine, how about looking better? New research suggests that consuming vegetables and fruit gives your skin a healthy golden tan color that was found to be more attractive than a suntan. According to the journal Evolution & Human Behavior, a study led by Dr. Ian Stephen at the University of Nottingham revealed that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables gives you more of a healthy golden glow than the sun.13

It’s 7-8 servings that really makes the difference in your health, but most people have trouble eating even five servings.  If you include juices and green smoothies daily, the servings add up quickly. Just 3/4 cup of juice equals one serving.  Drink a 12-ounce glass of fresh juice in the morning and you’re at 2 servings to start your day. Have a 12-ounce green smoothie a little later, and you’ve added 2 more servings.  Drink a juice cocktail before dinner, and you’ve added 1 to 2 additional servings. 

Which Juicer Is Best?

 I’m continually asked which juicer is the best? Cold press, also known as masticating, and centrifugal are the two types of juicers. The pros of cold press are preservation of more nutrients and a much drier pulp, which is a big savings when it comes to your produce bill. The drawbacks include a smaller spout so you have to cut produce into smaller pieces, which takes a little more time to make juice. The pros of the centrifugal juicers are a wider spout so you don’t have to cut produce into smaller pieces; therefore, it saves time. The drawbacks include a much wetter pulp and more money spent on produce. You also want to make sure your juicer is easy to clean. The other type of appliance that gets confused with a juicer is a super blender such as the VitaMix. Blenders keep everything in one container, which makes a smoothie, not a juice. My favorite juicer to date is the Nama J2 juicer. It yields a very dry pulp. I’m saving a lot on my produce expenses. It’s easy to clean and use, and you don’t have to stand and feed in produce. Chop it up, place it in the upper container, turn it on, and walk away. It juices for you. But no matter which juicer you choose, the very best one is the one you will use everyday.

Your Wellness Journey

I encourage you to give juicing a try. You’ll never know how good you can feel or how your body can heal, unless you give juicing a try. There are many aspects to wellness, but no matter what modalities you choose, make juicing a part of your journey

Juice Recipes

The following are three delicious juice recipes to get started.  And just in case you’re a bit confused, juice is different from blended drinks (aka smoothies) in that the fiber is separated from the clear juice.  This makes it very easy to absorb and goes right into your system to energize your body.

Green Lemonade

• 2 apples (green is lower in sugar) 
• 1⁄2 lemon, peeled if not organic
• 1 handful of your favorite greens like kale or chard

Cut product to fit your juicer’s feed tube. Juice all ingredients and stir. Pour into a glass and drink as soon as possible. Serves 1.

Berry Delight

• 1 cucumber, peeled if not organic
• 1⁄2 apple
• 1 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries), fresh or thawed if frozen
• 3–4 dark green leaves (collards, Swiss chard, or kale)
• 1-inch-chunk ginger root

Cut product to fit your juicer’s feed tube. Juice all ingredients and stir. Pour into a glass and drink as soon as possible. Serves 1.

Happy Mood Morning Blend 

Rather than coffee, why not wake up your body with an energizing, delicious juice? 

• 4–5 carrots, scrubbed well, tops removed, ends trimmed 4 dark green leaves, such as chard, kale, or collards
• 2 ribs of celery with leaves
• 1 large cucumber, peeled if not organic 
• 1 lemon peeled, if not organic 
• 1-inch-chunk ginger root 

Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube. Juice ingredients and stir. Pour into a glass and drink as soon as possible. Serves 2. 

Recipes are from The Juice Lady’s Big Book of Juices and Green Smoothies