Juicing for Your Health

At a time when many investments seem shaky, juicing fresh produce is one thing you can count on to pay off in big dividends for your health.  The latest nutritional guidelines indicate that we need between 9 and 13 servings of vegetables and fruit each and every day to stay healthy, depending on age and activity level, with an emphasis on dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruit. That number seems staggering to most of us. That’s where juicing comes in. Juice up a 12-ounce glass (that’s one tall glassful), and you’ll be drinking two servings in a few gulps. However, meeting the recommended servings is only the beginning of the benefits you’ll receive.

Fresh juice provides your body with easily absorbed amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, biophotons, and phytonutrients, making it far superior to juice in a bottle, which has been pasteurized. It’s loaded with antioxidants that help your body detoxify a myriad of toxins. For people with cancer or any other disease, this is very important in that it helps to detoxify drugs, chemicals, pollutants, and acids that interfere with the healing process.

The nutrients fresh juice provides, such as vitamin C and beta-carotene, build the immune system and help you stave off colds and flu. Juice therapy can even turn certain conditions around. For example, a scientific study has shown that beetroot juice lowers blood pressure.¹ Other studies have shown that cabbage juice heals ulcers,² and cranberry juice is effective in the treatment and prevention of urinary tract infections.³ 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.⁴ And 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.⁵

It was the hope of reversing an illness that prompted me to start juicing years ago when I had severe chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Within three months of starting my juice regimen and healthy new diet, I was well and full of energy.

Increased energy is something people often mention after they start juicing regularly. Fresh juice helps to boost energy because it’s already broken down when it enters the body, making it very absorbable. Because the body doesn’t have to work hard on breaking down the veggie and fruit juice, all those nutrients are at work in your bloodstream in a relatively short time. This factor also makes fresh juice an excellent choice if you have trouble with digestion. It can mean the difference between adequate nutrition and falling short.

Juicing is an excellent weight loss helper as well. Because it’s nutrient dense, it helps the body feel satisfied quickly. Cravings often diminish soon after starting a juicing regimen. But that’s not the only reason it’s helpful in shedding extra pounds. To start off, vegetables are very alkaline. (I recommend juicing mostly vegetables to avoid too much fruit sugar.) The majority of the American diet, such as muscle meats, dairy, grains, some fruit, sweets, alcohol, coffee, and black tea, is acidic or turns acidic when digested. The body will store acid in fat cells and even make fat cells in which to store acids so they don’t harm delicate tissues. When you drink alkaline-rich juices, there’s plenty of alkaline buffer and the body can let go of acids and fat cells. You may be among the people who are quite surprised that weight comes off so easily when you juice regularly. Compared to difficult dieting where you fight cravings and wrestle with the refrigerator, juicing is a joy. If carbohydrate cravings are frustrating you, juice Jerusalem artichoke (also known as sun choke); it can help curb carb cravings. Add it to carrot, celery, and cucumber juice with a squeeze of fresh lemon for a delicious drink.

When cold winter days call for warming foods, add a chunk of ginger root to your juice combo. It’s not only warming, it’s loaded with zinc, which is great for the immune system. It’s also been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. And the spicy flavor is a great addition to most juice combinations such as beet, carrot, and apple juice—all great winter produce. When dreary winter days get you down, juice up some fennel with lemon, carrot, pear, and cucumber! Fennel juice has been used as a traditional tonic to help the body release endorphins (the “feel good” peptides) from the brain into the bloodstream. Endorphins help to diminish anxiety and fear and generate a mood of euphoria. When you feel like a flu bug is trying to take you down, add a couple cloves of garlic, which have natural antibiotic-like properties.

So what are you waiting for? There’s no time like the present to take care of your health by starting with a big glass of delicious, fresh juice. Here’s some of my favorite recipes:

Rawsome Veggie Juice

• 1 cup spinach, packed
• 2 kale leaves
• 1 tomato
• 3 ribs of celery with leaves
• 4 carrots, scrubbed well, tops removed, ends trimmed 1⁄2 small beet with leaves
• 1 green onion
• 1 lime, peeled if not organic

Serves 2.

Green Lemonade

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

Green Berry Delight

• 1 cucumber, peeled if not organic
• 1⁄2 apple
• 1 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries)
• 3–4 dark green leaves (collards, Swiss chard, or kale)
• 1-inch-chunk ginger root
• Juice of 1⁄2 lemon, peeled if not organic (Meyers lemons are sweeter)

Serves 2.