JUICE FOR
THE
HEALTH OF IT
I began juicing about 1996.
When I bought a computer and discovered the Internet, a whole new
world opened to me. At that time I wasn't a vegetarian yet, just a feeble
"wannabe". Even though I harbored a life-long desire to not participate
in the killing and eating of the animals I loved, I had never met a
vegetarian in person, and so imagined that the vegetarian lifestyle
would be one of frustration and hardship. It didn't help that I was
not fond of most vegetables.
Until I became a computer owner, my growing commitment to proper
nutrition and pursuing a healthy lifestyle made me feel like the odd-ball
in life. Exceedingly few people around me shared my interest and I was
constantly accused of being extreme. The Interntet instantly put me
in touch with a huge number of health-conscious people all over the
world, and I finally received the confirmation I needed to know
that I was most definitely not alone and not a freak.
My interest in nutrition and health naturally spurred me to join
a few discussion groups on the subject, and I met many, many vegetarians
and vegans who dispelled the myth once and for all that abstaining from
flesh is hard. It wasn't long before I "took the plunge", so to speak,
and I haven't looked back.
I also began to hear a great deal about the benefits of juicing fresh
organic fruits and vegetables. It didn't take long for my curiosity
to rise and I very much desired to buy a juicer. Money was scarce in
those days, but a friend blessed me with a nearly-new juicer she bought
for me when she was out yard-saling. Wow, was I happy!
Right away I started using it, and have been juicing 2-4 days a week
on average ever since. In the beginning I mostly juiced carrots and
apples. A cyber-acquaintance told me about carrot-apple-kale juice,
telling me it would give me a boost of energy. It did! That has been
my juice of choice ever since (recipe shown below).
>
There are many great sources of technical information about
juicing (and I will share one at the end of this page), but let me just
briefly share the reason I juice. This will be something everyone can
understand.
I replaced my multi-vitamin/mineral supplement with fresh juice.
Supplements aren't always derived from food, and even those that are
are not always easily absorbed. It is important that juice for the purpose
of supplementation be made primarily from organic mineral-rich vegetables.
Carrots and dark green leafy vegetables are excellent sources of nutrition,
including live enzymes. Because the pulp, which requires digestion,
is left behind, the nutrients from the juice can quickly enter the bloodstream
and then the body's cells. At the cellular level, that is where nutrition
counts. You may have heard the saying, "You aren't what you eat, you
are what you absorb." This is so true! Food that has to be digested,
although it may be healthful, does not deliver as many nutrients to
the cells as fresh juice does. It can't. Much is excreted from the body
without being absorbed, particularly when the digestive system has been
compromised (as is usually the case with most people who have years
behind them of not eating properly or who have been subjected to drugs
or other forms of internal abuse).
Now don't be a nut and try giving up all food in favor of fresh juice!
You still need to eat food, and always will!!!! In fact, don't even
be tempted to replace all fruits and vegetables in your diet with fruit
and vegetable juices. You still need to eat whole fruits and vegetables
daily.
Please only juice organic fruits and vegetables
whenever possible. If you insist on juicing non-organic produce, not
only will you be getting concentrated nutrients, but you will also get
concentrated levels of pesticides and herbicides, which is very
dangerous to your health over the long-term. Washing the outside of
fruits and vegetables is not enough since the agri-chemicals have contaminated
the soils the plants are grown in and thus are sucked right up into
the leaves and fruits. In addition, non-organic foods may have been
genetically engineered--a technology that defies common sense, arouses
immediate suspicion, and has not been around long-enough to bear out
consequences. One of the chief purposes for genetic engineering is to
enable the crops to withstand higher and higher levels of pesticides
and herbicides! Give me a break!!! And we wonder why cancer and birth
defects are on the rise!
Fresh organic juices will put a pep in your step. You will
feel an immediate physical and emotional "lift". My husband, who mind
you has previously downed 3-6 pots of coffee per day,
told me today that he had only one pot. He just discovered the joys
of juicing the day after Christmas 1999 and has been happily pumping
4-8 twelve-ounce glasses a day into his badly abused body. One of the
first rammifications from juicing he noticed, besides the jolt of energy,
was that a long-term skin condition (chemical exposure-induced) suddenly
began to clear dramatically. For years he has been seeing doctors
for it, and they subjected him to a miriad of drugs, creams, and ointments.
Nothing has done the trick...until now. In a matter of three weeks,
the skin on his fingers almost completely healed and became smooth,
instead of red, cracked, flaking and accompanied by pain. We figure
the effects of chemical poisoning mutated into a permanent "dermatitis"
due to the added stress of nutrient deficiency, aka malnutrition.
My recommendation is that you drink fresh organic juices several
times a week or daily. On average, I am currently juicing once a day
(4-6 ounces) about 5-7 days per week. If you can afford to juice every
day and have the time, please go for it. Your body will love it. Four
to sixteen ounces per day is good for a healthy individual. If you are
battling illness, consider boosting consumption to 1-2 quarts per day.
I don't recommend drinking more than 8 ounces in one sitting. When juicing
more than 8-ounces a day, try juicing smaller amounts two, three, or
more times a day, as needed, to get the maximum absorption and benefit.
Remember that fresh juices are not calorie-free. If you are the type
to think if some is good, more is better and go off and drink a gallon
a day, you could experience weight gain, particularly if it's mostly
fruit juice. It is a fact that if you juice a huge amount of carrots,
you could turn orange! You will not gain weight or turn orange if you
are drinking just a glass or two a day.
Fruit juices should be made as an occasional treat, as they are a
concentrated source of natural sugar. Strive toward developing a taste
for vegetable juices. I like juicing a little fruit (like half an apple,
a few chunks of pineapple, or a small handful of grapes) along with
vegetables to give the juice a more pleasant flavor.
Don't have a juicer or too lazy to juice? Canned or bottled juice
is dead juice. As far as I know there is no enzyme activity and pasteurization
has destroyed most if not all the vitamins in canned and bottled juice.
Until you can acquire a juicer of your own and the motivation to use
it, you are better off keeping your "dead juice" to a bare minimum and
concentrating instead on making the rest of your food and beverage consumption
as healthful as possible.
One more note: Drink your freshly made juice immediately. Live nutrients
begin to die as soon as the juice is prepared. There are only a tiny
number of top-of-the-line juicers who claim the nutrients live much
longer due to their juicer technology. I read about one recently--it
cost a lot of money. Hmmmmm, maybe someday!
Here's my favorite "Juice for the Health of It". I call it
the Power Boost
Drink this at least 15-30 minutes before eating solid food.
�-1 tart organic apple, unpeeled, quartered and chopped
3-5
scrubbed, unpeeled organic carrots, chopped
2 clean stalks of organic
kale, stems removed
If you haven't juiced greens before, I know it looks scary, but as
it feeds your cells it will energize you and make you feel great!
BOOKS
JUICERS
WHY JUICE?
A great article on juicing.
 
NATURAL CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY
© 1997-2002 NATURAL CHRISTIAN
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