Why Juicing Is Helping So Many People Live Disease-Free Lives
Juicing is a fantastic way to increase our intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the more natural plant food we eat, the more vitamins and minerals we bring into our bodies and help our body maintain alkalinity.
Eating an alkaline diet is important because our blood pH level needs to stay between 7.35 and 7.45, which is slightly alkaline. It takes work for our bodies to stay balanced within this small window, and the more acidic our diet, the more we work against our body’s efforts. While the stomach should contain plenty of acid in order to do its job effectively, a slightly alkaline environment allows the body’s metabolic, enzymatic, immunologic and repair mechanisms to function at their best. When the pH of our bodily fluids, digestive system and tissues is pushed out its neutral zone, health problems and a general sluggishness results.
Excess body acidity is prevalent today because poor diet, insufficient exercise, over-exercising and chronic stress can lead to excess acid in our internal environment. When our body becomes acidic, minerals such as potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium may be stolen from our vital organs and bones to combat or buffer the acid. Excess acid can also interfere with our hormones. For example, in an acidic environment, as much as twice the amount of estrogen may be needed to exert its effects in the body. Unfortunately tumours thrive on estrogen.
Another reason that juicing is a great way to increase vitality and health and decrease disease is that it is a great way to get in more greens. Now you will know that we need oxygen to survive. I also trust that you know oxygen is not found in animal or processed foods, but it is found abundantly by way of chlorophyll in green plant foods. In fact, it is chemically related to blood – the only difference being that the main atom is hemoglobin (blood’s oxygen transporter) is iron, while in chlorophyll it’s magnesium. Chlorophyll contains a powerful blood builder that is said to increase red blood cells, improve circulation, ease inflammation (which we know promotes angiogenesis or cancer cell growth), oxygenates the body and counteracts free radicals. So by feasting on raw fruits, veggies and dark green leafy foods we fill our bodies with liquid oxygen, the single most important element keeping us alive.
By choosing to be conscious of increasing your intake of alkaline foods and decreasing your intake of acidic foods you can say good-bye to low energy, poor digestion, extra weight, aches and pains, and disease. Instead juicing can help you start every day with foods that explode your energy levels and make you feel vital with renewed vigor and mental clarity.
Focus on vegetables. For the healthiest oxygen-rich juices, include more green vegetables than fruits. Include one fruit to sweeten up your mixture, but make the other ingredients vegetables—they have fewer calories, so make for a healthier drink over all. For example, juice one carrot, a chunk of cucumber, a small beet, a piece of ginger, and a small apple.
Drink what you’d eat. Juice packs a lot of nutrition—and calories—in a smaller volume than whole food. For example, you need four to six large carrots to yield eight ounces of carrot juice. Most people wouldn’t eat this many carrots in a sitting. Stick to juicing small quantities to avoid excess calories, which can contribute to weight gain
Embrace variety. Get creative with your juicing to avoid overdoing it on just a few specific nutrients. By mixing it up, you get the greatest variety of nutrients possible. You can even juice items you might throw away, such as broccoli stems.
Count crucifers. Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, kale, chard, bok choy, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, watercress, collard and mustard greens, turnips, radish, daikon root, and arugula. These foods help support our body’s ability to detoxify, but even healthful foods can be bad for health if eaten in excess. Having one to two serving of cruciferous vegetables per day is associated with decreased risk of several types of cancer and no adverse effects.
Embrace variety, again! In the same way that you get different nutrients from different foods, you absorb different nutrients from the same food, when it is prepared differently. What you absorb from a cooked carrot is different from what you absorb from a raw carrot, which is different from the nutrients you absorb from carrot juice. Don’t rely on juicing for all of your servings of any one particular food, or you miss out on vital nutrition.
Fruit juices are the cleansers of the human system…Vegetable juices are the builders who revitalize the body – Dr. Norman W. Walker (Pioneer in the field of vegetable juicing and nutritional health)
Why Juicing?
It’s no secret that our lifestyle and diet greatly impacts the way we feel. Drinking fresh natural juice is one of the best ways to improve your health and is also enjoyable.
Drinking fresh juice isn’t just a taste experience. It enhances the quality of life.
Fruits and veggies are the best medicine we can give our bodies and juicing is a natural supplement that only offers benefits if done right. When drinking juice made from fresh produce, we get all the nutrients immediately. They are absorbed directly into our bloodstream because our body doesn’t need to digest it first. Drinking raw living juice is better for your health and energy than any placebo drink on the market.
Eating large quantities of fruits and vegetables in one go is not always humanly possible, never mind time consuming. Drinking juice allows us to consume loads of nutrients in one go, which makes this a very effective way of staying healthy.
Roughage and Fiber
Juicing and dietary fibre is greatly misunderstood. Many people know it is important, but not much more than that. Soluble fibres slow down digestion, leaving you fuller for longer. This type of fibre is usually found in starchy fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots and bananas. Insoluble fibres are mainly found in whole grains and green vegetables. These fibres facilitate the gut and help prevent constipation.
When making juice in a juicer, you are only removing insoluble fibres found in vegetables and fruits.
Besides making it ideal for weight loss, it allows our bodies to soak in large amounts of nutrients immediately; without the need for digestion. Fresh vegetable and fruit juices are meant to supplement a healthy diet and not replace one, consuming more insoluble fibre is unnecessary.
The goal of drinking fresh juice is to increase the amount of nutrients, antioxidants and disease-fighting compounds we consume, not fibre. The fibre that is being removed is non digestible, so you’re not really removing anything your body wont remove eventually anyway.
Getting juices for the first time
Making a great tasting juice is as simple as making a salad. It’s about mixing together ingredients that compliment each other and taste great. Focus on fruits and vegetables that are in season when juicing and discounts in supermarkets. Farmers markets’ are great places to go when you want fresh quality for often a better price than supermarkets.
Steer Clear of These Rookie Mistakes:
Too Much Sugar
Combining the wrong ingredients
Not Enough Variety
Inconsistency
Replacing Solid Food
Not Washing Your Produce
Too Much Sugar
A fresh fruit juice sounds very innocent and although it’s full of healthy antioxidants and vitamins, it is also high in sugar and calories. When fruits are juiced and the fiber is removed, the sugar will be absorbed directly into the bloodstream. This could cause a spike in blood sugar and raise your risk for diabetes. Not only that, it could lead to unnecessary weight gain.
A pure fruit juice every now and again is perfectly fine. However, use vegetables as your primary ingredient and use small amounts of fruit as a natural sweetener instead. Fruit is still a very important part of your diet. Eating them whole will give you less calories as you won’t be consuming as much in one go. They are also far more digestible than vegetables.
Combining the Wrong Ingredients
Putting together your juice ingredients should be treated like cooking. Some foods work well together and other foods do not. Using fruits to sweeten up your juice is perfectly fine, but there are only a few which work well.
Putting the wrong ingredients together may cause digestive stress. This happens because different enzymes are digesting at different rates. Vegetables require different enzymes for digestion than fruits. It’s best to avoid a chemical over reaction as one of the most common side effects is tummy ache and flatulence!
So here are a few good tips to remember:
Fruit generally shouldn’t be juiced with vegetables. However, this rule does not apply to:
Apples (which is a fruit and vegetable)
Carrots (which is a root and a vegetable)
Bananas – better used in smoothies (which is a fruit and an herb)
Cucumber (which is a fruit and vegetable)
Greens are different from vegetables. They are easily digested and go well with most raw fruits.
Inconsistency
We all suffer from this now and again. Keeping up with your efforts is important if you want to reap the full benefits. Our body needs at least five to nine servings of vegetables a day to keep up with dietary requirements.
Replacing Solid Food
Juice shouldn’t replace meals unless you are on a fast that has been approved by your doctor. Juice should be a bonus, not a replacement for eating whole vegetables. The whole point of drinking fresh juice is to give your body more instead of restricting. Instead of taking your daily supplements, take a juice instead.
Not Washing Your Produce
Many people over look the importance of washing their produce before use. Most vegetables and fruit will have pesticides present on the skin unless bought organic. However, even organic produce needs washing as it will be touched by numerous hands.
Top Tips
Only use a small knob of ginger in your blend. Ginger helps balance the flavor.
Use the pulp! The pulp doesn’t need to be thrown away; you can use it in soups, quiches, pancakes and casseroles. You can even use it for compost and grow your own vegetables!
Avoid using over ripe produce in your blend as the pulp will clog up the juicer faster.
These fruits can be mixed with vegetables to sweeten up your blend without causing a chemical reaction. However, when blending these fruits with starchy vegetables such as beets, it might spark your blood sugar levels. A good ratio to remember is 4-1
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