The Benefits of Juicing

Fresh Juice! I love juicing. I feel like every cell in my body says thanks when I take the first sip.

Juice is  yet another controversial topic in the world of nutrition. Nutrition brings controversy because nature encourages diversity. Amen to that!

Juicing can be extremely healing; especially for those of us who forget that when eating, chewing precedes swallowing (hey there fast eaters!). The juicing process makes the nutrients of the vegetables and fruits readily available for absorption. Juicing (and blending) saves the body digestive energy, allowing more energy to be put towards healing and detoxification.

Especially with juicing greens, the separation of chlorophyll from its fibers will allow for easy assimilation of this green sunlight energy. Chlorophyll is the Fast Track to our main sources of life: oxygen and liquid sunlight.

Most store bought juices (unless otherwise noted) have been pasteurized and no longer contain the nutritional benefits of fresh juice. Almost all contain more sugar than nutrients.

We have to be careful with juicing to not have too much sugar. When juicing fruits and vegetables, all the fiber is removed. Nature is perfect; she packages the perfect ratio of fiber to sugar in our fruits and vegetables to keep our blood sugar levels somewhat stable. However removing the fiber (which is there to keep us full) can easily flood our system with too much sugar.  Beware breakfast orange juice drinker… You could be setting yourself up for a crash with sugar or caffeine cravings later in the day.

While we will benefit from juice’s high levels of readily available nutrients, eating solid foods is what will keep the digestive system strong as these nutrients  move more slowly through the digestive track. Eating fibrous vegetables gives the body time to break down and absorb the nutrients it might miss in the quick assimilation of juice.

It is also recommended to “chew” your juice when drinking in order to create some saliva, an important component to digestion.

The most important thing to be aware of when juicing is that you do not juice too much fruit or sweet root vegetables. I recommend fruit or sweet roots (like carrots) be no more than a third of your juice. This can be difficult because, admittedly, carrot juice is really delicious! Eventually you will use even less than a third, as you get more adventurous (you can juice most anything.) The sweet juices are great as a treat, but minimizing the sugar content will prove to be the healthiest way in the long run.
The greens are miracle workers but can sometimes be bitter. Lemons are great to add to every juice; the citric will neutralize the bitterness (not to mention the vitamin C!).

There are many juicers our there for purchase. If you are new to  juicing, cheaper juicers work quite well. Keep in mind that most basic juicers require you to drink your juice right after juicing. Not to worry- juicing and clean up takes me a total of 5(ish) minutes.

Or you could try juicing the old fashioned way… chimpanzees often chew fibrous foods to remove the juice before discarding the fiber, and gorillas juice by filling their mouths with leaves and fruit, using the mass of leaves to press the juice out of the fruit, then discarding the fiber. Personally, I’ll keep using the juicer.

Juice Bars Around Boston

Boston is not yet abundant in health food restaurants but there are unpasteurized juices in various locations:

JOOS: delivers juice to a depot near your home after you order it online. The product is organic and of very high quality, juiced fresh before delivery.

Prana Cafe: in Newton/ Watertown

Red Lentil: Watertown

Life Alive: Cambridge

Blue Shirt Cafe: Somerville

570 Market: South End

Trident Bookstore and Cafe: Boston

(Please share with the community if you know any other juice bars around Boston by commenting on this post.)

Juice Recipes From The Film 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead'

Apple-Pear
1 Apple
2 Pears
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)

Carrot-Kale Combo
1 Green Apple
3 Handfuls spinach
6-8 Kale Leaves
4 Large Carrots
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)

Green Lemonade
1 Green Apple
3 Handfuls Spinach
6-8 Kale Leaves
½ Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
½ Lemon

All Green
Use as much greens as needed
Romaine Hearts
Kale or Collards
Spinach
2 Handfuls Parsley
2-3 Celery Stalks
½ Lemon
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)

Apple-Beet-Carrot
1 Apple
2 Beets
3 Large Carrots
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)
Spinach / Kale – (optional)

Spinach-Fennel-Cucumber
1 Fennel Bulb
1 Cucumber
2-3 Celery Stalks
Loads of Spinach

Mean Green
1 Bulk of kale
4 Stalks of celery
1 Cucumber
2 granny smith apples
½ lemon
Ginger root (thumb sized)

Drink Your Greens

1 banana

2 dates

2 cups kale 

2 Tbl almond butter

3/4 cup water

Blend.

No kitty, it's my smoothie!

The Excitement of Being Toxic

Excitotoxins have an exciting effect on brain cells (sounds exciting!) … while causing a pathological process by which nerve cells are damaged and killed (not so fun.)

In today’s food industry, harmful amounts of excitotoxins are found in up to 80% of all processed food. MSG (one of many glutamates found in foods,) hydrolyzed proteins, and other similar substances are all too common ingredients.

When scientists want to make mice fat ASAP (for the purpose studying obesity,) they feed them MSG. Regardless, the food industry has engineered chemically created flavors such as this one that keep us coming back for more. Are we addicted? Just as tobacco companies knowingly added more nicotine to cigarettes to make them addictive, we’re now in an invisible food trap that has also imprisoned us.

With a chemical formula that makes us feel instantly fulfilled, we are actually  providing ourselves with little to no nutrients. Most of us, who may have been encouraged by our doctors to lose weight, are in truth starving to death on a cellular level.

We struggle with hunger and blame our bodies and ourselves for being weak. Meanwhile our body is doing its best to keep us healthy! It calls in search of the nutrients it needs to function correctly.
Advertisements tell us that if we eat these chemically altered foods; we will be slim and happy. However most of these foods cause weight gain and disease. Many of these chemicals both inhibit our metabolism as well as increase the production of fat (as part of the defense mechanism to isolate the chemicals).

Diet soda alone is suspected of  being a major contributor to the impairment of brain function, neurological function, vision, and increased chances of seizures (especially when regularly consumed instead of a meal.) While it advertises freedom, most independent studies show that it hooks us on even stronger sugar cravings (due to our taste buds’ reaction to the extreme sweetness.)

The FDA does not carry out independent studies to test a food before it is marketed. Instead it relies on studies funded by the same company producing the product. The heart association puts its stamp of approval on foods loaded with trans fats because the product meets the sodium requirements. Classy.

In our industrialized version of better living, we have created over 75,000 synthetic chemicals since 1940. These days over 200 chemicals can been found in some newborn’s umbilical cords. Most are either food-born, environmental, or beauty product derived (“your makeup looks killer!”)

It is time to relearn better living that is in harmony with the organic compounds of our bodies and our planet.  We need to recover. It’s no joke when our neurological system has been affected.

Spring is an excellent time for a reboot as the body is naturally designed to excel in its detoxification process. Eat dark leafy greens every day (kale, parsley and cilantro are highly recommended!) as well as gelatinous fibers (chia seeds rock!) Water and vegetables are your BFFs (consume more vegetables than fruits.)

In general, think more about what healthy stuff you can  add  to your diet rather than freaking out about what you need to eliminate. The more nutrients your body receives and assimilates, the more you’ll naturally begin to eliminate what no longer serves you.  Exercising and a clean diet need each other. Tomorrow is never better than today to do something proactive.

The Tongue Scraper for Cleansing and Elimination of Cravings

The tongue scraper, an inexpensive yet transformative utensil, is a simple, thin, u-shaped piece of stainless steel. It consists of a blunted edge that removes plaque and build-up from the surface of the tongue. Dentists in America are recommending the tongue scraper more and more because it helps to fight cavities by removing bacteria from the mouth. The tongue scraper also prevents bad breath, especially for people who eat a lot of dairy and build up mucus in the mouth, nose, and throat.

The tongue scraper comes from the tradition of Ayurveda, which asserts that people who use a scraper are better at public speaking, express themselves more thoughtfully, and speak more sincerely and authoritatively. Some people ask if the same effect can be gained by brushing the tongue with a stiff toothbrush. Brushing the tongue moves stuff around and is helpful, but a tongue scraper is more effective as it clears out the deep deposits and generally keeps the area cleaner, stimulated and alive. 

Cravings can be reduced by cleaning the tongue of leftover food. When the mouth can still taste the food, you may experience cravings for previously eaten foods. A tongue scraper reverses the process of desensitizing your taste buds, which has happened to everyone to a greater or lesser extent. It allows you to taste more subtle flavors in food so that you can eat vegetables, fruits and whole grains with greater joy. When old residue is removed from the tongue, you will be better able to taste your food and won’t need to eat as much since you will have gained greater satisfaction from your meal.

And finally, a big advantage is that it enhances kissing because it makes the tongue more sweet, fresh and sensitive. If you are in a relationship, I invite you to check this out with your partner. Make an agreement to scrape twice a day for one week, and notice the difference. 

Directions: 

• Apply a few quick strokes, 2-3 times a day

• Use the rounded cleaning edge to scrape gently down the tongue several times while applying slight pressure

• Rinse under running water and gently scrape again until no white residue is left

• There should be no pain or gagging involved whatsoever—if you feel any discomfort, you are probably scraping too hard or starting too far back on the tongue

A Winter Way Of Eating

The New England winter climate is mostly cold and dry. Just as the trees and plants around us have dried, we may experience the dryness of our own skin and lips as well as a drop in our body temperature.

As things change externally, our inner body changes in a similar manner and we must care for our bodies accordingly.

Foods For Winter

*  Since winter is cold and dry we need to avoid similar food to maintain warmth and moisture within.
*  Warm, home-cooked foods are ideal, cooked with easy-to-digest oils such as ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil, but not deep-fried.
*  Use cooking methods such as steaming, roasting, stir-frying or poaching in order to heat the food all the way through.
*  Avoid raw foods, which are cold in nature such as salads, cold fruits, ice (especially in drinks), ice cream and raw vegetables as these tend to cool the body.
*  Incorporate foods that create moisture and warmth. Minimize the consumption of crackers, rice cakes and breads, as they are very dry.

Flavor

*  The flavors that nourish and balance the body in the cold, dry, winter season are the sweet, sour and salty tastes. It's best to eat less of the astringent, bitter, and pungent flavors in winter, although all six tastes should be included in your diet.
*  From the less ‘favored’ flavors use ginger (unless you run both an extremely hot body temperature and a hot temper) and radish for pungent to keep warm, enjoy leafy greens and dandelion root for bitter, and cranberry or apple for the astringent flavor to aid detoxification during these months.
*  Root vegetables and grains will provide the sweet flavor. Refined sugars will create more harm than good.
*  For salty flavor reach for small amounts of high quality sea salt and an abundance of sea vegetables.

Food Suggestions


*  Warm hearty soups, healthy lean meat and root vegetable stews, whole grains, and roasted nuts.
*  Cereals, grains, and legumes: brown rice, oatmeal, millet, soybeans, and mung beans.
*  Meat, poultry and fish.
*  Nuts (avoid in excess if you have a lean or lanky body combined with a quick and restless mind.)
*  Root vegetables such as yams, sweet potatoes, yucca, potatoes, beets, turnips, ginger, ginseng, taro, burdock, carrots, parsnips, as well as, fennel, onions, chives, scallions, garlic and leeks.
*  Herbs, spices, condiments and oils: peppermint, basil, ginger, turmeric, parsley, gogi berries, licorice, cinnamon, cloves, chamomile, pepper, honey, and sesame oil.
*  Fruits and nuts: (at room temperature) apples, clementines, cranberries, red grapes, grapefruit, persimmons, dates, figs as well as lemons and limes.
*  If eating dairy (choose organic products!) avoid having them cold. Using ghee (clarified butter) is a great butter substitute.
*  Hydrate! Hot water and room temperature only. If drinking with a meal, sip hot water slowly.
*  The salty taste is attributed to the kidney and bladder, so by adding some salty foods in your diet during winter you can improve the function of these two organs. In Chinese medicine these are the meridians/organs governed by the water element that can be most affected by the dryness of the season. Incorporate some of the following foods to support the kidney and bladder function in winter: burdock root, eggs, fish, miso soup, nuts, tofu, and sea vegetables (such as arame, hijiki, kelp, kombu and wakame.)
*  This is not the season to be eating a fat-free salad and cracker diet. Play with steaming or roasting vegetables for salads and if eating things like toast for breakfast, spread a thin layer of ghee or butter on top.
*  To promote consistency, regularity and a sense of calm it is important in winter to keep a regular routine with your meals.

Summer Cleanser and Sweet Treat Recipes

Post Party Liver Flush

Overdid it at a party last night? Start your day with the following recipe on an empty stomach:

1-2 lemons squeezed

1 Tbs cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced (may substitute with ginger)

4 ounces of warm water

Blend and drink. 

After drinking, wait a short while and then enjoy a cup of herbal tea of fennel seeds, fenugreek or peppermint. You can eat breakfast half an hour after the tea. 

'Chunky Monkey' Ice Cream (serves 2)

4 bananas

2 tsp vanilla

handful of walnut peaces

4-5 pieces of dark chocolate squares (or preferably 1 Tbs of raw coco nibs)

optional: 1 Tbs maple syrup.

Preparation: peel and cut bananas into chunks, spreading chunks on a plate (or parchment paper) and freezing with some space between each piece. (Once frozen, they can be piled in a container in the freezer.) 

Blend the frozen bananas until creamy with the vanilla. Add in the nuts and chocolate. Top with sweetener if needed. 

Variations: Blend with cocoa powder/ Blend with cinnamon/ Switch nuts and chocolate for berries.

Mango Pudding (serves 2)

3 ripe mangos

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup berries + extra to top

Mix in food processor (add enough coconut to make mixture thick). Place in small cups, sprinkle berries and/or coconut flakes on top. Refrigerate for 20 minutes and serve.