As the new year continues to move forward, there may be many new posts, articles, and video on fitness, getting healthy, and losing weight. If you want to know more about yoga, or other workouts we have that. If you want to lose weight to get outdoors, we have that too. What about something that is sometimes pink, sometimes frothy, yet always nutritious (and mostly delicious)? How about juicing. Is crushing the juice out of fruits and vegetables in your own home a new fad? Is it something that just comes and goes in order to sell said juicing machines. Why is it that anyone would want to juice?
“The quality of your life begins with the quality of the foods that sustain it. The surest path to a healthier, more energetic, and disease-free lifestyle begins with a diet rich in natural foods like whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Especially important on this path to health are fresh fruits and vegetable juices. Fresh juices provide the proteins, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and other food factors that are vital to your health.”
- The Complete Book of Juicing by Michael T. Murray, N.D.
Juicing not only gives the body the nutrition that it needs, but it also helps to prevent disease. One way this is done is through the vitamins and minerals that are in the juice. The other way in which juicing benefits the body is by possibly preventing certain types of cancers. One cause of cancer is considered to be from free-radicals that are found in the body. These can be naturally occuring, or introduced by smoking or other environmental factors. Our own cells protect us against free-radical and oxidative damage with the help from the plant foods that we eat or drink. There is more information on this in The Complete Book of Juicing, and from the American Cancer Society. Juicing is the best way to aid in this nutritive process.
For years we have been hearing about the importance of getting the daily allowance of fruits, and vegetables into our bodies. The USDA with the “Choose My Plate” initiative suggests filling half of your plate with fruits, and vegetables (https://www.choosemyplate.gov). Consuming half of daily food intake as fruits, or vegetables may be difficult for many people. One way that this can be done is by juicing fresh fruits, and vegetables. In order to make a cup of one of my favorite juices, it takes one to two carrots, one beet, and at least one apple. Juicing is also an amazing way for you to get your daily intake of fruits, and vegetables because it is easier for your body to absorb the nutrition in a liquid form.
The best way to begin juicing it to just do it! I found my juicer second hand, and you probably could too. After finding the right juicer for your family, find a good source for some organic fruits and vegetables. If you can’t find organic, or choose not to, then wash the produce in a fruit and vegetable wash, or vinegar. When you begin juicing, I recommend starting out more on the fruit side if you enjoy sweet food. As your taste buds adjust, then mix in more vegetables, and less fruit. Another great way to juice, is to grow as much of your own produce as possible. The pink juice is pink for me because of the beets that I grow for juicing. (Juicing beets daily may cause pink urine as well). Finally, don’t be hard on yourself, and do the best that you can. Some juicing is better than no juicing, and before you know it, you could be beginning each day with a cup of fresh, homemade, nutritious juice.
Source:
The Complete Book of Juicing by Michael T. Murray, N.D. 1998.