Juicing

diet Mar 21, 2017

I've been juicing for about one month now and this new routine has changed my life!

"Juicing" for me entails a homemade green / vegetable / fruit juice first thing in the morning and another one in the evening. When I crave it, or if it's simply more convenient, I'll have additional juices (homemade or Norwalk-pressed from a juice bar) in between my morning and evening juices.

This modification in my diet has severely reduced my cravings -- *need* -- for wine and caffeine. Amazing. Especially for someone who was drinking an average of at least two glasses of wine and one cup of coffee every day.

I now always feel full and content. I don't need as much sleep. Most exciting, I have become addicted to this new level of energy, lightness, and mental clarity and alertness, ... Generally, I feel more "available" to engage and participate in all aspects of my life.

BLUE PRINT CLEANSE

Juicing was introduced to me soon after I heard about a "juice cleanse" about 5-6 weeks ago from a friend who was describing her enjoyable and interesting experiences with BluePrintCleanse, a company that prepares and delivers juices for a detox cleanse that lasts anywhere from 1- to 6- days.

bpc_logo

Blue Print Clease

Since becoming aware of BluePrintCleanse, I've realized that it's relatively popular. Three people in my office had completed the BluePrintCleanse together and are planning on doing it again. Other friends have heard of it and know people who do it regularly. The website of BluePrintCleanse has some interesting quotes from Medical Doctors about fasting (from what I've just started reading, a juice cleanse is not the same as a fast; regardless, the quotes are interesting). Some excerpts are below:

"Fasting is an effective and safe method of detoxifying the body... A technique that wise men have used for centuries to heal the sick. Fast regularly and help the body heal itself and stay well. Give all of your organs a rest. Fasting can help reverse the aging process, and if we use it correctly we will live longer, happier lives.

Each time you complete a fast, you will feel better. Your body will have a chance to heal and rebuild its immune system by regularly fasting [a major benefit]. You can fight off illness and the degenerative diseases so common in this chemically polluted environment we live in. When you feel a cold or illness coming on or are just depressed-- fast!"

James Balch, M.D. and Phyllis Balch, C.N.C.

"In my practice I have seen fasting eliminate lupus and arthritis, remove chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema, heal the digestive tract in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and quickly eliminate cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure and angina. In these cases the recoveries were permanent."

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D. (has fasting center in NJ)

My husband and I were going to try it with friends but then a series of events led us to postpone the experience. In the meantime, I had been introduced to freshly pressed juices from a nearby juice bar, Liquiteria, which I really like, as do my husband and daughter!

liquiteria-storefront regular size

Liquiteria on 11th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan 

LIQUITERIA

I first learned about Liquiteria at a BeamGreen event. Not only did Liquiteria offer samplings of their juices, but its founder and owner, Doug Green, also spoke at the BeamGreen event. I sampled green juices, such as "All Greens with apple", which contains kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, celery, cucumber & apple. To my surprise, it was quite pleasant!

liquiteria-bottles

Liquiteria Juices

As I enjoyed my first sip of green juice, what thrilled me was the idea of consuming my daily vegetable and fruit requirements in such an efficient and convenient way. "Juicing" could be a much more practical way for me to get my family and I to consume a wide range of nutrients each day. We have tried all juices on the Liquiteria menu by now, and they're all great. My daughter's favorite is the All Greens with Apple. I rotate through all of them depending on my mood. "The Killer" (green apples, double serving of ginger, lemon & Immunity Now) or "The Killer XX" (green apples, double serving of ginger, cayenne & Immunity Now) is a great way to start the day (especially warm)! I try to have it when I'm craving a coffee.

As I listened to Doug Green speak, I was impressed with how he seems to approach Liquiteria -- with good intentions and integrity. (I don't benefit from advertising Liquiteria!) What struck me was how much Liquiteria seems to focus on maximizing the quality of its juice:

  • Uses Norwalk juice machines (I keep hearing Norwalk is the best in preserving nutritional content and extracting the most nutrients from the fruits and vegetables); One Lucky Duck also uses a Norwalk juicer for its juices and it is a very cool cafe, by co-owner of Pure Food and Wine (I haven't tried its juices yet, but had a delicious coconut shake)
  • Keeps ice on machines (heat is detrimental to nutrients)
  • Minimizes air in bottles (oxidation is detrimental to nutrients)
  • Ices ingredients
  • Cleans ingredients, machines, and store meticulously to minimize bacteria growth

Most juices sold at grocery stores and juice bars are not necessarily healthy. Beware of the content (sugars and quality / freshness of ingredients) of your juices. The type of juicer also impacts the enzymes from the fruits and vegetables.

Fortunately, Liquiteria is close to where I live and it also delivers. So, I immediately became a big spender at Liquiteria, trying every juice mix and returning for more. After about a week of buying lots of juices from Liquiteria, I knew that juicing would be a part of our daily diet for a while so I bought a juicer.

JUICE MACHINES

Notes from listening to Doug Green:

    • "Slow turning machine" is the kind of juicer to use
    • "Cold-press" is the best method
    • Key things impacting integrity of nutritional content of juice: does the juicer create heat (which kills enzymes) and how much friction and oxygen exposure does it create (which spoils nutrients).
    • Norwalk Juice Press is the best juicer. It is quite pricey however, and it requires more time than other juicers. Norman Walker was the pioneer of juicing. He lived to be 110-112 years old. Below is an overview video that I found on YouTube:
      • Juicing is an efficient way to consume a wide range of vegetables and fruits. Since juice contains the whole fruit or vegetable -- except for the fiber, which is the indigestible part of the plant -- it contains virtually all of the plants' health-promoting components. Because fresh juices are made from raw fruits and vegetables, all of the components remain intact. Vitamin C and other water-soluble vitamins can be damaged by over-processing or over-cooking. Enzymes, which are proteins needed for digestion and other important functions, can also be damaged by cooking Fresh juice, however, provides all of the plants' healthful ingredients in a form that is easy to digest and absorb. In fact, it has been estimated that fruit and vegetable juices can be assimilated in twenty to thirty minutes.
      • Ideally, juices should be made fresh in your kitchen and consumed immediately. Many commercial juices are heat-treated to lengthen shelf life. This process can destroy important nutrients. In addition, preservatives may have been added. Even pure, freshly made juices can lose some of their nutrients by being allowed to sit for long periods of time. By buying the best produce available, properly preparing it for juicing, and processing it in your own juicer, you will produce the most healthful, nutrient-rich drinks possible.
      • It is helpful to be familiar with the three categories into which juices generally fall: green juices, vegetable juices, and fruit juices.
        1. Green juices cleanse the body of pollutants and have a rejuvenating effect. Made from a variety of green vegetables, green juices are rich in chlorophyll, which helps to purify the blood, build red blood cells, detoxify and heal the body, and provide the body with fast energy.
        2. Fresh vegetable juices are restorers and builders. They boost the immune system, remove acid wastes, and balance the metabolism. They also aid in the control of obesity by removing excess body fat.
        3. Fruit juices help cleanse the body and nourish it with important nutrients, including cancer-fighting antioxidants.
      • David Murdoch, a billionaire business success, is 85 years old with great health and vitality. Watch this video to see what he's eating (and juicing!): David Murdoch diet.
      • From my research on YouTube, Jason Vale seems to be the "juice master." There is a lot of content of him on YouTube. Below is video content that I thought might be helpful.

 

Not yet ready to invest in a Norwalk juicer, I searched for something more practical. Natalia Rose recommends the Breville JE95XL Two-Speed Juice Fountain Plus, which got 4.5 stars from 153 Amazon customers, in her book and online. I couldn't help but notice that the Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor got 4.5 stars from 226 Amazon customers, so I decided to buy the more powerful juicer instead, for about $100 more. I love it! I can throw in cucumbers, several carrots at once, beets, apples, ... the motor is quite powerful and I find the clean up to be convenient. From start to clean-up finish, it takes me about 30 minutes to juice.

Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor

Check out a video overview of the Breville Juice Fountain Elite juicer below:

BENEFITS

The main benefits of juicing are that (1) it is an effective way to consume a wide range of vegetables and nutrients and (2) the most nutritious parts of the vegetables and fruits are provided to the body in a way that is very easy to assimilate. Juicing is also much less work on your digestive system, and is, therefore, said to provide your body with more energy to repair itself.

VALIDATION

I combed through the Internet, including YouTube, to see if I could find third-party scientific commentary on the benefits of juicing. I didn't find scientific commentary. The more interesting things I found are below:

CONCLUSION

Although I have been exploring the philosophy of a raw food diet since starting juicing, I wasn't able to change much with our "solids" for a while since it took me at least a couple of weeks to learn what to change. So, for a couple of weeks, the only main change was adding high quality juices to our daily diet and I noticed a meaningful change in my energy. In addition, juicing seemed to recalibrate my taste buds, decreasing my desire for all that is not healthy (wine, coffee, meat, etc.) while increasing my desire for "cleaner" foods.

My daughter asks for juice at least once every day. With every sip she takes, I am increasingly relieved from the challenge of making sure she eats enough vegetables and fruits. My husband also has high quality juice at least once every day. It has been enthusiastically embraced as a new staple of our daily diet.

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Ruan Living simplifies a nontoxic lifestyle through its Practical Nontoxic Living podcast, free detox workshops, online D-Tox Academy, and transformative 40-Day Home Detox. It aims to help you avoid toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from what you buy, own, and do— without compromising your joy and convenience. Ruan was founded by Sophia Ruan Gushée, author of the bestselling critically acclaimed book A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Your Toxic Exposures and several detox workbooks. A graduate of Brown University and Columbia Business School, Sophia has served on the Brown University School of Public Health Advisory Council and Well+Good Council. A popular nontoxic living speaker, consultant, and teacher, Sophia lives in New York City with her husband and three daughters. Her passion for empowering others to enjoy nontoxic living began with the birth of her first daughter in 2007. Everything she creates is a love letter to her children and for the healthiest, brightest future possible. You can learn more here: Sophia’s Impact.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only. This information is provided “as is” without warranty.

It is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. We do not offer medical advice, course of treatment, diagnosis, or any other opinion on your conditions or treatment options. To the extent that this article features the advice of physicians or medical practitioners, the views expressed are the views of the cited expert and do not necessarily represent the views of Ruan Living.

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