How-to Get the Most Out of Juicing and Juice-Fasting! Juice fasting is generally safe for everyone. However, diabetics and persons on medication requiring meals should check with their physician. Fasting is not for children or women who are pregnant or nursing. If there is a medical reason why you should not fast, then dont. Check with your doctor first. As for everyone else, juice fasting is one of the best things you can do for your health! It is especially helpful for weight loss, detoxification, preventing and treating cancer. Freshly extracted, raw vegetable juices are the fastest way to naturally get the largest amount of nutrients to the cellular level of the body. This is because, with the fiber removed, nutrients can be easily and quickly absorbed into the bloodstream without going through the process of digestion. (Please note however: This is not true of any juice found in a can, bottle, or container. All processed juices have undergone heat processes to kill the enzymes to prevent spoiling on the store shelf. This processing destroys almost all nutritional value.) On the other hand, fresh, live juices bring to the body all of the natural vitamins, minerals, protein, and enzymes required to repair and replenish itself. Juicing takes a bit of effort, and like any activity, practice and repeated effort do pay off. Rest assured - the rewards of juicing are well-worth the time and effort! Ive put together some helpful rules of thumb and juice recipes to kick-start your juicing experience so - Let the Healing Begin! Rule #1: Dont drink with meals. Freshly made vegetable juices, taken in quantity, are not a beverage. They are a raw, highly digestible food - the nutritional & health benefits of which are unsurpassed. It is best to not drink juice or any other liquid with a meal as it dilutes the digestive juices and makes digestion difficult. Rule #2: It is a good idea to dilute your juice 50/50 with water. You can juice almost anything you can eat raw. Vegetables are best, especially carrots, cucumbers, beets, tomatoes, zucchini squash, romaine lettuce, sprouts, celery and cabbage. You may juice fruits also, naturally. Freshly made raw apple, grape, and melon juices are delicious. It is not generally a good idea to juice potatoes, eggplant, or Lima beans. In a moment, I will go more in depth about specific vegetables and the conditions for which they may be helpful. Rule #3: Scrub & soak, but spare the nutrients. When possible it is best to use organically grown vegetables. Organic produce generally boasts higher nutrient levels, without the addition of harmful chemicals. However, if organic is not an option for you, heres what you should do: It is wise to peel vegetables and fruits that have been sprayed or waxed. Carrots and other underground vegetables often do not need peeling. Instead, give them a good scrubbing with a nylon-bristle vegetable brush while rinsing under water. Beets are the exception. Since beet skins are very bitter, it is wise to peel beets before juicing. A hint to save time: dip the beets for about 20 seconds in boiling water and then peel them... its much easier. Rule #4: Drink your freshly prepared juice right away. That is - within moments! One reason is that your juice will, of course, taste best right after preparing it. Another reason for the rush is that fresh juice contains a great amount of raw food enzymes and vitamins, many of which are quickly lost as the juice sits. So dont let it sit - drink it right down, with the thought that this is unbelievably good for you! Rule #5: Juice the vegetables & fruits that serve your specific needs! CELERY juice is very tasty, but a bit high in sodium. Use small amounts of this juice to flavor the others. Juice celery leaves and all for the most benefit. CUCUMBER juice is remarkably tasty. It tastes rather different than a cucumber itself. Peel cucumbers before juicing to avoid the waxes applied to their skins to enhance their shelf life in supermarkets. ROMAINE LETTUCE or BEAN SPROUTS will make an especially nutritious juice with a taste that is well worth acquiring. This green drink is loaded with minerals and chlorophyll. ZUCCHINI SQUASH juiced up tastes better than youd ever imagine. Peel first. Youll probably really enjoy the taste of this juice. It also keeps the juicer from clogging on higher-fiber vegetables. BEET juice is, traditionally, a blood-builder. Beets must be peeled before juicing. Beet skins are very bitter. The beets, on the other hand, are quite sweet and make great juice. They will also permanently stain your juicer, so dont try to remove that color by washing. More important, beet juice will color your bowel movements. So, dont be alarmed. Rule #6: Avoid combining fruit juices with vegetable juices. The only fruit I combine with vegetable juices is apple, and sometimes lemon. For every 8 to 10 carrots you run through your juicer, add one apple. Its delicious! Rule #7: Dont drink too much fresh juice all at once. Have two 8-oz. glasses of juice spread out over an hour instead of one 16 oz. glass. The reason is that the body will more efficiently use and assimilate 8 oz. at a time. Also if you drink too much fresh juice at once, or if you dont dilute the juice enough, your body will be overcome with a rush of enzymes that may cause a headache. At any rate, you cant really hurt yourself with fresh juices, so DRINK UP!
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 20:34:07 +0000
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