Have you ever thought of taking pure instant nutrients in their freshest forms without resorting to supplements or energy drinks? Such nutritional therapy can be done within your kitchen walls through concocting your own juices at your own leisure, choice and pleasure.
Organic fresh fruit and vegetable juices can become your most effective, economical means of maintaining health and wellness, activating digestion, boosting immunity, cleansing your body and speeding the healing process.
Due to their nutritional value, fresh juices make an excellent addition to a natural therapeutic diet in order to continuously fuel your built-in defenses. Juice fasts are prescribed by naturopaths and integrative doctors in large doses to counteract deficiencies, detoxify, and fight infections and diseases like anemia, constipation, stomach ulcers, arthritis, heart disease, cancer and even AIDS.
Because organic whole fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, bioflavonoid and antioxidants, their juices offer highly-dense, quality nutrients to supplement deficient diets, provide energy and maintain health. While proteins, fat and carbohydrates take hours to digest — vegetable juices need minimal energy to breakdown and get absorbed — relieving the digestion and activating liver functions in order to eliminate toxins, chemicals and drug residues from the body. Due to their high enzymatic content, when taken fifteen minutes before meals, freshly-squeezed raw vegetable juices prepare the digestive tract for breaking down proteins, fat and carbohydrates. Why before meals? Because their healthy nutrients race to satisfy cells needs.
The recent American food pyramid has hiked the consumption of fruits and vegetables. However, many people are not consuming enough of fresh plant foods, due to rushed and unhealthy modern meals offered at schools, workplace, malls and fast food restaurants hence they are neglected.
For those who are not taking enough plant nutrients, fresh organic vegetable and fruit juices can come to the rescue. Scientific research indicates that the deep pigments in certain fruits and vegetables are loaded with powerful chemicals, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and other nutrients which can act on carcinogens and infections, cure them, eliminate old and dead cells and toxins, support liver and kidney health and counteract sodium buildup. Here are some of their known benefits.
Carotenoids, vitamin A precursors and antioxidants come from vivid to intense colors like deep red to purple, bright yellow to orange and dark green which act on carcinogens. Each pigment offers different benefits to different body parts and functions as well as prevents diseases.
Beta-carotene — the yellowish orange carotene in carrots, yam, pumpkin, mangoes and papaya — fights oxidation and helps the lungs, skin, vision and vascular system. It also seems to have anti-cancer effects on oral cancer.
Lycopene in red tomatoes combats cholesterol, heart disease and prostate cancer.
Luteins in dark leafy greens safeguard the eyes against cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Flavonoids are the rich hues in fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. They offer potent healing and immune bolstering properties to your mental, emotional and physical health. Flavonoids are rich in enzymes that help digest food. Enzymes act as catalysts to other nutrients as well. However, when juices are not fresh, heated, pasteurized or processed, their enzymes get destroyed, obstructing digestion, straining the digestive system, weakening the immune defenses and sapping energy. Only freshly squeezed fruits and vegetables provide valuable vitamins, minerals and enzymes. As much as a half hour delay or refrigeration can degrade the quality of juices and their health benefits. Organic garden-grown and fresh produce offer best quality juices.
Pesticides (apart from being harmful), spraying and depleted soils lower the nutritional and therapeutic value of fruits and vegetables. Washing them profusely with water and scrubbing them may help remove chemical residue.
According to Mikhail Tombak’s book Can We Live 150 years, fructose in whole fruits is healthy, whereas pure sugar damages health and nutrients and flushes out vitamin C, calcium and other necessary elements from the body. Honey and molasses are good and tasty substitutes. He recommends freshly juiced fruit and vegetable drinks to be taken immediately, keeping each sip in the mouth to blend with saliva, which contains digestive enzymes. Taken twenty minutes before meals, juices prepare the stomach for digestion.
People who find it difficult to eat big amounts of raw vegetables may prefer drinking the juice instead to avoid the chore of chewing and save time. While a couple of glasses of fresh juice a day may supply the necessary nutrients to keep the body healthy and disease free, a raw whole plant diet provides fiber and roughage to stimulate your digestive system. Unfortunately, the fiber is discarded through the juicing process. Another missed benefit is digestive enzymes, found in saliva when chewing raw veggies. Munching raw whole vegetables also enhances gum health and protects teeth from tartar buildup. Along with fresh juices, you are encouraged to add dietary fiber to your meals like whole grains, vegetables, legumes and crunchy salads to gain such advantages.
Most whole vegetables (beets, carrots, cabbage, cucumber, peppers, greens, pumpkins, tomatoes, garlic, onions) and fruits (citrus, kiwi, apple, grape, pomegranate, acai, goji, berries) can be juiced with their skins. To enhance absorption, add a drop of olive oil and lemon juice to the vegetable drink.
You will love that special taste and feeling of freshness. Give your body, skin and energy a zing with fresh juices!
N.B.
Individuals with medical conditions or on medication should consult their physicians when they decide to introduce anything new in their diet even if it is natural!