Bailey’s Juicing Guide
How To Be Indestructible Like Popeye, Without Eating Spinach: Part 2
A.K.A. Bailey’s Juicing Guide
Do you know that you should probably eat more veggies for your health? Yet, you don't because they tend to get crowded out by other foods that are, quite frankly, more satisfying? Well, if you want to feed your cells more of what they really want while still holding onto the foods you love, I have good news for you. There is a fun, tasty and easy technique you can use to supplement your diet with tons of healthy nutrients from veggies, helping you feel great and prevent (or reverse) disease!
The key here is juicing your veggies. You can make freshly pressed juice right in your own kitchen and I have some recipes and tips you won't find anywhere else to help you get started.
I hope you will give juicing a try and experience some of its beneficial side effects - more energy, strength like Popeye, and the confidence to take on the world! Just beware of the juice-stache...
Contents:
1) Sources of Juice-spiration
2) What You Need to Make Juice
3) Juice Recipes
4) Basic Juicing Instructions
5) Why Does “Organic” Matter?
6) The Difference Between Juicing and Blending
7) Resources for More Diet-Related Information
1) Sources of Juice-spiration
Daily juicing played an important role in my journey of healing from stage 4 inoperable cancer, and now, as part of my cancer-fighting lifestyle 4+ years later, it continues to help me feel my best every day. But don't just take my word for the benefits of juicing - read these stories of juice-spiration below to learn how juicing has played a role in many lives transformed!
“After faithfully drinking fresh juices of fruits and vegetables for some months, I saw remarkable improvements to my health, just like what the books say I would experience. I began to feel less tired, needing much less sleep and feeling energetic most days. I no longer have non-bowel movement problem, my memory began to improve, and cholesterol level is steady. Over time, with proper detox and nutrition, my blood pressure had normalized and I have no more thyroid problem. My hair doesn’t drop as much anymore and I see new hair growing. My facial complexion is glowing and the scaly skin on my legs is now smooth. My health had taken a 180 degree turnaround. Juicing is now my 'health insurance.'”
“After decades of working in stressful conditions and consuming a typical western diet, Roy Colquhoun’s body completely shut down. Bedridden for months with depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety and severe flu-like symptoms, Roy sought the best medical care available. Psychiatrists and medical specialists recommended a myriad of drugs that did nothing to alleviate Roy’s physical ailments and, Roy asserts, actually worsened his mental condition.... We helped him do a detox to rid his body of all the poisons and got him on lots of green juices, superfoods, supplements and sprouts to cleanse his body. Within a few months, Roy was back to his old self. Maybe even better. He was out of bed, moving freely and energetically around the house. He lost weight and was no longer anxious or depressed. He slept through the night and woke up each morning refreshed and ready for the day. He even started jogging again, something he hadn’t done in years. He was renewed. A simple commitment to natural foods freed him from the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had trapped him for over five years. It was amazing to watch.”
“When I turned 40, I realized that I had been all talk and no action for years, saying that someday I would change my life and do something to reclaim the robust health I had enjoyed as a younger man. It was a sobering realization -- I had focused my capacity for action, determination and discipline on nothing but creating wealth. It was time to harness those skills to create health... It is amazing what can happen. I can vouch for this by first-hand experience. After 60 days of juice and another 70 days of eating just fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans and seeds I was 100 lbs lighter and off all medication. I’ve been that way ever since.” - Joe Cross
Amazing, right? It's important to note that the people described above juiced in addition to eliminating many unhealthy foods from their diets. While you may not be ready to alter your diet like they did, just imagine the changes you will feel as your body gets more of what it needs when you begin to integrate more veggies into your lifestyle through juicing! You may actually find yourself drawn more to healthy foods because you realize how great they make you feel.
But please remember, before making any radical changes in your diet and lifestyle you should ALWAYS consult your doctor, and NEVER go off medication without talking to your doctor first.
2) What You Need to Make Juice
Photo sources: http://bit.ly/1D3BySr & http://bit.ly/1LbuqjL
Now that we're thoroughly inspired by the power of juicing, let's talk about the tools and ingredients we need to make this magical liquid!
First, you'll need your ingredients: veggies and fruits of your choice. See section 3 for recipes and section 4 for why you should choose ingredients that are organically grown.
Secondly, you may need vitamin C crystals for preservation of your juice if you’re saving it for later; see note in section 6b. Try to drink your juice within a day or two as its nutrient content decreases with time.
And last but certainly not least, you'll need a juicer (not a blender, because a blender would make a smoothie).
There are two common types of juicers: centrifugal and masticating. The most popular type of juicer found in stores and online is the centrifugal juicer. It works very quickly, is relatively inexpensive, and works best on firm items such as carrots, beets and apples. A popular and relatively inexpensive centrifugal juicer is the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, which has a lifetime motor warranty and costs about $100. However, when this type of juicer is used, the pulp (fiber) of softer items such as leafy greens and herbs, which gets disposed, often still contains a significant amount of juice and nutrients.
Compared to centrifugal juicers, masticating juicers work more slowly and are a step up in price, but their benefit is that they extract more juice from plants, especially leafy greens and herbs. If you frequently juice leafy greens, or plan to make juicing a long-term comittment and want to get the most bang for your buck, I recommend that you buy a masticating juicer such as the Omega 8006. I use an Omega 8006 and like to call her Big Bertha, I'm not sure why but the name just seems to fit. ;) The great thing about Big Bertha is that she’s versatile and includes different-shaped nozzles for you to make other fun foods, like smoothies and nut butters! Sticking with the reputable Omega brand, another reliable masticating juicer in the lower end of the price range is the Omega 8003, which has a 10-year warranty and costs $229.99.
When shopping for a juicer, look for one that has good customer reviews and a warranty - the longer and more comprehensive the warranty, the better. And when considering the price, think of your purchase as an investment in your health! If you're seeking out the most affordable options, why not look for a juicer on Groupon, eBay or Craigslist, including those that are used, or borrow one from a friend? You could even start with a manual citrus juicer and start making your own orange or grapefruit juice in the morning. It’s definitely a step in the right direction and it's much healthier than drinking store-bought juice (more on that in section 3)!
3) Juice Recipes
This is the FUN part! When I was sick and on a strict version of the Gerson Therapy, I had to drink A LOT of juice: 8 carrot-apple juices, 4 green juices and 1 orange juice per day. But now that I’ve been in remission for a while, I’ve been able to drastically reduce the volume of juice I consume and alter the recipes a bit, so I’ve been having much more fun with it!
You can juice nearly anything you want, though green juices are your best bet - they typically have the most health-boosting nutrients with the least amount of sugar. If you're scared to try a green juice right away, a very simple and very popular juice you could try is carrot-apple (typically 3-4 carrots and 1 medium granny smith apple). But if you want to try something unusual, like I did one day when experimenting with a friend, you could try something like plain raw sweet potato juice. It had a bit of a chalky texture but I thought it was an interesting flavor and I actually liked it!
Other juices I’ve enjoyed creating and tasting just for fun include:
Sweet and Sour Citrus
1 orange
1 grapefruit
1 lemon
Veg Express*
1 cup tomatoes
3 medium carrots
3/4 cup cucumber
2 stalks celery
1/2 medium lemon
*Like a V8, but better!
Not Your Average Carrot Juice**
3-4 carrots
1 medium granny smith apple
1 small beet
ginger root, the size of half your thumb
**Many people I've shared this with say it's their favorite!
These are my own photos of the juices mentioned above.
As mentioned before I used to stick to the exact Gerson Diet green juice recipe (swiss chard, escarole, romaine, watercress, green pepper, red cabbage and grannies - not actually grannies, but granny smith apples), and it became monotonous. About a year ago however, one of my favorite power couples, Gar and Christeene Hildenbrand, helped me understand that the Gerson Diet, although very effective as is, doesn’t have to be followed precisely for you to regain and maintain your health. So now I just use the Gerson green juice recipe as a reference and modify it from there. :)
My daily juice typically contains a combination of:
Leafy greens, red cabbage, green pepper, granny smith apples, carrots, beet, ginger, lemon & celery. I would include a picture but the greens and the reds don’t combine into such a pretty color – as my friend Jen says, you shouldn't judge a smoothie [or juice] by its color!
Some additional, delicious juice recipes (and very important reasons why fresh juice is overwhelmingly better for you than store-bought juice) can be found here on the Food Matters TV website.
4) Basic Instructions (If you’re a newb you may need to read this)
Once you've found a juicer to use and have gathered your ingredients for your recipe (or experiment) and know what you're going to make...
Wash and dry the ingredients (at least shake off the excess water; you may need a salad spinner for your leafies)
Cut off the parts you don’t want in your juice* (e.g. the nasty ends of carrots, rinds of citrus fruit, bruised parts)
Cut the produce into pieces that will fit into the juicer
Place ingredients down the chute and…
Watch the magic happen!
*You do not have to core apples, but can if you’d like
5) Why Does Organic Matter?
Photo sources: http://www.falselabelingcomplaintcenter.com/food/ & www.ams.usda.gov
If you find yourself buying more fruits and veggies than usual due to juicing, it would be an especially good time to consider buying organic. The more you consume the greater is your exposure to cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting chemicals, especially when you buy conventionally grown crops. When you buy fruits and veggies that are certified organic, however, you can greatly decrease your exposure to many of these toxic chemicals, including those like glyphosate, which the World Health Organization declared a probable human carcinogen, due to this study. Please read my "Why Does Organic Matter" blog post to find out why this is one of the most important topics I've ever written about!
6) The Difference Between Juicing and Blending
If you're wondering about blending and how it relates to juicing, let me clear that up for you. You've probably heard that both juices and smoothies can be excellent for your health, but what’s the difference? And which one should you choose?
Photo source: http://whatscookingamerica.net/KitchenBlenderReview/Juicing-Vs-Blending.htm
My health-conscious and inspiring friend Amanda, who has her own miraculous story of recovery from a double concussion, blogged about this topic a couple years ago and referred her readers to a great article written by James Colquhoun, filmmaker and co-creator of Food Matters TV. I’ve provided the link for James’ article here along with a couple of my own comments below.
But before I comment on the article, I'll give you a brief overview...
Both juices and smoothies can pack a punch of nutrition in liquid form; the difference is in the fiber content. Juice contains little to no fiber while a smoothie contains all the original fiber from its ingredients. There are benefits to having the fiber in a smoothie because it makes you feel fuller longer and slows the absorption of the sugar and other nutrients in your drink. Removing the fiber by juicing rather than blending, however, makes the nutrients more easily digestible and readily available to be absorbed into your cells. It also makes more room for the nutrients that are found in the liquid of the plant, such as vitamins, minerals and cancer-fighting phytonutrients. When there's competition for space in your belly and you're trying to get in as many micronutrients as possible, juicing is preferable to blending. This is why juicing is an integral part of a diet and detox regimen called the Gerson Therapy, which has helped many people heal from many different health challenges, including cancer.
Here are my comments on James’ article:
a) The first of James’ “Juicing and Blending Rules” warns against combining starchy vegetables with fruit, but I, along with many other Gerson Therapy followers, have probably had thousands of carrot-apple juices each and not had a problem with them. ;)
b) I agree completely with #2 of James’ “Juicing and Blending Rules," which is that if you’re not drinking your juice within 15 minutes of making it, it will lose some nutritional value. However, I learned a solution to this problem while in Mexico from Gar Hildenbrand, an extraordinary source of information on healing from cancer. All you have to do is mix in ½ tsp of vitamin C crystals per quart of juice before storing it. You can find vitamin C crystals in health food stores and online. I like the Country Life brand because it’s a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)-certified company, and their product is widely available online, including here.
7) More Diet-Related Info
A final note...
If you're reading this, you probably care about what goes in your body and you might be wondering about specifics of a healthy diet. However, there is no “one size fits all” diet for optimal health and I can't tell you everything you should and shouldn’t eat. Meat, dairy, salt, soy and wheat are things I personally tend to avoid for the most part, it’s up to you to decide if any and how much of each of those is best for you to consume. First and foremost I would recommend that you eat mostly organic and whole, unprocessed foods.
Remember the stories of juice-spiration we read about in the first section? These remind us that proper nutrition can have a profound effect on our health and help us attain the life we want to live. The results we experience are proportional to the effort we put into our diet, we just have to decide what our goals are and the rest will fall into place. Juicing is a fun, easy, delicious way to aid us as we work toward those goals!
For a general outline of the “Cancer Diet” I followed when I was sick, please visit Gar Hildenbrand's website.
I hope this guide has inspired you to start juicing. Cheers to your health! :)
© Bailey O'Brien
