Feel-Good Juice
by Holly Hageman
In our battles with various health issues, we've discovered that there's a lot to be cured simply by a generous infusion of healthy nutrients in the juice of fresh vegetables and fruits that can get to the cell level quickly. I call this "feel good" juice because it does just that! I can practically feel it reaching whatever it is that ails. We like being able to drink 3 or more meals worth of vegetables and fruit in one sitting!
Sometimes we will actually vary the vegetables or mix the juice back in with the pulp to make an applesauce-like texture mixture. The fiber of the vegetables and fruit is equally important, but it also slows down absorption.
We use a Champion Juicer. Hands down the best for us, though we've also tried the lesser expensive Jack LaLanne Juicer.
Here's our recipe for approximately 1/2 gallon of juice, which we consume in quart-sized servings:
8 organic carrots
5 organic gala apples
1 organic lemon, quartered and peeled
1 organic orange. quartered and peeled
2 organic cucumbers
4 pieces of organic celery, cut into 1" pieces (optional)
With our Champion juicer, we generally have a process of how we juice the vegetables according to how we like to save the pulp if we don't mix it in with the juice at the end for "applesauce." I'll save and freeze the carrots for making light carrot muffins, and the apple makes great applesauce cake - juicing the lemon and orange following helps preserve the color of the apples for storage. We don't save the cucumber or celery pulp.
After washing and preparing vegetables and fruit (peeling them isn't necessary if using a Champion Juicer), slice into length that fit your juicer opening. Juice is best when consumed immediately to gain full nutrient value. If it must be stored, store in airtight container in the refrigerator for the day.
After decades of juicing apples whole, I've learned within the past few weeks that apples' SEEDS should always be discarded as part of the apples' prep for juicing or eating. The reason? Apple seeds contains CYANIDE, a deadly poison which is released out of the tough apple seeds if you chew, crush, or—as in the case of juicing—pulverize them. However, looking into this further, I found that one would need to consume the crushed/chewed/pulverized equivalent of EIGHT apples per day in order to be putting the TOXIC level of cyanide into one's body (see http://juicing-for-health.com/apple-seeds.html ... more on "juicing apple seeds cyanide" can be Googled). I've used eight apples at a time when juicing before, but that amount of juice usually lasts me three days (or only 33% of the lethal dose per day), so technically, my body should be able to eliminate that quantity of cyanide. But as a precautionary measure (why put any more toxic stuff in my body when I'm trying to help it?), I'm now coring ALL apples before juicing or eating. Just wanted to pass this info along in case it's helpful to anyone. Thank you for all the great info you're sharing with us here, Holly!
ReplyDeleteP.S. All that said, cyanide in small amounts has been known to have anti-cancer properties (a synthetic form is the main ingredient in the anti-cancer drug, Laetrile). So, there are two sides to everything! I just wanted to add this information to Holly's post so that everyone was well-informed. Blessings!
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