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My son was excited when he called me the
other day. Now what would excite a 28-year-old, single male in his last year
of law school?
A good grade, a win for his intramural basketball team, a Seahawks score, or
perhaps a girl?
Nope, not even close. You’ll never guess—not in a hundred years. I’m still
recovering from the shock.
His thrill of the moment—a juicer. Yes, you read it right—one of those
whirling machines that separates the juice from the pulp of fresh fruits and
vegetables.
“Come on, Leslie. How can that be?”
What can I say? Truth is stranger than fiction as they say.
Yes, it’s true that my son has watched me make juice since he was four years
old. We both remember vividly when he screamed to me, “Mom, I cut off my
finger!” He was my little helper—cutting up carrots (and his finger) for our
juice. Stitches, yes; one digit less, no.
Yes, it’s true that he still asks for juice, vegetable juice no less, when
he comes home.
Yes, it’s true that he’s proud of himself (and I am mama bear relieved) for
eating better and better all the time.
Yes, it’s true that several months ago he asked me for a juicer, and I
finally got around to getting him one—just last week.
And yes, it’s true that he was thoughtful (whew – he does have some manners
after all) enough to call me up and thank me. (He tells me he thinks of me
every time he opens a door for a girl and all those times I yanked him back
when he tried to walk through a door ahead of his sisters and me – giggle,
giggle.)
But what I could’ve never predicted was how genuinely thrilled he was to get
his very own juicer! Go figure.
“Mom, this is my very first appliance. I tried it out right away. Now I can
get a lot of nutrients into my body really fast!”
Up to that moment, I didn’t even know he knew the word “nutrient.” Maybe our
children listen more than they let on.
“So what’s all the ‘ta-do’ about juicing?”
We can get all essential nutrients from the juice of whole fruits and
vegetables. The fiber, although needed for digestion, contains no nutrients.
So why not just eat the whole food and forget about separating the juice
from the pulp? Great question.
Juicing is excellent supplementation to, NOT a substitute for, a diet filled
with fresh whole plant foods, primarily whole, fresh fruits and vegetables.
=> Juices give us concentrated nutrition in just a few swallows.
We can’t possibly eat four stalks of celery, one beet, beet greens, kale,
one cucumber, one zucchini, and parsley in just a few moments, much less a
whole day. Look at all that nutrition.
That was one of my juices today, and, no, it doesn’t taste great. In fact,
YUCK! Remember, I’m a hard-core every-day juicer—I drink juice for its
value, not taste, but you can make juice that YOU like.
Hint: a bit of lemon and fresh ginger make any juice more taste-bud
friendly.
=> Juices rev-up energy within, some say, 30 minutes.
The energy we get today comes from the carbohydrates in whole fresh fruits
and vegetables that we ate yesterday. (Energy doesn’t come from meat, or
cheese, or fat, or protein bars, or coffee—ouch, that hurt!)
Most foods take at least 24 hours to digest and transform into usable
energy.
One exception to 24-hour digestion and absorption: juice. Juice, without the
fiber, goes through our system lickety split and lifts us up in minutes.
=> Homemade juices are the best form of hydration, not water. Water has no
nutrients; homemade juices do. Given the choice, homemade juices are better
for us than water.
(If you have diabetes, watch your blood sugars when juicing—vegetable juice
is usually doable, fruit juice often is not.)
=> Juices boost immune systems. What are our disease warriors and health
heroes? Whole, fresh fruits and vegetables. What better way to get a
concentrated shot of nutrients than by drinking the juices from fruits and
vegetables?
=> BIG bonus here: fresh, homemade juices are weight reducers and
controllers.
Drinking homemade juices between and before meals curbs the appetite, starts
filling us up, and bingo, bango, without thinking about it, we eat less.
Result: fewer calories, less weight.
=> Juices crush cravings. Juices contain the carbohydrates from whole fruits
and vegetables that satisfy the hunger drive and help kill cravings—that
sugar and salt thing that holds most of us hostage.
Just to be clear, juicing is different than blending. A Vitamix is a
blender, not a juicer. A juicer specifically separates the juice from the
pulp for all of the above reasons.
A blender pulverizes the food, mixing the juice and the pulp together.
Blenders make great smoothies, but they don’t make juice.
Juices have been a part of my day for years, the perfect complementary
appetizers for the whole fruits and vegetables I eat.
And I’m not pulling your leg. I have proof!
The next time you get close to me (if distance makes it possible and
practical), notice the color of my skin – it’s yellowish, orangish – no,
it’s not a tan, and it’s not even from carrots, I don’t juice many of them
anymore. It’s from all the other vegetables I drink that constantly help my
liver detoxify.
Who knows. When I see my son at Christmas, perhaps he will have that same
funny “juice-glow” as well.
I don’t know about that, but I do know that he and I will continue to open
doors for one another on our journey through life together.
Happy door-opening to you, my friend. Bye for now and remember – “Your body
first; everything else second.”
Addendum: If you’d like more information on juicing or the juicer that I
like for the price (and I’ve tried at least 10 different ones over the
years), feel comfortable emailing me or calling my office at 360-683-8844 or
1-800-375-3754. Katy, Diane and Mona know a lot of stuff!
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