Can you eat all this lush veggie wonderfulness in one sitting?
Photo by LifeLoveLyme

Carrots, celery, brocoli, a hearty portion of kale, parsley, an apple and a big red beet: so much nutrition! A couple of day’s worth of vibrant vitamins, right?

That one basket of produce yielded two cups of easily consumed juice.

Actually, I concentrated the vitamins from everything in that basket into two cups of frothy juice that I swigged down in a few minutes flat. How’s that for a healthy infusion of good immune system support?

Friend were encouraging me to get a high-end juicer, but I just didn’t have the cash. However, when my sister offered to lend one sitting unused in her basement, I accepted gratefully. (Thanks, Sis!)

And so far, this little workhorse works just fine, now that I have the hang of it. I do treat it gently, alternating easier-to-juice veggies like cucumbers with handfuls of tougher kale.

A carrot adds a touch of sweetness.

I use only organic produce —there’s no way I want to concentrate herbicides and pesticides along with nutrients.

And, while an apple a day may keep the doctor away, those of us on antibiotics have to keep yeast, or candida, at bay, so I limit sweet things including carrots and apples.

I hate waste, so I’ve been stirring a few spoonfuls of the ground-up produce back into my juice to add fiber, and putting the rest on my compost pile. My wise nephew suggested I use it to make soup stock, so that’s next on my list of things to try.

Here’s an important tip: turn on the faucet as soon as juicing is done. It’s a breeze to rinse the machine parts under running water when they are damp from the process. I learned the hard way that dried-on gunk required a lot of soaking and scraping—and my precious energy.

And always drink the juice right away, don’t store it. Fresh juice can quickly develop harmful bacteria.

Juicers are flying off store shelves these days, and devotes claim amazing health benefits.  Many have been inspired to join the juicing craze by the film documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead,” in which an exuberant Australian spends 60 days traveling the U.S. talking to folks about what they eat and how they feel—while consuming nothing himself but fresh juice.

I have to say, he looks transformed by the end of his trip. I want to look transformed.

The Mayo Clinic says that despite many claims to the contrary, juicing is not any healthier than eating whole fruits and veggies.

That information hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm. I’m not planning on existing exclusively on juice for six days, or sixty. I’m not drinking four or more quarts a day like some people, or giving up my personal idea of a well-rounded menu.

I simply consider juicing a smart addition to my regular diet, just like my daily probiotic-filled, home-made kefir.  With my body working so hard to heal, I figure juice adds a boost it can use. 

Tagged: boosting nutrition, chronic fatigue, Fat sick and nearly dead, immune system, juicing, lyme, nutrition