I wanted to share something with you that I’ve been really enjoying this year – and that’s juicing. I imagine some of you are already doing so – but I also am thinking that many of you out there have been wanting to give it a try but don’t know how OR you think it’s a bunch of who-ha.
I can tell you without a doubt that when I drink a glass of green juice everyday – I feel better and I don’t think it’s purely psychological. For me to be drinking something that I don’t think is particularly fabulous tasting – it better be making me feel good! Because truly – when I make this drink all I can think of is a freshly mowed lawn, and that is not something I dream of drinking.
So let me tell you how I got started with juicing.
I had been looking into ways of increasing the amount of calcium I take in because osteoporosis runs in my family. I had been trying to increase my calcium but every time I would take calcium pills I wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom – a truly undesirable outcome. So I started to look into food as a solution.
Now for years we’ve been told that the best way to get more calcium is to eat more dairy products – or at least that is what the dairy association’s been telling us. Well after much research I started seeing that dairy actually makes your blood more acidic which then leaches the calcium out of your bones, along with making your cholesterol higher. The calcium is needed to make the acid in the blood that forms from eating dairy products – more alkaline, which is how the blood normally should be. But that is not the kind of outcome we’re looking for when we’re trying to increase our bone density.
Fortunately most green veggies make our blood alkaline AND give us calcium which is great – because then the calcium can go into the bones instead of hanging out in the blood trying to make it alkaline. And that’s a good thing. One veggie that is high in calcium is kale and that’s a main ingredient in my green juice. Eating kale chips is a fun way of eating kale too!
A great movie to get you into the why’s and how’s of juicing is Fat Sick and Nearly Dead – an absolutely hysterical movie about a guy who was as the title infers – fat, sick and nearly dead. And yes, it is a very funny movie despite the title. Basically it’s about an Aussie fellow who travels across the US with a juicer and a generator in his trunk meeting people along the way and talking about heath. You have to watch it to see the ending yourself – I’m not going to give it away.
Go to the website to watch the movie for free.
If you like more facts than fun – I suggest watching the documentary, Forks Over Knives which is about the way we eat, the effects of dairy and meat on our health, and so much more. You might be surprised by what you learn.
So this is the bottom line here.
We’re all busy people and if we want to live quality lives we are going to have to figure out how to do so in the limited amount of time that we do have. If not – by the time we’re in our late 50’s we’ll already be overweight and on several medications. My grandma lived to 101 and she didn’t take one pill, believe it or not. But she didn’t eat much red meat, she never ate processed foods at all, and always watched Jeopardy to stimulate her brain. Seriously.
If you need to get some good recipes – go to Reboot With Joe the companion site to fat, sick and nearly dead. That’s where I got the recipe for the green juice that I drink. They have lots of recipes there that are easy to make and take on the road. I opted to buy a Breville juicer but there is a nice comparative guide there that can help you pick the perfect one for you.
So I am curious as to whether you juice or not, or if you’ve been thinking about it but just couldn’t get motivated. Don’t forget to post below and let me know!
