Fuel Injection

 

FUEL INJECTION

I grew up with my mom juicing raw vegetables for my dad before he was off to work in the mornings. Some of our dogs used to howl at the sound of the juicer, so we had to put them outside before we juiced!

Juicing raw vegetables can provide your body with a burst of micronutrients that can be utelised by the body straight away. Not an excessive amount of digestion has to take place because the pulp or fibre and the juice get separated from each other. Juicers separate, and blenders incorporate everything until smooth. Juice extractors are better for raw vegetables, pears, apples and melons.  Blenders are better for smoothies containing raw fruit, nuts and milk of some sort.

By juicing, you will be enhancing nutrient absorption where you won’t be overtaxing your body with bulk food to digest. Your body can spend that energy to do repair work instead.

Don’t be fooled by thinking you are drinking raw carrot juice when you purchase it in a carton. It has to be pasturised, ie. cooked. It is still good for you, and far better than sugary carbonated drinks, but you are losing out on most of the enzymes that have been destroyed in the cooking process. The enzymes are what we are after. Cooked carrot or beetroot juice tastes very different from raw, juiced carrots.

You can make your own fruit juice by putting it through a juice extractor. Your choices must consider the water content of the fruit. Be careful for concentrated sugars. Eating a whole fruit is very different from having apple juice. The fibre content acts like a filter, allowing for a slower release of natural sugars. Always remember to dilute your fruit juice there by keeping the sugar content lower. A good combination that works is red apple juice mixed with cooled strong rooibos tea.

 

Green juices will also increase your chlorophyll intake, increasing anti-inflammatory activity. Think spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, cabbage and apple. We always add an apple for a little sweetness without spiking blood sugar levels.

 

How about a red juice? Beetroot, radishes, red apples? Adding beetroot to any juice will boost your body, especially when you need that fuel injection to kick in to help get you through your day!

 

You can increase your vegetable intake this way, by starting your day with a glass of vegetable juice. This will kickstart your immune system and help your body with the overhauling process.

 

The most frequent combination that we juice is beetroot, radish, spinach, carrot, ginger and apple. You can always add lemon, ginger and radishes and herbs as you like. Beetroot, spinach and carrot combination is a good place to start.

 

Some choose to do a juice cleanse or juice fast which will assist your body in the detoxification process. A lot of people say that juicing is a waste of time, chopping vegetables and cleaning their machine. Many say that it is healthier and more economical to eat the whole produce. All of these are valid points, but how about adding juice to your wholefood, predominantly plant based diet?

 

A word of caution; if you’ve done an extended juice fast, be sure to start with the correct foods and not overloading your system and ending up with constipation.

 

Below is a list of some of the benefits that you will be reaping from:

Beetroot:

-boosts stamina

-detoxifies the liver

-helps prevent anaemia and iron deficiency

Cabbage:

-loaded with vit C and K

-improves gut health

-decreases inflammation

-detoxing

-Treats asthma and sinus congestion

Carrots:

-improves eye health

-anti cancer effect

-improves skin health

-boosts immunity

Spinach:

-boosts iron levels

-decreases cancer growth

-promotes healthy hair and skin

-helps with alkalinity levels

Apples:

-anti inflammatory

-fights heart disease

-pectin benefits digestion

-high in vit C

Radishes:

-improves blood flow

-clears sinus and phlegm

-good source of vit C

-regulates blood pressure

Ginger:

-treats nausea

-Treats chronic indigestion

-gingerol has powerful medicinal properties

-fights germs, illness and inflammation

Celery:

-reduces inflammation

-high in mineral salts

-boosts hydration

-high in vit A, C

-heals and activates the gut

-fights infections

Mint:

-improves cold symptoms

-relieves indigestion

-improves irritable bowel symptoms

-combats acne

Lemon:

-relieves sore throat

-cancer fighting

-aids digestion

-helps to clear skin

-high in vit C

-detoxing

Parsley:

-reduces bloating

-helps to clear skin

-high in iron

-blood purifier

-high in vit K, good for blood clotting

-powerful anti-oxidant

-excellent for bone health

-cancer fighting

-anti-bacterial

 

 

*We always add a little water to the juice extractor after the last vegetables have been fed through. It helps to clean the machine and dilutes the juice a bit.

*Try not to down the glass in one go. Sip sip on it to help with digestion. We usually have something to eat an hour after we had our juice.

*I would suggest starting off with a quarter glass, then working your way up to half a glass of fresh vegetable juice. A full glass should be sipped on and not downed.

*The fresher, the better! It starts to lose some of its nutritional content as it stands.

Wo says you can’t have “salad” for breakfast?!!

 

Lizelle