Month: February 2014

Well, I’m into Day 7 of my juice cleanse… and I’m still feeling great. As I’ve said before, I feel amazing when I’m not on a juice cleanse. I know that largely has a lot to do with my outlook on life, fueling my body with the correct nutrients and my faith in Christ. Life is too short to sit around complaining about a variety of issues. Be thankful with what you have.  Even though I feel great when I’m not juicing, going on one does take me to another level.

Last evening I did a bit of thinking and have decided to change my how I juice. Whereas before I was adding the occasional citrus/carrot to my dark leafy green juices, I think for the next few days I’ll focus only on vegetables that don’t bring any sweetness to my juice blends. This morning, I juiced produce that do contain some sugar; tomatoes and lemon both have it…

What triggered my juicing switch? A few months ago, I stumbled upon a post written by a man who was plagued with candida. It was a post of happiness since a lot of the symptoms he was experiencing had been diminished.  First off let me just say that most people have candida, and when it’s in control people are unaware that it exists. The problem occurs when it gets out of hand that’s when people are plagued with symptoms and even then some might not know the reason for their issue, not all health care providers know either.  But back on topic… forum poster mentioned that he only drank green juices for seven days. Nothing sweet was added to his juice. You could almost hear the happiness as he commented as he wrote about many of the symptoms that he’d been plagued with; itchiness, rash, constipation, insomnia, etc., dissipated. He commented about the ‘candida’ that was released in his bowel movements. While there is a lot of speculation as what exactly people are seeing, I do find it interesting that many that are consuming foods that target candida are seeing the same things in their bowel movements.  While I have seen something that might be candida, I’m curious to see what I’d see if I made only non-sweet juices, so we’ll see!

Today, my savory juice is…

Savory Juice

• 5 Roma tomatoes
• 2 handfuls Spinach
• 1 handful Kale
• 1 large cucumber
• 1/2 broccoli head
• 5 celery stalks
• garlic
• 2 habañero peppers
• 1 lemon

This morning, my daughter had some of the above juice. She said that although it was spicy it tasted good. I told her that drinking that was another natural way for her to boost the immune system. Which is true, since the produce offer a wide variety of protection from many comment ailments.

I’m currently sipping (and chewing) my juice now. It’s very savory and delicious. The acid in the lemons and tomato juice attacks the oily capsaicins in the habañero peppers, so while you’re still receiving it’s amazing benefits if you can’t stand the heat you might be able to consume this juice. The habañero peppers are hot, trust me! I accidentally inhaled some of the habañero peppers fumes when I was washing my Breville and I was coughing and gagging. Not a good time.I like the heat, but since my daughter can’t take that type of heat, I compromise by including produce with acid.

Well I’m entering day 4 of my juice cleanse and I’m awake. I awoke shortly after 11:30 p.m. and have not been able to get back to sleep yet. Well,  technically it is my fault. I could have drank hot tea to help me go back to sleep, but no there I lay in bed thinking about this cleanse. In some ways it feels different and in my mind I’m willing to go much longer than 12 days, if I feel like I want to do so, we’ll see.

Juice Cleanse: How am I feeling

Oh, I’m feeling a bit itchy. Also, I have a few minor breakouts on the left side of my cheek. This is normal as your body tries to remove the excess waste from your body. There are a few ways your body accomplishes this; urination, bowel movements, skin and throwing up. Yesterday, I felt great and even though I’m awake I still feel great, a bit tired but I’ll be going back to sleep in a few minutes since the hot ginger root teas has definitely worked it’s magic. I know, I know, I should have drank this a few hours ago.

Juice for the day

When I awaken in a few hours, I’ll be making juice from collards, kale, ginger, hot pepper, and lemon. I might toss a tomato or two in there also. From my years of doing juice cleanses, I’ve found that juicing dark greens to be the best way to nourish my system and flood it with a whole host of nutrients that the body craves. In addition, many of the vegetables that I include in my juicing are healing and cleansing.

I’m currently going into day 3 of my juice cleanse and I feel great.

This morning, I was up at around 1:30 a.m. I couldn’t sleep and so I drank one of my potent dark green juices. What was in this blend? Obviously, it has dark leafy greens, but I also included ginger, head of garlic and a habañero pepper. The juice is very potent. I’ll post the exact recipe and accompanying picture hopefully later today. I’ll warn you, if you don’t like hot, you won’t be liking this juice. It’s not for the spicy lightweight. One of my former coworkers used to call it, ‘Opals Vegan Alcohol’.

After drinking my green juice (that has a powerful kick) I lay back down and was finally able to go back to sleep. I awoke around 4:30 a.m., ready to take on the world with tons of energy! Warm ginger tea was the first thing I drank, since it’s a great to get the digestive system moving which makes having bowel movements a bit easier. In addition, I added a teaspoon of turmeric, to my ginger tea. Why? Turmeric is great for the liver. It makes sense to help the liver out since your liver is working a bit harder  while you’re  on a juice cleanse, right?

Am I feeling hungry the third day of my juice cleanse?

I can honestly say that I’m not feeling any hunger. My body is gathering all the nutrients that it can in a highly concentrated form. Because I’m juicing, the nutrients are assimilated by my body much easier than drinking smoothies or eating solid foods.

Day 3 of my juice cleanse, How am I feeling?

I feel amazing!  In fact, I feel like running around in a wide open field, just like Julie Andrews! My nasal passages are clearer than they normally are and my energy levels are even higher. My energy levels are high already, but juicing always kicks it up a few more notches.

My juice cleanse is going well. In fact, my daughter has joined me for one meal. I guess she want’s to support her mommy, right?

Late this afternoon, my daughter asked if I would make her apple juice. Since my Breville (centrifugal juicer) does a much better job of juicing apples than my Green Star (masticating juicer) it was given the job of juicing the apples. I asked her, “Do you want me to add anything else to the juice?” Her reply, “No mommy, just apples!”

Health benefits of apples

• They are loaded with phytonutrients that have powerful antioxidant effects when consumed
• Liver cleanser
• Helps reduce cholesterol
• Apples contain flavonoids which can help prevent asthma attacks
• Great for the heart. Apples contain polyphenol and flavonoids which are beneficial for a healthy heart.

Apples do have wonderful health benefits, they are also high in sugar. So if you’re watching your sugar intake, keep that in mind.

Simple apple juice

• 6 apples
• Add to juicer
• Juice and enjoy!

If I had my way, I would have added a bit of cucumber, grapes, ginger and perhaps lemon. But it wasn’t about me, now was it? My daughter did tell me that this juice tastes better than the organic apple juice that I occasionally purchase from the store. I’d hope so!  This was freshly juiced a few moments before it was consumed, which which meant all the nutrients were readily available to be assimilated by her body.

Oh by the way, my daughter was kind enough to let me enjoy some of the delicious juice also. 😉