Your Health
Detoxing with juices
By Vivid writer: Andrew Begg
The most enjoyable method of consuming fresh fruit and vegetables is to drink them, by first running them through a juicer
Posted: 28/05/2008
Nothing tastes better, and is better for you than freshly made fruit and or vegetable juice.
A more enjoyable method of consuming fresh fruit and vegetables is to drink them, by first running them through a juicer. I discovered this about two years ago, when I researched what juicers were available locally, read customer reviews of each, and settled on a Philips HR 1861 purchased from Media Galaxy for the equivalent of about 150 euros. Juicers extract juice from fruit and vegetables, discarding pulp and skin and reducing the rest to a pure liquid form. This Philips model makes a delicious glass of juice, is quick and clean and thorough, the parts are easily washed afterwards, and after two years it is still going strong.
In case you are wondering, bottled, commercial juices are no kind of replacement for the juice that comes out of a juicer, for a variety of reasons; included among them are the facts that supermarket juices are often mixed with sweeteners and preservatives, are heated and pasteurised before ending up on the supermarket shelf and contain more water than juice. In fact most commercial juices sold in supermarkets do not contain more than 20 per cent juice. When you produce your own drink you can feel confident that what you see is what you get. But ideally it must be consumed within an hour; beyond that its goodness begins disappearing.
The Philips HR 1861 Pro Aluminium Juicer did the trick.
Nor is juicing a replacement for eating fruit and vegetables, because what you do not get in a juice is fibre, one of the most essential reasons for eating fruit and vegetables. Fibre is vitally important for any diet and if you drink your fruit and vegetables it is important you look for another source of fibre, such as unsalted, unroasted nuts. But discarding the pulp and fibre has an advantage, and that is that when you drink a juice the vitamins and minerals in the pulverised fruit and vegetables enter your system immediately, rather than waiting an hour or so to filter through. Thus the positive effects of a juice are felt straight away.
Having used the juicer virtually every morning for the last two years I had wanted to take juicing one step further, by embarking on a 7-day detoxifying juice fast, in which you only ever eat juices made from fruit and vegetables, and water. I bought a book called the Juice Fast Bible by Sandra Cabot and followed it to the word. After a day I was hungry and after three days of being driven up the wall by hunger, I entered a state beyond hunger, when an 800ml drink of juice three or four times a day was really all that was needed. I never missed the taste of anything.
Bottled, commercial juices are no kind of replacement for the juice that comes out of a juicer.
After the first two days I began to feel the effects of the toxins leaving my system. Besides the obvious route, toxins are expelled through the lungs and from the pores of the skin as well - so if you notice that people are veering away from you in a crowded room, you can take heart that yours is merely a temporary condition. Whenever my appetite rose up I alleviated it with a juice, in whatever combination of fruits and vegetables you like, though I would usually juice more vegetables than fruit. I complemented the juices with 1-2 litres of water every day and cut back on vigorous exercise during the seven days. The desire for satisfaction through food is a condition that can be overcome; the desire for taste was never an issue, because there can be fewer more delicious tastes than, say, a freshly made carrot and apple juice, or one made from pepene galbene (eng: rock melon.) After the seven days I felt healthier than before, sleeker and lighter - in fact 4 kgs lighter - and will look forward to doing this again before too long.
Comments:
1. | |
Wednesday 28th May 2008 at 13:05 Edwin said: "An interesting article. Last year I gave up drinking any alcohol for three months and tried many different soft drinks during the first few weeks. After one month I settled on 'apa minerala' with some lemon slices. It's clean and beautifully refreshing. For the next two months I found myself drinking 4 to 5 litres every day without really noticing (apart from watching the 'empties' pile up). I also noted a detox affect such as you describe here. After three months I had lost all signs of any pot belly from beer and felt amazingly healthy. Perhaps you might try doubling your water intake next time?" | |
2. | |
Friday 13th February 2009 at 08:02 Jent said: "Instead of discarding the fibre and pulp why not mix it with the juice, or use a blender so you get the best of both worlds." | |