Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Juicing for Health


This juice should come with a caution sticker to warn you that you might question the health and well being of your internal organs if you drink too much...but don't worry-it's the beets!

I make no secret of my love for my Breville Juicer, it sits in a place of honor on my counter-right next to the best Mother's Day gift EVER a Vitamix (thanks Daddy!).  These two appliances get daily work outs, sometimes both of them in the same morning if I'm feel particularly undernourished.  I love green juices, so does Paulo, and we drink those regularly and I love to experiment with new juice recipes and create my own concoctions. 

Before I get to the ingredients though I want to encourage anyone that is thinking about juicing to watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It is an amazing documentary about the healing power of good nutrition.  While I believe that most people would not need to go to the extreme that Joe had to go to in order to get healthy I think that just about everyone on the planet could use a little, no a lot, more vegetables in their diet and juicing or blending is an easy way to increase your fruit and vegetable intake.  My normal morning juice is kale/celery/apple/lemon.  It's refreshing, energizing and it tastes great.  But when I saw this particular juice on the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead Facebook page I knew I had to try it.

So, what goes into this beautiful glass of goodness??


1/4 pineapple
1 orange, peel cut off
1 lemon, peel cut off
1-2 beets (depending on size)
4-5 carrots
5 fresh strawberries

Run the above through the juicer and enjoy!  The strawberries were an addition I made, they weren't in the original recipe but I had some extras on hand and they looked so good I had to use them. 

I hear a lot of feedback about how much time juicing takes and yes, I agree, it takes time.  But I think the bigger question is how much time does being sick take?  Our country loses countless hours of business productivity a year because of an unhealthy work force.  We sink thousands of dollars over our lifetime into the "health" care industry (or is it really sickcare?).  In the grand scheme of things if you spend a few extra dollars a month and take 15 minutes a day to make a fresh juice and it keeps you healthy isn't that worth it?  I think it is and that's why I juice, or blend, nearly every day.



6 comments:

  1. Sounds ... odd, but looks great!
    And I love the presentation. I've been thinking about getting a juicer, too. Been having smoothies every morning w/ a banana and some fruit mixed in. I think it's time to work in some veggies.

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  2. Throw in a few handfuls of baby spinach, with the right mix of fruits and veggies you will never know-but your body will! Unless you have a high powered blender, like a vitamix, I'd recommend sticking with the baby spinach it blends up well even with a regular blender.

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  3. I have a magic bullet that I've been using. Not sure how it rates on the power scale. :) Thanks. I have put spinach in, but Robbie usually complains. i *think* it's because my spinach smoothies usually are paired up with strawberries that are a little tart.

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  4. Blueberries and raspberries are my favorite things to put in green smoothies. Also, I use frozen mango chunks, and don't forget the banana, very important flavor enhancer ;-) Sometimes I add 1/2 an avocado or some chia and/or flax seeds.

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  5. Are the beets in this one raw or do you have to cook them first? Probably a stupid question. Also, do you peel off the outer layer of the beet or just pop it in as is? I've got a juicer, but it's the "as seen on tv" variety and not very strong. Where did you get your juicer?

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  6. I bought mine at Macy's they always have them on sale, I think I paid about $140 for it. I scrub the beets, remove the stem and split them in half and send them through raw. I might start quartering them though, my juicer is struggling with them-either that or it's time to replace the blade piece.

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