Juicing

Well, winter is upon us.  Here on Vancouver Island, especially, we just had several centimetres of snow and it lasted for awhile.  Usually, the bit of snow that we do get melts by the end of the day.  They say we are in for a very cold, hard winter.  So this prompted me to beef up my juicing. The reason is that when I was teaching JK in Ontario, I was juicing and I was never healthier.  Despite having cancer, I had no colds, sore throats or the usual laryngitis.  Since I continue to work with small children, this is the best line of defense that I know of.

I began juicing when I was first diagnosed with cancer.  My research at the time left no doubt in my mind that the best way to improve my health was to consume lots of fresh high quality, organic, vegetables.  Eating them raw it seemed would provide the best nutrients.  But, how was I to do that?  After further research, I stumbled upon juicing.  It seemed to be the answer to getting ample amounts of raw vegetables into my diet, especially since I was not a big vegetable eater, cooked or raw.  The other great benefit of juicing is that your body can absorb more of the nutrients from the vegetables.  My body responded well, as I began to feel better almost immediately.

People have often asked me what did I juice.  In the beginning, I only juiced carrots, celery, broccoli, green beans and swiss chard, as recommended by my naturopath.  Except for the swiss chard, these were some vegetables that I did like, although I liked them cooked.  But really, you can juice any vegetable.  Cucumber is very nice in a juice and juicing fresh tomatoes from the garden, well, all I can say is Yum!

Recently I have read, that some combinations of juice can cause nausea and/or stomach upset.  I didn't experience anything like that; but I didn't use cabbage and that seems to be one of the culprits.  Just listen to your body when juicing.  Your stomach should feel good all morning long.  If it is churning or growling, you probably juiced something you should not be eating.  So experiment and see what types of vegetables you like and the proportions.  I use a fair bit of celery because it is neutral; it dilutes the sugar content of carrots and powerful flavours of vegetables like broccoli, etc. Also, celery is very powerful at eliminating inflammation, which I believe to be a major factor in many cancers.

Several people have commented that juicing is complicated and time consuming.  All I can say is that if you have a good juicer, it's a lot easier than you think.  Clean up is minimal, if you do it right away.  The juicer that I used was the Champion.  I have used the L'Equip which is also very good.  With the Champion, you can also make yummy icecream/sherbet from frozen fruit.  It's a real treat that you can enjoy without feeling guilty.  My grandkids like it as well.

So if you haven't juiced before, why not give it a try!  If you have cancer and are reading this article, please do consider juicing.  It is well, worth your time and effort.  Along with a whole foods diet, exercise and deep breathing, my tumours began shrinking in 4 mos. as was proven by a 2nd CT scan.  Happy juicing!