How to Juice

Juicing 101

Juicing is generally used for two different purposes:

• For cleansing or detox: Solid food is eliminated and only juice is consumed as a way to cleanse your body of toxins. Juice cleanses range from 3 days to several weeks in length. Depending on what the goal is I usually only suggest 3-5 days.
• To supplement a normal diet: Fresh juice can be used as a handy supplement to your daily diet, increasing vitamins and minerals intake from fruits and vegetables that you wouldn't otherwise consume. To learn more on supplementing your diet  with celery juice read here. These are two common types of juicers: 
• Centrifugal juicers: These juicers grind fruits and vegetables into pulp through a high-speed spinning action.
• Cold-press juicers: Also called masticating juicers, these crush and press fruits and vegetables much more slowly to get as much juice as possible.
• Cold-press juicers don't produce heat, so they do not cause the breakdown of beneficial enzymes and nutrients that is thought to happen with centrifugal juicers.

I love the following Juicers:
1. Champion
2. Breville's
3. Omega

1. 
   
   If you have thyroid issues,consider blanching kale, Swiss chard or spinach before juicing or simply exchange it for romaine lettuce, celery, or mixed greens in any green drink.
2. If you have been eating a diet rich in sugar, processed food and dairy, then I suggest cleansing your body for a few days and incorporating more vegetables, raw foods, fruits, soups, and reduce the processed foods before you begin your juice cleanse.
   
   When buying your fruit and veggies I do suggest going out of your way to buy only organic.  It would be a shame to do all this hard work of juicing while putting toxins in your body from pesticides. 
   In general, the following "Dirty Dozen Plus" from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy organic:

• Apples
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Celery
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Sweet bell peppers
• Nectarines (imported)
• Cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Snap peas (imported)
• Potatoes
  
  Plus these, which may contain organophosphate insecticides, which EWG characterizes as "highly toxic" and of special concern:
  
  
• Hot peppers
• Blueberries (domestic)
  
  Also, be sure to start drinking at least 100 ounces of water 2-3 days prior to cleansing to begin flushing toxins from the body. Increase your water intake to at least one gallon per day during your detox. For extra hydration, particularly if you feel lightheaded, you can, in between juices make and drink a natural Gatorade by adding 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, 1 tablespoon of honey, and the juice of one lemon to 30 ounces of water.
  Note: If you have candida overgrowth, diabetes, or sugar imbalances, then I encourage you to stick with green juices and not do the fruit juices. Green juice is very powerful for alkalizing the body, and by only juicing greens you are consuming low glycemic juice.
  
  For everyone juicing I suggest juicing 80% vegetables, 20% fruits to keep the fruit sugar low because too much fruit sugar can overwhelm your body and not give you the healthy results you want from a juice cleanse.
  
  It's best to use glass jars to drink and store your juice. This keeps the juice fresh and allows you to avoid leaching (which can occur when using plastic). You can even bring your own glass jars to the store as it's less waste and no leaching! I also recommend stainless steel straws, which you can buy on Amazon. Keep some in your bag or at work—it will also save on waste.
  If you like these tips and want learn more about the health benefits of juicing and detoxing come to this Saturday's workshop on Spring Detox. 

Juicing and the Benefits of Celery Juice

Juicing has become all the rage with juice stores popping up all over New York city and lining fridges at Whole Foods. So, what’s behind the colorful garden in a bottle? It’s not just the next craze—it’s actually a great way to help the body cleanse, repair and get its daily dose of nourishment. Juicing has many healing benefits such as boosting your immune system, increasing your energy, supporting brain health and promoting weight loss. This all occurs as the nutrient dense juice floods the body with vital micronutrients, giving your digestive tract a break from solids to allow for rest and repair. Juicing helps break up and flush out any unwanted crud that accumulates from your diet and lifestyle, and has a role to play in the alkalinity of the body, bringing balance to your system.

There are many options out there and it can seem daunting knowing what to choose. Not all juices are potent health healers, so I would like to give you some tips on how to maximize all these wonderful benefits when juicing yourself:

-       Fresh is best: Within 20 minutes, those powerful vitamins and minerals tend to deteriorate being exposed to oxygen so the juice just isn’t as potent (but still healthy to drink). Juicing yourself or buying a freshly made juice at store is your best bet.

-       80-20 rule: 80% vegetables, 20% fruit. This ratio allows for a variety of micronutrients without flooding the body with fruit sugar. Some veggies can be quite powerful so a little bit of fruit can help balance out the taste. Using green apples and berries will add great flavor and they are lowest in fruit sugar.

-       Eat the rainbow: You need some of every color to benefit from the wide variety of nutrients, compounds and antioxidants they contain. So think of the rainbow when your selecting you veggies and fruit.

-       Organic produce: I feel it’s key to buy organic produce as it is farmed without the use toxic of chemicals. Steering clear of conventional veggies and fruit will keep the juice as clean and healthy as possible.

-       Daily routine: There are many juice cleansing routines, but you can easily incorporate juicing into your daily routine by simply adding a freshly made green juice in the morning. It will really help clear out the body after an evening of resting. Make sure to still keep you water intake high as well.

-       Make the swap: Try swapping out your morning coffee or tea for an energy boosting green juice. Green juices are full of chlorophyll, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, which are all powerful energy boosters. You’ll feel the natural buzz!

-       Glass jars: It's best to use glass jars to drink and store your juice. This keeps the juice fresh and allows you to avoid leaching (which can occur when using plastic). You can even bring your own glass jars to the store as it's less waste and no leaching! I also recommend stainless steel straws, which you can buy on Amazon. Keep some in your bag or at work—it will also save on waste. Winning!

All veggies have healing and restorative properties which vary depending on the type, where they were grown and the quality. Celery juice is the queen of anti-inflammatory and healing with extensive health benefits. You’ll want to have a glass every morning.

Acidity: The important minerals in this magical juice effectively balance the body’s blood pH, neutralizing acidity.

Energy: Celery juice acts as the perfect post-workout tonic as it replaces lost electrolytes and rehydrates the body with its rich minerals.

Blood pressure: Celery has organic sodium that actually reduces blood pressure rather than increasing it. Drinking celery juice every day for a week significantly helps lower blood pressure. A compound called phthalides help relax the muscle around arteries, dilating the vessels and allowing blood to flow normally.

Cancer: Celery is known to contain at least eight families of anti-cancer compounds. Among them are acetylenics, which have been shown to stop the growth of tumor cells; phenolic acids, which block the action of prostaglandins that encourage the growth of tumor cells; and coumarins, which help prevent free radicals from damaging cells.

Cleansing and detoxifying: Celery is a great internal cleanser and detoxifier due to its hydrating and alkalizing properties that aid in kidney function. It's a powerful diuretic as well, helping remove excess water weight from the body and flushing out toxins more effectively. 

Skin: With antioxidants and a high vitamin K content, celery helps preserve and repair the skin's firmness and elasticity. It's also a good source of vitamin A, C and B for healthy skin tone and color.

You can know see why this humble vegetable wears a crown, with an abundant amount of healing properties to keep our bodies healthy and in balance. Celery juice would be a great staple to add to your daily morning routine. Do so today and watch your health kick into gear!!

Celery Juice recipe:

From Medical Medium Blog

Ingredients

1 bunch celery* (makes approx 16oz juice)

*organic when possible

Preparation

Wash 1 bunch of celery and run through a juicer. Drink immediately for most therapeutic benefits. If you prefer, you can also blend the celery in a Vitamix, Nutribullet, or any high speed blender with a little water and either drink as-is, or strain as desired.

Optional: If you you find the taste of straight celery juice too strong, you can add a cucumber and/or an apple to the juice. Be advised, though, that this will slightly dilute its effectiveness. If you prefer a more gentle juice you can make straight cucumber juice instead, which is also very healing and beneficial. 

Juice Press is a Must

After many weeks of saying, 'I should check out Juice Press' I finally went this last Saturday. One of their locations being only 10 blocks from my office (1050 Third Ave. at 62nd St.) a friend and I took a stroll and loved what we discovered.

There was an assortment of choices for juices and one could easily get overwhelmed but Juice Press does a good job of labeling to make it as easy as possible. Green labels were used for super green drinks, blue labels were used for green drinks with fruit or starchy vegetables and orange labels were used for fruit drinks. Actual ingredients are listed for all products so you know exactly what is in it, no guessing necessary! My friend has been before to the 239 Columbus Ave. at 71st St. and was looking forward to his 'Horny Gorilla' juice but they don't make that one at this location, so something to keep in mind. Instead he got the 'Lait de Coconut' which even though on the expensive side of the average juice price at $13, tasted like coconut candy. All it is is coconut water blended with coconut meat but it's so rich and creamy. Now remember, all my patients out there that have to stay off of fruit, coconut is a nut, not a fruit, so if you are in the mood for something sweet I highly recommend it!

Besides all the juices, they have smoothies and I decided to get 'D-tox Super Smoothie'. It was $10 and was so rich it could have been a meal for me. I loved the consistency for it was as thick as an actual milkshake and stayed that consistency the whole time I was drinking it. Ingredients were coconut water, acai berry, avocado, cashew, agave, coconut meat, cacao powder, coconut oil, vanilla and mint. It wasn't too sweet which I liked and the taste reminded me of carob. It wasn't minty at all and if I did not read the ingredients list I would not have known there was any mint in it.

My friend and I decided to share the 'Sin-o-Bun' which at $9 is about a $1 a bite. Expensive as it was I thought it was well worth it. It was soooo delicious, tasted like a sweet cinnamon roll (not the same texture), and the raw dessert was made of buckwheat, date, golden flax, cinnamon, vanilla with an icing of Irish moss, coconut, coconut sugar and vanilla.

Ambiance was pleasant. They played a mix of music from Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" to Frank Sinatra's "Polk-a-dots and Moonbeams". At the time we went it was not busy and we waited 4 minutes for my smoothie, so just a FYI for New Yorkers on the go. Unfortunately everything they sell comes in plastic so bring your stainless steel straw with you when you go. My smoothie did come in a Greenware cup which is made from plants, not petroleum and will compost in a commercial facility in 50 days. So kudos to Juice Press for being environmentally aware!

Juice Press does advertise a juice cleanse (6 juices a day) so if your in the mood you may want to check it out on their website. And if you decide to go to the one on Third Ave. and feel like eating out Anassa Taverna is a delicious Mediterranean restaurant at 200 E. 60th St. at Third Ave.

I am lucky that Juice Press has a location in Williamsburg at 144 N. 8th St., 7 blocks away from my Brooklyn office. I'll have to check out their lunches next!