Vegetable Juicing

The Patient Advocate first learned about the potential benefits of vegetable juicing from the Prohealth Board. Rick Carlson wrote a short piece on how he improved his CFS with transfer factors and vegetable juicing and a few other items. That was enough for me. The PA decided to explore juicing for myself. It was something that could easily be done in the home, and there are no drawbacks as far as this PA can determine.

The Patient Advocate was in Amsterdam for a week in 2006 and he found a juice bar run by what seemed to him to be a Central American Indian – at least he played the part to the hilt. The PA ordered a “greens” drink and was shortly thereafter looking frantically for a public bathroom - as the drink went right through him. So, right away, The PA learned a little about vegetable juicing. It is a good idea is to start slowly and build tolerance over time.

The PA read about vegetable juicers on the internet and after finding out how expensive the high end ones could be he settled on an Omega 4000. The PA read many reviews and am happy with my choice. It is durable and makes nice juice. There are arguments for this or that type of juicer - and you can read all about it to your heart’s content. The PA has been using this Omega juicer for three years now and it is great.

The Omega 4000 is surprising easy to wash and reuse. It takes about five or ten minutes to wash the elements by hand. The leftovers (the non-juice products) are good for mulching if you are into that kind of thing. The purchase and preparation of the vegetables takes some time, so if the patient is completely infirm they might need someone to make it for them. Otherwise juicing can be easily be incorporated into the regular day.

There is a great deal of information available on vegetable juicing. It takes a little time to learn the literature of juicing, but, in time, it becomes pretty routine. The PA read a bunch of books from the library or purchased books in used book stores or from the internet. The PA particularly remembers "The Juiceman’s Power of Juicing" and "Juicing for Life", both of which can be purchased on Amazon.

Various concoctions can be made, each with their advantages. Beautiful colors of vegetable juice can be fashioned ranging from orangish red (warms) to bright florescent green (cools) to a sewer sludge look (mixture). They all taste great. Juicing represents pure health goodness.

The Patient Advocate juices on a rotational basis with carrots, beets, cucumber, ginger, kale, dandelion, red cabbage, spinach, celery, garlic, oregano, red and green peppers, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes. Often the PA just puts a lot of things together. Sometimes the PA will just combine a few things. Carrots and beets have a higher glycemic index. Spinach and parley are high in oxalates, but the rest are generally low in oxalates - if that is a concern.

Great claims are made for juicing from various quarters, and they all sound nice. The bottom line is that it is an obvious way to get enzymes and nutrients directly into the system. Fresh vegetable juice contains many beneficial enzymes when it is consumed in the first twenty minute. It is important to wash the vegetables carefully and it is recommended to use Organic Vegetables. This of course is expensive – and someone has to lug the vegetables.

It took awhile to convince my daughter, my patient, to get involved in juicing. Now she and her boyfriend are confirmed juicers. Juicing helps protect the body from getting something worse, and it is a good means to get various items into your body. For instance, you can add garlic, ginger, flaxseed, turmeric, olive leaf extract, caprylic acid, and oregano oil, as well as many other items, directly into the juice.

The PA was really convinced on the benefit of vegetable juicing after he purchased a video by called The Joy of Nutrition. by Dale Figtree, PhD. This PA would recommend buying this DVD. It sells for cheap on the Prohealth site. Dale Figtree has an entire nutritional program of which juicing is a part. She says that she cured her lymphoma by nutritional means. Of course these stories are always fascinating.