Any of  you I happen to pass in the corridor will know that I’m a huge fan of juicing… “there goes that crazy Aussie again- wonder what he’s drinking today”

Thankfully that walking the halls with fresh juice & our bi-weekly wheat grass + treats has sparked some interest & we’ll chat more about juice, juicers and juicing.

WHY?

The juice itself requires little introduction and I have found Norman Walker explains it best in his book “Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices”, there’s a link at the bottom of this article. I will quote an opening paragraph or two from this to set the scene:

“The basic key to the efficacy of nourishing your body is the life which is present in your food & of those intangible elements, known as enzymes. Enzymes are an intangible magnetic Cosmic Energy of Life Principle which is intimately involved in the action & activity of every atom in the human body, in vegetation, & in every form of life”

While the fiber available in vegetables & fruit are valuable, juicing the produce instead of eating whole accelerates the cell nourishment process without the many hours of digestive activity…leaving the body not only nourished but with available “energy” to handle everything else that is required- including the fighting of disease & ailments.

HOW?

Numerous juicer are available on the market today. I have a small manual juicer easily stored in the draw at work that I use often for wheat grass. Easy to clean & silent…& the exercise required to crank the handle doesn’t hurt either!

At home I have a larger electric juicer- a twin gear, slow revolution (& low heat) machine that masticates the fruit or vegetables then squeezing the juice out & passing through a screen into the bowl. Any pulp is discharged into another bowl. A friend has the state of the art (& expensive) NorWalk juicer that is a two stage process- stage one pulverizes the fruit or vegetables as they fall into a bag, then stage two the bag is placed into the hydraulic press & the juice squeezed through the bag & into the bowl…certainly superior juice. I have had the high speed centrifugal juicers in the past & although quick & easy to use the juice quality is just not there. This can be accounted to the temperature (high RPM) & the ‘cutting’ process does not extract all the nutrients attached to the fibers.

For starting out I’d try one of the single or twin gear juicers, a good selection of juicers are available here. Contact me if any of you are interested as I get bulk order discount on the prices shown & have a couple others ready to go.

All juice deteriorates & depending on the method used for extraction, the rate may differ. As a rule of thumb, juice only what you intend to drink immediately & where that is not practical or you want to have throughout the day- store in an airtight glass bottle & refrigerate.

What?

Fruit juice is for cleansing & vegetable juice for building. I find carrot is a staple for all my (vegetable based) juices.  Carrot juice has the effect of helping to normalize the entire system, including your weight. It is the richest source of Vitamin A which the body can quickly assimilate & contains also an ample supply of Vitamins B, C, D, E, G & K.  Late 2008 I carried out a ‘juice feast’ in excess of 4 weeks…what else does one do in Norway for a few months!

I find fruit juices very refreshing, especially in the hot Texas summers. I use them extensively when carrying out a detox and cleansing program.

When selecting fresh fruit & vegetables, target seasonal organics for the maximum benefit. Experiment & have a little fun. I’m quite sure you can’t over do it on juice…bit if you find a way to do so I’d be excited to hear!! Let me know how it goes and drop me a line if you have any questions.

Any fresh-raw juice is better than no juice at all…cheers!