Carrot Juice

If you are a follower of this blog or if you know me personally you know all about our families challenges, I am an open book.  One of the challenges we have been dealing with for the past almost 2 years is that my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  It was a small, slow growing cancer and after much thought, prayer, and research he made a decision to not take the medical advice given at the time to remove the prostate or do radiation.  Instead to at least try taking a holistic approach.  I won't go into everything he has done but if you need information concerning his complete program please do not hesitate to ask, he is an open book too.  One of what he considers is key to his improved health is drinking fresh carrot/veggie juice.  For the first 6 months or so of drinking approximately a quart a day he did turn a bit orange.  After discussing this w/ our naturopath we discovered this is just a sign that the liver is being cleansed and not a sign that you should stop juicing.  She was definitely correct because he no longer is orange.  The benefits of carrot juice are very easy to find, google it and the list is long.  Chances are if you found this blog searching the internet you already know the benefits and are just looking for confirmation that it is a good thing for you to do.  We will be going in for a follow up biopsy in the next month and are praying the cancer is completely gone or at least not growing.  Regardless of what the results are Mike knows juicing will always be a part of his life.  His general health has improved so much.  For a long time he juiced for himself daily.  A few months ago he told me he was completely burned out with the task, not the drink but the chore of juicing.  Therefore I took over, I have no shame and he offered to pay me, I know that's awful of me.  I have this juicing thing down to a science.  I juice 2 days worth at a time.  There is a 48 hour window that nutritional benefit is at it's best after that enzymes are lost.  Don't waste your time with the kind bottled in the store.  This is my recipe, it tastes really good to us but if you don't like it start w/ more apples and give yourself time to develop a taste for it.

I talk to people often that tell me they have a juicer but don't use it.  Sad to say but all juicers are not the same.  I don't completely understand this but cheap juicers do not extract the juice in a way that the juice is greatly beneficial.  There are 2 home type models that are recommended for greatest benefit.  The first and considered best is the Green Star which costs around $500.  The second is The Champion, which is what we have and I paid $250 for it at Our Daily Bread, a local health food store.  We have had it 5 years and it has been used and used a lot and still in great condition.  Spend the extra money and get a good machine.

Carrot Juice (Important to use all organic ingredients)
2 lbs. organic carrots
1 large tomato
3 apples
1 stalk broccoli, or anything green we use kale sometimes but it is strong
I do not peel the carrots, just was really well.  Cut everything to a size that will fit into your juicer.  Juice, bottle, be sure there is very little to no air in the jar.  Enjoy w/ in 48 hours.



One issue many people struggle with when it comes to juicing is the pulp.  I hear ofter "what about the fiber don't we need that?"  Yes we need fiber and lots of it but the point of juicing is removing the fiber so your body completely absorbs the nutrients.  Look at the pile of veggies we juiced, you could not eat that much but juicing it you are getting all of the vitamins and minerals in a small quantity.  Get your fiber in other ways, I personally recommend beans, Mike eats them every day.  As far as the "waste" of the pulp.....a couple of options.  You can add it to a compost pile, or better yet feed it to chickens.  Mine LOVE this stuff.  They thank me on a daily basis by providing our family with all the eggs we could want.

The pulp, aka chicken food.


Comments

  1. I am one of those who has a juicer and never juices. ;) It's the whole chore of the ordeal that gets me.....but this makes me want to pull it out and get busy. Such a great way to get LOTS of veggies ;)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts