About 2.5 years ago, I began juicing in an attempt to reclaim my health — to heal my body from Lupus and Fibromyalgia (and as a side benefit, to lose weight also). With my first juice fast, I completed 26 out of 40 days, lost 23 lbs., and felt great for the first time in a long time. (read my story about why I started juicing)
Apart from one other juice fast, until last month, I had not juiced on a regular basis since and as a result, my health has deteriorated again. About 2 weeks ago, I began a 31-day juicing and blending fast and am feeling better than I have in a long time. I will finish that fast on the 14th day of this series and am expecting to feel better and better.
I know that I know that juicing improves health, especially for those of us who live with autoimmune diseases. For the month of October, I will be writing a 31-Day Guide to Juicing for Better Health in an attempt to share what I have learned about juicing.
Whether you have a chronic health condition and are looking for help with healing, or are just interested in improving your overall health, I hope you will join me as I seek to share some what I have learned about how beneficial it can be when you undertake juicing for better health.
Juicing has become super popular due in large part to documentaries like Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and Super Juice Me. In Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Aussie film maker, Joe Cross records his story about juicing, while traveling cross-country in America. Along the way, he meets a trucker named Phil Staples. The documentary shares both of their stories of getting healthy and losing weight through juicing fruits and vegetables. The transformations are dramatic and the results nothing short of awe-inspiring.
In Super Juice Me, film maker, Jason Vale shares the stories of 8 people he invites to his Juicy Oasis in Portugal, where they undergo 28 days of being super juiced. Those 8 people represent many chronic illnesses, and during their stint at Juicy Oasis, all of them reach some level of improvement or healing of their disease processes. Jason has quite a testimony of healing himself.
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead is what originally inspired me to begin juicing. And then early into this current fast, I discovered Super Juice Me and was inspired all over again. In fact, so far in the past 2 weeks, I have watched both documentaries again about 5 times each to help keep me motivated.
Juicing is known to:
- Detox and cleanse
- Boost your immune system
- Help with weight loss
- Increase energy, mood and mental focus
- Improve overall health
Over the next few weeks, I looking forward to sharing information about the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables with you. I will be covering quite a bit of information, and I hope you will be inspired by what I share. The truly transformative power of fresh squeezed juice is something to behold, whether you are ill, overweight, or just want to maintain good health.
The topics I’ll cover for you include:
1 – Introduction to Juicing for Better Health (Marcy’s Mean Green Juice)
2 – Juicing: Is It Really Healthy or Just Hype? (Green Juice with Pear)
3 – Juicing is the Best Way to Cleanse and Detox Your Body Naturally (Parasite Detox Juice)
4 – 6 Things to Consider Before You Begin Juicing (Carrot-Apple-Orange Juice)
5 – Choosing a Juicer (Orange-Strawberry Sunrise Juice)
6 – How to Juice: a step-by-step guide (Red Cabbage Juice)
7 – Why Organic Matters for Juicing: The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen (Sweet Potato Punch)
8 – 7 Tips for Successful Juicing (Vibrant Kale Juice)
9 – How to Create Your Own Green Juice Recipes (Simple 5-Ingredient Green Juice)
10 – How to Prepare Fruit for Juicing (Cherry Apple Juice)
11 – Preparing Vegetables for Juicing (Root Vegetable Juice)
12 – Juicing Tips That Save Time and Money (Tomato-Red Pepper Juice)
13 – The Do’s and Don’ts of Juicing (Better Than Grapefruit Juice)
14 – Jucing vs. Blending: What’s the Difference? (Pinkalicious Smoothie Recipe)
15 – My Personal Story After 31 Days of Juicing (coming soon)
16 – Healing Your Body with Fruits and Vegetables (Healing Green Super Juice)
17 – Healing Properties of Raw Fruit Juices (Minty Orange Juice)
18 – Healing Properties of Raw Vegetable Juices (V-10 Juice)
19 – 10 Best Juices to Reduce Inflammation (Carrot-Pineapple-Turmeric Juice)
20 – 9 Best Juices for Weight Loss (Broccoli-Pineapple Goodness Juice)
21 – Juicing for Kids (Green Sunshine Juice for Kids)
22 – Juicing for Seniors (Pineapple-Avocado Smoothie)
23 – Super Foods to Include In Your Juicing Recipes
24 – Why I Eat a Spoonful of Coconut Oil with my Juice
25 – The Juice Feast: How and Why to Juice Fast
26 – 10 Tips for Successful Juice Fasting
27 – 10 Bible Verses to Encourage You While Juice Fasting
28 – Breaking a Juice Fast
29 – Tips for Using the Leftover Pulp
30 – My Favorite Juicing Resources
31 – Juicing for Better Health: Final Thoughts
I will come back here each day to hyperlink the above titles so you’ll have them all in one place.
During this time of sharing, I’m going to explain much about healthy juicing that you need to know, as well as some of my favorite recipes (each post will contain at least one recipe!).
I’ll cover a lot of important information in the first few posts so be sure to sign up for my email list if you’re not on it already. If juicing is something that interests you, you don’t want to miss the beginning where much of the instructional information will be.
I’m looking forward to sharing with you how to improve your health exponentially as I continue to work to improve my own. So sit back, grab a glass of juice, and get ready to take notes. If you desire to have more energy, glowing skin, and to maybe even rid yourself of prescription medications, meet me back here all month long. What you will learn in this series will give you some useful tools that can improve your health. It could even change your life.
Join me again tomorrow when I’ll be sharing about why juicing is more than just the latest fad.
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Juice of the Day
Here’s my favorite green juice recipe. It’s a great first recipe if you’re new to juicing, and a slight variation of Joe Cross’s Mean Green. The flavor is mild, not bitter, and slightly sweet.
Marcy’s Mean Green Juice
Ingredients:
- 1 huge handful baby spinach
- 1 kale leaf (kale isn’t my fave but it’s so good for you — feel free to add more if you like it a lot)
- 1/2 English cucumber
- 2 celery ribs
- 2 small apples
- 1 small or 1/2 large lemon
- 1 in. piece ginger
Directions:
- Wash all produce well
- Peel the lemon and core the apple
- Add all ingredients through juicer and enjoy (I recommend Breville)
Yield: 20 oz