Juicing in the New Year
Do your New Year's resolutions include getting more kale and other greens into your diet to support your weight loss goals? Maybe you've decided to start eating breakfast? Whether you're looking for a vitamin-packed snack, quick meal, vegan workout fuel, you might be thinking of starting a juice cleanse.
With all of the different juice chains and stores on the market it can get very confusing and overwhelming on what the right path is for you. I’ve had the great pleasuring of working with Living Juice’s owner Jamie Jenson. In addition to Jamie’s knowledge and expertise with juicing, her delicious, hand-crafted, organic, raw, cold-pressed juices were the perfect fit for me! Shall I say her cleanses are the “Essence of Juicing”.
Before I started on my 5 day journey of cleansing I was asked a lot of questions and it raised some eye brows with my clients. Why juice? You eat healthy…right? Keep in mind that stress is the number one acidifier and when my pH is a little on the low side, it’s time to step it up! Add an unhealthy diet to stress and you have a recipe for potential illness. If you’re eating acidic foods it puts your body in a fight or flight reaction causing it to store fat. Becoming alkaline, through juicing for example, will help emulsify fat turning large fat particles into smaller ones.
There are many big juice chains on the market these days that are demanding top dollar for your green$ in exchange for theirs. To make sure it’s worth your investment here are a few questions to guide you into finding the right juice for you!
1. Is it Organic? Don’t just assume! The last thing you want to do is puree 4 lbs. of inorganic fruits and veggies loaded with pesticides. Produce grown in soil nourished with organic matter instead of ammonia and other synthetic fertilizers, has been found to contain higher levels of the “good nutrients”.
2. Is it Raw? When your diet becomes rich in processed foods, you partially disable the body’s ability to naturally heal and repair, and this results in a series of ailments all without any cause. Raw living foods are much easier to digest, and they provide the maximum amount of energy with the minimal digestive effort. Studies have shown that living foods have healing powers that can alleviate many illnesses, and switching to a diet that contains predominately raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds can assist your body to upgrade its immune system. This can help prevent allergies, digestive disorders, high cholesterol, weight problems, and many other 21st century ailments.
3. Are the nutrition facts displayed? This is a very important one for me! When you start pureeing food the calories can add up very fast. Check the back of the product or the company website to see if they have done their homework. If your juice contains 80% alkaline vegetables and 20% fruit the chances are the calories are fairly low as kale, cucumber, and celery are not energy dense. If you were to juice higher glycemic, less alkaline items such as carrots and apples the sugar content can increase dramatically especially if you’re ordering a large size.
4. Is it Cold Pressed? The Cold-Pressed process was originally developed by Dr. Norman Walker over 80 years ago. He lived until 99, was an innovator in the raw food movement and has left a rich body of knowledge about the benefits of drinking Cold-Pressed juice. The Cold-Press process extracts over 95% of the juice contained within the organic fruits and vegetables, leaving only a dry pulp behind. The juice is not heated in the process nor is any extra air forced into the juice while the produce is pressed, eliminating any oxidation of the juice.
The five day cleanse I am on is designed as a gentle initiation to cleansing and detox. It balances lighter, nutritious juices to sustain hydration along with some complex recipes and flavors. It contains 40 juices with delicious unthinkable combinations! I’ve been staring my day with Sunrise, which contains grapefruit, ginger, oranges, lemons and cayenne. My second favorite which will become a staple in my diet is Jamie’s Blend 67. This one contains cashews, coconut nectar, vanilla, cacao, cold brewed coffee (with 67% less acid then regular coffee), and cayenne!
I encourage you to find a local juicer that provides all of these important qualities and try a one day cleanse. I'd love to hear your feedback.
Here is a quote from Jamie I will leave you with,
“One of the greatest benefits of doing a cleanse is the mental shift that transpires. You are able to be more mindful with your relationship with food reaching for more whole clean foods and not processed foods.” Jamie Jenson, President of Living Juice
Thanks Jamie!
Click here to visit Yvonne's website for more information, ideas, and products to help balance your pH.
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Yvonne is the owner of Essence of Health located in Laguna Beach. She graduated from the University of Alberta with her degree in Nutrition and Food Science. Originally from Calgary, this Canadian brings with her over 23 years in the fitness industry working in both corporate and private arenas. She is very passionate about health and loves sharing that passion with everyone around her. Yvonne's complimentary background in fitness AND nutrition enables her to bring the latest phenomenon's in the industry to her clients, making Essence of Health the most unique studio in Laguna. Exercise and nutrition is a partnership and by addressing both you get the best results; KNOWLEDGE + ACTION = RESULTS. Yvonne helps you transform your mindset, body, and life!
