What is the big deal about juicing?  Here’s the 101.

First off, let me begin by explaining the 2 types of juicing that’s out – let me call them juicing for health and mainstream juicing.

• Mainstream juicing – what is most likely being referred to out in the media now, that is currently become more and more popularly used for detoxification, and consists of juice fasts lasting for 3, 5, or 10 or more days.
• Juicing for health – the juicing done by health aficionados who actually incorporate juicing into their daily lives.

I am not a fan of mainstream juicing.  Juicing actually has legitimate benefits but mainstream juicing is what is attracting those who want quick fixes and to have a fast detoxification and weight loss.  The problem with mainstream juicing is that people don’t realize how unhealthy and improper it is.  You can’t eat like crap and then shock your system with a juice fast, only to jump right back into crappy food.  It’s going to feel awful and any benefits to your body from the juice fast quickly goes to waste, literally and figuratively.  So I suggest if you want to go through a juice fast, start off by easing your body into it by eating clean first.  And DEFINITELY eat clean and light as you transition back into solid foods.

As for the juicing for health folks – we try to incorporate green juices into our everyday lives to supplement our diets.  Personally, I drink green juices every day for breakfast, when my stomach is empty, so that the nutrients can go directly into my body.

What the heck is juicing?

It’s simple – take a bunch of veggies, mostly green veggies, and a little bit of fruit, and drink them without the fiber.

Many argue that you need the fiber in your diet.  Here’s my argument: a healthy diet will have plenty of the fiber you need.  You’re not missing out by juicing.  By taking out the fiber, you are skipping the digestive process and allowing those nutrients to get to work on your body right away.  Green juices are basically a magical elixir that you add to your everyday diet.  They allow you to get an extra boost of veggies that you couldn’t possibly eat in a day.

Okay, so how do I do it?

Simple.  Buy a juicer.  Buy vegetables.  Put the two together.  I usually drink 16 ounces a day.

The proportion of veggies to fruit should be 3 to 1 because you don’t want to overload on the sugar.  Personally, I only use half an apple for every 16 ounces and rely on cucumbers and celery to mellow out the taste, due to their high water content.

The darker green your veggies are, the better.

I find that as long as I have the cucumbers, celery, and apple, I can mix and match on the rest of the veggies without much problem.  I like to include vegetables I don’t normally eat.  Unless you like the taste of mustard, though, you might want to take it easy mustard greens.  I learned that out the hard way.  Also include herbs – cilantro helps clear out heavy metals from your body and parsley helps detox your kidneys.  Lemons keep the nutrients fresher longer.

Does that help?  Questions are welcome and I will be sure to update this post based accordingly!

But does it really work?

Yes.  I am gaining nothing by telling you to start juicing, except the knowledge that I am helping you become a healthier person.

Juicing has helped me get stronger faster and heal faster.  It has cleared cobwebs from my mind and it has balanced out my chemical hormones.  I feel like a sane person now.  Or…saner.  And most importantly, it has helped my digestive system.  So now I can eat more without getting fat!  Woooooooo!!!!!!

Click here for help on what juicers to buy.

Next Detox Post – Differences Between Juicers

I’m not usually a fan of Mexican/Texan food, but this vegan recipe is delicioso!  It has a slight kick to it, depending on how sensitive your taste buds are, but the combination of flavors makes this dish so amazing.  But all you need is a pot and a food processor or blender!  So very easy and yummy that you won’t believe it’ll actually help you detoxify and lose weight!

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 box brown rice pasta
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 2 hours (preferably overnight)
• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked at least 2 hours
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp miso paste
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp southwest chili powder
• 1/2 can full fat coconut milk
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped,
• 1 bag green peas
• a bunch cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

1. Boil pasta according to instructions.
2. Add garlic cloves and lemon juice into blender/food processor to mince the garlic.
3. Add drained sundried tomatoes to chop.
4. Add drained cashews, spices, yeast, miso paste, and sea salt, then add coconut milk.
5. Drain pasta and return to pot.  Add sauce and remaining ingredients and stir until everything is coated with the sauce.

I love this easy to make vegan dish for those days when I’m craving some pad thai!  It tastes amazing.  Most pad thai sauces are made with refined sugar and fish sauce but this has none of that. You wouldn’t believe that it’s that healthy!  I wish I could call this a 1 pot wonder because basically everything is put together in a single pan, but you do need an extra pot to boil the noodles in while you’re assembling everything else.  It takes about 20-30 minutes to make, and would still taste great cold!  So without further adieu, here’s the recipe so you know how to make it yourself!

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 package flat brown rice noodles
• 5 tbsp Nama Shoyu (or Tamari for gluten free)
• 5 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice
• 2 tbsp raw creamy almond butter
• 1 tbsp tahini (or more almond butter)
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
  maple syrup
• crushed red peppers to your liking
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4-8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 inches ginger root, minced
• 1 package tempeh, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, thinly sliced or grated
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• limes, chopped scallions, peanuts (optional garnish)

Instructions:

1. Boil hot water for the noodles, then pour boiled water into pot and set aside for 5 minutes.  Add noodles and let sit for about 20 minutes.
2. Stir the nama shoyu/tamari, lemon/lime juice, almond butter, tahini, maple syrup, and red peppers together.
3. In a large saute pan or wok, heated on low, add sesame oil and onion, garlic, ginger, and tempeh.  Stir for about 5 minutes.
4. Add carrots, bell peppers, and a little water to the pan or wok and stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Add drained noodles and sauce, mix until sauce thickens to your liking.
6. Serve with optional garnish.

Why should you try yoga?  When someone first suggested yoga to me, I laughed at the idea of putting aside valuable workout time just to stretch a little bit.  I was so wrong.  Here are some reasons why yoga is an incredible addition to your arsenal:

• Flexibility: Let’s start with the obvious.  Yoga makes you flexible.  Why is flexibility important?  Let me tell you, I scoffed at the idea of stretching.  Now, I would be upset if I was inflexible.  Once you become flexible, you will love how easier it feels to move about in your every day life.  Blood starts flowing better and hey, some people have actually said they’ve gotten taller.  Flexibility is important because it helps prevent injuries and you get less brittle as you age (read: it keeps you younger longer).  Imagine your body like spaghetti.  When it’s dry and something pushes at it, it breaks.  When it’s wet, it becomes pliant and if something pushes at it, if just bends.  So bend, don’t break.  Go with the flow.  Be like the water.  And any other similarly corny lines.

• Mental clarity: Second most obvious – it’s meditative.  Not because you sit there and clear your mind (which is actually extremely hard) but because you end up becoming so focused on trying to stay balanced on that one leg that you push all other thoughts out of your mind and just for that one moment, you are living in the moment.  When you are thinking about everything else, you let the moment you are living in slip away.  Also, some yoga postures specifically help increase blood flow to your brain and help clear those cobwebs away.  Take inversions, for example.  Putting your body upside down gets the blood flowing in a different direction but also gets you into different perspectives.

• Strength: Yoga is amazing because it strengthens all these tiny little muscles that get ignored by other exercises.  These tiny little muscles are important because they help the bigger muscles gain so much more.  Don’t ignore the little people!  Yoga is also amazing because the postures require many parts of your body to work in harmony in such minute detail so you get stronger in multiple areas at once.

• Balance: Obviously, you will learn how to balance better.  You start balancing on one leg while the other leg is dangling somewhere else, you balance your body on your two hands, and eventually you could balance your body on your fingertips or just your head!  I’m not there yet so I won’t be showing that.  Yoga also teaches you balance in other ways.  You learn to listen to your body and you start to pay attention to which side of your body is different, and in what ways, from the other side.  You learn how to back off if need be and you learn how much your body can accomplish.

• Detoxification: We are all storing toxins in our body from everything – the air, the chemicals in our soaps, the food we eat, etc.  It takes time for our bodies to get those toxins out and if you are too toxic, the body starts breaking down.  Yoga helps give that body the edge it needs.  Some poses increase blood circulation, some poses stimulate the lymph nodes and particular organs in the body, some poses wring out your body as if it’s a wet towel, etc.  If you try out hot yoga, you also get to have the added benefit of having the toxins leech out of your skin via your sweat.  Some of the postures also have helped people release their emotions (in other words, emotional detoxification)

• You’re so vain, I betcha think this song is about you: Yeah, it makes you look better, too.  It lengthens your body and makes you more lean.  The improved circulation makes you look healthier and improves your skin tone as you shed that dry skin.  You may also start eating better.  The more yoga you do, the more you pay attention to your body and realize it’s a haven and start wanting to eat cleaner.  Or, you do yoga after eating junk food and feel absolutely horrible throughout the postures and realize you never want to feel so disgusting again and swear off that junk food for months.  Both have happened to me.  And finally, you get to show off to everyone what cool things you can do now and how you can contort your body or stand on one leg longer than them.

Next Yoga Post – How to Safely Bend Your Back More Deeply