How To Start Improving Your Diet With Juices
Most of us have all the food we want to eat. Modern food
technologies are providing more food choices and greater availability than ever before.
Unlike many other areas of the world that suffer from nutritional deficiencies caused by a
scarcity of food, Westerners most often suffer from diseases of excess food consumption.
We tend to over-consume meats, dairy products, fats, sugars, and highly processed items,
to name a few. This results in under consumption of whole grains, legumes, fruits, and
vegetables, which contain protective factors that help prevent the development of
degenerative diseases. Some of the diseases now associated with the Standard American Diet
(SAD) are heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity, adult onset diabetes,
cirrhosis of the liver, and colon diseases.
One way to improve the SAD is to eat less meat and dairy products
and add more fresh fruits and vegetables to our daily diet. One of the easiest and most
nutritious ways to add them is in the form of juices. Because juices are chock-full of
nutrients, low in calories, and virtually free of substances that contribute to many
diseases (such as saturated fat), they are excellent supplements to the diet. For people
of all ages, from children to the elderly, they make excellent vitamin/mineral supplements
because they are easily absorbed. And an added bonus is that they taste delicious!
You may be asking the question, "How do I begin to add juices
to my diet?" You can start immediately by using juices as replacements for
non-nutritious beverages such as soda pop, coffee or alcohol. Here are a few other
suggestions:
- When you come home from work and want to reach for a cold beer or
cocktail, make a refreshing glass of juice instead.
- On a Saturday afternoon when you're thirsty for a soda pop,make your
own "pop" by juicing your favorite fruits and adding sparkling mineral water.
- Prepare energizing fruit drinks in the morning when you first get up,
and break you fast the proper way, with a food easy to digest.
- For your mid-morning coffee break, avoid coffee or tea (except herbal
tea) which stresses the body. Instead, take your favorite juice combination to work in a
thermos and have a juice "pick-me-up" break.
- For your bedtime snack, instead of milk and cookies, add a
tranquilizing glass of juice like celery and carrot that will help you sleep and won't put
pounds on while your dreaming.
Next, start using juices as supplements.
- Drink carrot juice with your meals for a great way to add pro-vitamin
A (beta carotene) and carotenoids to your diet.
- Kale and broccoli juice, mixed with apple or carrot, is an excellent
source of calcium, as good as, if not better than, milk.
- Fresh orange and citrus juices are potent sources vitamin C and
bioflavenoids.
- Apple juice is a good source of potasium and other soluble fiber,
pectin.
Make juices a part of your cooking regime.
- Try some of the breakfast drinks that incorporate fruit juices.
- Vegetable juices make a nice addition to soup stock.
- Juices can make healthful sauce bases.
- Fresh fruit juices can be made into a number of gelatin and pudding
desserts.
Above all, make sure your juicer doesn't sit on the shelf and
collect dust while your arteries collect plaque. Form the habit of juicing right away.
It's the most economical, nutritious way to supplement your diet with extra nutrients. For
starters, choose recipes that are appealing in flavor and appearance. Try some of the
combinations from "Delicious Fruit Juice Cocktails," "Party Drinks,"
or "Refreshing Summer Coolers." Fruit Juice becomes a way of life, try the
drinks that may not be as sweet, but offer high quality nutrition and special therapeutic
benefits. Choose recipes from the "Seasonal Tonics" or the "Therapeutic
Juice Drinks" sections. And don't forget to try the suggestion for beauty treatments.
Get Creative! You may come up with a prized recipe. But more
importantly, you will benefit with award-wining health and natural beauty.
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