Juicer

One of the nicest things you can do for yourself is get into the habit of using organic fruits and vegetables with a juicer or blender. There are tons of different machines and more recipes than you can taste-test in a lifetime, from those that simply taste good, to those recommended as a co-therapy for cancer. With a little research, you can become an expert in short order.

There is a tip I want to pass on to you that will make this easier than you would have imagined, a tip that will let you get so much more nutrient value out of juicing or blending.

Everyone has had the experience of slicing an apple and watching how, within just a few minutes of being cut open, it turns brown. What is happening is that as the cut apple is exposed to air, it begins to oxidize, turning color as it does so.

There are dozens of anti-oxidants like vitamin C available for sale, which tells you that having your food oxidize is not a good thing. It is something to be prevented, if possible, and that is the point of this "tip". How do you prevent juices from oxidizing?

Every recipe books tells you to juice or blend your fruits and veggies, then drink all you have just made so that it is fresh and not oxidized. If you have had any experience, however, you know, first, that despite what the advertisements say, cleaning a blender or juicer is a time-consuming pain.

In addition, just making the juice is, in itself, a time-consuming affair. Today's busy people don't have the time to make a single glass or two of juice several times a day, yet to make and store a few glasses of juice invites oxidation and reduces the benefits for juicing altogether.

So here's the tip:

Each day my wife and I make a fresh drink of orange and carrot juice, adding a bit of apple sometimes, or perhaps some parsley, whatever. I will fill up a large empty Perrier water bottle with the juice, then vacuum seal it to remove the air and prevent the oxidation process from destroying its nutrient value.

The sealer is a very inexpensive product called VACUVIN essentially a small plastic pump with a rubber stopper designed to seal an open wine bottle. The pump comes with a single stopper, but you should order an extra set or two of the stoppers. The whole thing won't cost you more than $20.00, and it allows you to make more than a glass of juice at a time without having to worry that what you don't drink immediately will oxidize.

Juicing, though excellent, is not the only way to get what your body needs from food. Here are some other food suggestions:

MUSHROOM – EAR
Slice a mushroom in half and it resembles the shape of the human ear. And guess what? Adding it to your cooking could actually improve your hearing. That’s because mushrooms are one of the few foods in our diet that contain vitamin D. This particular vitamin is important for healthy bones, even the tiny ones in the ear that transmit sound to the brain.

BANANA (SMILE) – DEPRESSION
Cheer yourself up and put a smile on your face by eating a banana.
The popular fruit contains a protein called tryptophan. Once it has been digested, tryptophan then gets converted in a chemical
neurotransmitter called serotonin. This is one of the most important mood-regulating chemicals in the brain and most anti-depressant drugs work by adjusting levels of serotonin production. Higher levels are associated with better moods.

BROCCOLI – CANCER
Close-up, the tiny green tips on a broccoli head look like hundreds of
cancer cells. Now scientists know this disease-busting veg can play a crucial role in preventing the disease. Last year, a team of researchers at the US National Cancer Institute found just a weekly serving of broccoli was enough to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 45 per cent.

GINGER – STOMACH
Root ginger, commonly sold in supermarkets, often looks just like the
stomach. So it’s interesting that one of its biggest benefits is aiding digestion. The Chinese have been using it for over 2,000 years to calm the stomach and cure nausea, while it is also a popular remedy for motion sickness. But the benefits could go much further. Tests on mice at the University of Minnesota found injecting the chemical that gives ginger its flavour slowed down the growth rate of bowel
tumours.

CHEESE – BONES
A nice ‘holey’ cheese, like Emmenthal, is not just good for your bones, it even resembles their internal structure. And like most cheeses, it is a rich source of calcium, a vital ingredient for strong bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Together with another mineral called phosphate, it provides the main strength in bones but also helps to ‘power’ muscles. Getting enough calcium in the diet during childhood is crucial for strong bones.
A study at Columbia University in New York showed teens who increased calcium intake from 800mg a day to 1200mg – equal to an extra two slices of cheddar - boosted their bone densityby six per cent.

BEANSPROUTS – SPERM
The stir-fry favourite bears an uncanny resemblance to the images we see of ‘swimming’ sperm trying to fertilise an egg. And research from the US suggests they could play an important part in boosting male fertility. A study at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio showed that to make healthy sperm in large quantities, the body needs a good supply of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that protects cells against damage by harmful molecules called free radicals. Just half a cup of bean sprouts provides 16 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C for a man. It’s not just dad but baby too who could benefit. Bean sprouts are packed with folate, a vitamin that prevents neural tube defects, where the baby is born with a damaged brain or spine.

GRAPES – LUNGS
OUR lungs are made up of branches of ever-smaller airways that finish up with tiny bunches of tissue called alveoli. These structures, which resemble bunches of grapes, allow oxygen to pass from the lungs to the blood stream. One reason that very premature babies struggle to survive is that these alveoli do not begin to form until week 23 or 24 of pregnancy. A diet high in fresh fruit, such as grapes, has been shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer andemphysema. Grape seeds also contain a chemical called proanthocyanidin, which appears to reduce the severity of asthma triggered by allergy.

TOMATO – HEART
A TOMATO is red and usually has four chambers, just like our heart.
Tomatoes are also a great source of lycopene, a plant chemical that
reduces the risk of heart disease and several cancers. The Women’s Health Study — an American research programme which tracks the health of 40,000 women — found women with the highest blood levels of lycopene had 30 per cent less heart disease than women who had very little lycopene. Lab experiments have also shown that lycopene helps counter the effect of unhealthy LDL cholesterol. One Canadian study, published in the journal Experimental Biology and
Medicine, said there was “convincing evidence’ that lycopene prevented coronary heart disease.

WALNUT – BRAIN
THE gnarled folds of a walnut mimic the appearance of a human brain - and provide a clue to the benefits. Walnuts are the only nuts which contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. They may also help head off dementia. An American study found that walnut extract broke down the protein-based plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found walnuts reversed some signs of the disease.

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