Recently I read an article by one of my peers who suggested you take a particular supplement instead of juicing. He went on telling how tedious juicing was and how much simpler and cheaper it was to simply take a teaspoon of the particular supplement he was promoting.
This sounds so intriguing and although I firmly believe that nature still provides the best food, it made me thinking.
It made me thinking why we need juicing and supplements at all. So I put together a list of advantages and disadvantages of juicing.
Disadvantages of juicing:
- it’s expensive because it requires a lot of organic vegetables (it doesn’t make sense to juice with produce that had been sprayed with chemicals)
- It’s quite a task to purchase large bags of carrots and charts full of greens every day
- even if you have organic produce, it still takes a lot of time to wash and cut the vegetables and run them through the juicer; and if you don’t use organic produce, you even need to peel every piece; this is only realistic for stay-home mums, retirees, and unemployed people
- if you’re over 30 years old and/or more than 20 pounds overweight, you need to start juicing slowly in order to prevent acid and toxins flooding your organism more than it can handle
- our bodies are not designed to consume such concentrated food like juices are; we need fibers
- in order to have the desired effect, juices have to be freshly juiced and be consumed within 24 hours; you can’t store them longer and bottled juices are more harmful than helpful
- juicing creates a lot of waste and you have to through valuable food away that is rich in healthy fibers
- juices are not really good to consume; to make them tasteful it requires quite some mixing, and you need to know which produce go together well and which doesn’t (there are vegetables I love eating, but when I juices that contain these produce are absolutely disgusting)
- you need to learn first which fruits and vegetables go well together and which don’t
- I don’t know how about you, but there are phases when my body completely refuses fresh juices
On the other side there are tremendous advantages in juicing nothing else can beat.
Advantages of juicing:
- our bodies are so deprived because fruits and vegetables have lost between 30% and 80% of their nutritional value due to the current farming methods, and there is currently nothing else that can fill your empty vitamin deposits as quickly as juicing
- many chronic diseases are caused or aggravated by a lack of vital nutrients and many of them can be easily reversed simply by juicing
- juicing has an alkalizing and detoxifying effect what is great for young people and those who only need to lose a few extra pounds (if you’re older than 30 years and more than 20 pounds overweight, you need to know exactly what to do so that your body can deal with the flood of acid and toxins without creating more fat)
- we are living in times where it’s not enough to just take one vitamin or one supplement (no matter how balanced they may be); our bodies lack vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes, amino acids, phytohormones, etc.; all these things have to be consumed through food because only in food these substances are well enough balanced so that our bodies can really use them (an overload of some nutrients can lead to health problems, too)
- juicing is a great way to start a cleansing and weight loss process
We all know that juicing was not meant to be the way we eat, and it’s not the final solution. Because of our ways of eating and time-saving cooking methods we have created a world that makes eating healthy a real challenge. Facts are…
- …that we only want shiny and spotless produce (organic food can never look so perfect)
- …that people want to cook their meals as quickly and easily as possible and increasingly purchase finished menus
- …that using microwave ovens as the defrosting and heating method
…that makes eating healthy and keep the family healthy nearly impossible (at least long term).
But please, don’t let us complain. It’s us – every single person on this planet – who contributed to the lifestyle we currently have with all its advantages and health challenges. It’s always the consumer who dictates what we are being sold to. And only we have the power and the possibilities to change that.
How can you know whether your personal lifestyle is healthy or not?
The weakest link in the family will always become sick first.
As soon as one family member develops a chronic disease or cancer, the way you cook and eat is at least partially the culprit, and the health of your family can quickly and drastically be improved by changing your lifestyle.
Fact is – and you’re probably going to hate me for that, but keep in mind that I’m just the bearer of the message – that if we want to keep our families healthy, we have to cook from scratch, using all fresh, organic fruits and vegetables that are rich in vital nutrients. Convenience definitely jeopardizes our health.
Keeping yourself and the ones you love healthy starts with what is on your kitchen table…it starts with a healthy lifestyle.
“But I don’t have time to cook from scratch. I have a job, three kids and an elderly parent to take care of!” you may object.
I hear you. I really do. I used to be a single mom with my own business, and I know exactly where you’re coming from.
However, please keep in mind that the way we live is nothing but a series of choices. Maybe you have made the choice to purchase a house that requires both parents to have a job. Maybe you have chosen the false safety of a job over working from home and now you’re constantly afraid of losing your job, if you don’t work long hours. You have made choices regarding your budget. You have made choices regarding cars, televisions, and vacations. Sometimes it just requires a little bit of a cut down or a slightly simpler lifestyle and a family may be well able to live on one pay check and a smaller budget.
It’s all about setting priorities. Only you can decide what priority the health of your family has and what you’re willing to sacrifice for. This time of the year is the perfect time to reconsider your personal life priorities and make new choices.
What I’m saying is that we ALL constantly need to reconsider past choices. Many of us need to choose differently for the sake of their family’s health.
Currently I’m living in an apartment that comes with its own 500 square meter garden. When I moved in I decided to cut a little bit back on my work and use that time to grow my own produce. And I realized that just a small piece of land or backyard can easily save me $200 every month in food just for one person. Plus the organic food I grow myself is the healthiest you can get. Because my own vegetables are so full of vital nutrients, I need much less food to get my body satisfied. From a peer of mine I know that one acre of backyard is enough to almost fully feed a whole family of five.
I understand that many women just don’t think that they might have time for their own garden. But if something resonates within you with what I’m sharing here, then you may want to try and at least get your feet wet.
Before I moved to this place I started with pots on my balcony. I grew my own tomatoes, potatoes (you read that right), herbs and salads on my porch and balcony. If you have rich soil, you can easily grow a zucchini or cucumber plant on your porch or balcony. I even have several pillar fruit trees (they only have a stem but no side branches and require very little room) and berries on my balcony. The waste I get from juicing I utilize as mulch for my pots and beds and spray some living organisms over the compost for a faster decay. That way nothing is lost and nature beautifully provides me with more and more healthy food because my soil gets richer from year to year.
You can slowly grow into a healthy-food gardener. The first step would be to purchase a book about correct composting and organic gardening – maybe you would even find a book on organic pot gardening.
Then decide on one thing you would like to grow on your patio or in a bed in your back yard. This could be a few seedlings of spring salad (the sort you can constantly harvest the outer leaves and the salad keeps growing in the middle). This gives you and your family a healthy salad every day. Then you may want to grow some basil, chives and parsley to make the salad more tasteful and add some more vitamins. Very easy to grow is Swiss chard and you can constantly harvest the large outer leaves. The leaves are great for juicing and the stems are a delicious vegetable when cooked with onions and garlic.
If you’re not yet a gardener, then I recommend start slowly. Now is a good time to make plans for next year and start purchasing or creating the right containers. Also start composting now.
Please add your own ideas and experiences below. We are eager to learn from your experiences.
If you want to learn how to apply a healthy lifestyle step by step and stress free that works individually for you and your family, you may want to check out my 30-Day Triple Power Weight Loss Challenge.
