Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Can Juice Made From Raw Foods Unlock Powerful Nutrition?

By Gabe Mitchell

Do you want to look after your health? Do you hear nourishment recommendations from doctors, physical fitness trainers, and diet books and eagerly implement the best tactics? Are you trying to find better methods to integrate fresh, organic and local raw fruit and veggies into your diet? Me, too! And I'm wondering if you can relate to the following story about my private experiences...

Although I haven't ever had any major health problems, I believe that diet and exercise play a critical role in helping us maintain our well being and increase our longevity. In truth, I started working out in 6th grade, after my father thought it would be good for us all to get in better shape.

Since then, I have played sports in school and have always been active, kept my weight in line, and received a good health check from the doctor. In fact, I thought I was doing pretty darn well.

But, then I found out about something that changed all that. I have just been reading a book called, "The China Study" which is basically making me rethink the "diet" portion of the equation for better health and I am now seriously pondering whether I am really on the right path to optimal health.

According to "The China Study," which is a wonderful, comprehensible, research-based book citing over seven hundred systematic studies, there is ample evidence to support the hypothesis that animal protein, including eggs, milk and meat, isn't the solution to good health and muscle-growth that we have all been led to believe. I was fully stunned to find out that skim milk is not a super-food when it comes to strong bones, teeth and muscles. In fact, the author points out that in the face of all his own research studies (and much to his dissatisfaction since he grew up on a dairy farm) he has switched to a vegan diet. He now believes a diet free from animal protein is actually perfect for boosting our health and reducing the symptoms of aging.

The China Study book endorses a vegan diet based on unprocessed plant-based foods. You can't be a "junk food vegan" filling up on oil and white flour and other processed foods. Plant based foods means things you can recognize, like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Many adherents to this philosophy take this approach a step farther and concentrate on eating raw plant foods, forgoing foods like rice, barley, and pasta, for example. These raw food adherents believe that we preserve and ingest the most nourishment from our foods when we do not prepare them by cooking them.

One of the most important challenges to preparing and eating a lot of plants is that it can just plain take a while. Cutting, washing, for example. Is a time consuming process. Especially once you begin to look at incorporating vegetables like lettuce, spinach, kale, and celery - greens that are vital to our growth.

That is where a robust juicer can solve your issues. Making juice out of your fruits, veggies and greens with the Breville Juice Fountain Elite is a good way to mix your fruits and vegetables into a fresh, tasty and mouth-watering drink that might guarantee you get all the nourishment you would like, even if you don't have time to sit down to "a healthy breakfast" of bacon and eggs.

Consider recipes like carrot-apple-ginger juice or blueberry, strawberry, grape and kale juice. Green smoothies made with bananas and spinach are a fave raw-food vegan classic - the fruit is inexpensive, the taste is great and it's vitamin-packed!

If you have a regular blender (for making margaritas!), or perhaps a name-brand juicer like Jack LaLanne's from TV, you can find that they do not hold up to regular juicing, they're tough juicing, they are tough to use because they are under powered, or they just don't clean-up well.

The Breville Juice Fountain Elite solves all of these issues. It is made to be a top-of-the-line juicer for folks who make juice every day and need a quick-and-simple way to make their juice. In reality, you can produce an 8-oz cup of juice in under 5 seconds. And since the juicer takes big pieces of apple, carrot and other hard fruits down the fruit-chute - you don't have to do much cutting to prepare to make your juice. The juicer even does a nice job with leafy or stringy products like lettuce and celery. Including vegetables like this in your juice recipes will definitely enhance their nutritive value.

If you are prepared to make some changes in your diet to become healthier, more energetic, and maybe lengthen your lifespan - begin with including more fruits and vegetables. Like "The Omnivore's Dilemma" recommends - Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

Start your program for better health and nutrition with juicy juice from local organic produce made with the Breville Juice Fountain Elite.

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