Juicing

Juicing is a great way to ingest more fruits and vegetables in your diet. You can get the vitamins and minerals of vegetables and fruit without having to eat so many of them. Enzymes from the fruit and vegetable juice help detoxify your blood. Juicing is also a great way to hydrate.

Greens
It is important to add green veggies to your juicing concoctions. Green veggies add plant protein and chlorophyll to your juice. Chlorophyll helps increase the flow of oxygen throughout our bodies. Kale, celery, spinach, cucumber, and lettuce are great green veggies to juice.

Doesn't Green Juice Taste Like Grass?
Green juice does not taste like grass, if you add fruits and other sweet veggies. Fruits like Fuji apples, carrots, beets and lemons are great in the juicer. Ginger is great, too!

Fruit like melons have a lot of sugar. I wouldn't juice them regularly. Keep in mind that certain fruits, like berries and bananas, don't juice well. Enjoy those fruits in smoothies.

I am getting back in the habit of drinking Green Lemonade every morning. The recipe if from The Raw Food Detox Diet.

celery or cucumber
5-6 leaves kale w/stems
1 inch ginger
2 small or 1 large lemon
1-2 Fuji apple

It is recommended that you eat light to heavy every day. Begin the day with juice then fruit in the morning. Salads and other raw veggies during the day. Eat cooked foods, which are heavier on your digest, in the evenings.

Think about it. Heavy meals are harder on your digestion, which makes you feel tired. You are better off eating your heaviest meal at night.

Juicer
Juicing machines are pretty easy to operate these days. I have a Breville and love it. It is easy to clean. The juicer separates the juice from the roughage. You don't have to peel lemons or core your apples. Just cut the fruits and veggies in big pieces and throw them in. Hot water and soap are all you need to clean your juicer on a daily basis. I put the parts through the dishwasher once a week.

Just try it. You might like it. Experiment with different combinations. There are so many!

Food Combining

This post may be a bit of a stretch for many of you. Why would the combination of the food I eat make a difference to my health, weight, how I feel, etc?

Digestion--Break it Down
I first learned about food combining when I studied Ayurvedic Medicine in my yoga teacher studies. In ayurveda, it is taught that certain foods do not combine well, because it takes different kinds of enzymes to break down in our bodies. Therefore, it is best not to eat them in the same meal. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but meat and starch do not mix!!

Digestion--Quick Exit
Yes, I mean going potty! Look at it this way, if your body only has so much energy in a day, how much of it do you want spent on breaking down your food? If you follow food combining guides, you digestion is quick. You will go to the bathroom more often. Your body can be spending energy revitalizing and repairing your body, not spending too much time digesting your food.

Weight Loss---Maybe
Some weight loss programs promote food combining strategies for weight loss. I can say that when I follow food combining strategies, I definitely feel thinner and lose weight. That being said, I cannot say that it is the food combining only. When I am following food combining, I have a very clean diet and exercise, as well. I do think that the food combining plan does help eliminate water retention and promote digestion. When I follow the rules, I feel light and have good energy.

Good Food Choices
I will share the food combining rules with you. NOTE: There are no Cheetos, Oreos, Soda, etc. on the chart. You will make better food choices, if you follow these rules. We are talking whole foods only, folks. If you need to break yourself from processed foods, this is the plan for you!

Food Combining Guide:

1. Fruit--Eat is alone or leave it alone. Fruit does not combine with anything. It takes only 30 minutes to digest, so if you are hungry before bed or a workout, fruit is a good choice.

2. Nuts/Seeds/Dried Fruits--raw nuts, seeds, unsulfured fruits only.

3. Flesh Protein/Meat--Fish, Eggs, Chicken, Meat, Game, Shellfish, Raw Cheese

4. Starches--whole grain breads, brown rice, sweet potatoes, avocados, legumes, cooked corn, pasta

Do not mix foods between 1-4. Veggies combine with meat. Veggies combine with starch. Veggies combine with nuts, seeds and unsulfured dried fruits.

Veggies/Meat
Veggies/Starch
Veggies/Nuts, Seeds, Dried fruit
______________________________________________________
5. Starch and Meat do not mix.

6. Avoid dairy, but if you eat it, it combines with meat.

7. Chocolate--70% chocolate bars (Green & Blacks and Dogoba, for example) can be enjoyed.

8. Wait 3-4 hours between meals. Let one meal digest before you eat another.

This is an oversimplified list. I suggest that you read The Raw Food Detox Diet for a great food combining chart. There are other charts on the web. I prefer Natalia Rose's because it is the easiest to read.

Check it out. See how you feel. You can always go back to how you eat today.