Let's get juicy!

More and more people are getting acquainted with juicing. And that is a good thing!
Lots of people wonder, but hey what is the difference between a juice and a smoothie?

To explain it in the simplest way: a juice is only the extracted juice from fruit and veggies and a smoothie is a drink that has been made from the whole fruit and/or veggies. Except for the heart of the fruit and sometimes also the skin, like a pineapple.

A much heard remark re juicing is that juice does not contain any fiber. Whilst that is not true, it is correct that juice contains less fiber than a smoothie. Juice is replete with soluble fiber, such as pectins, which are great for the colon. However, fiber is not nutritious.

You are not missing out on important vitamins, amino acids and/or minerals. Fiber is like a broom for your colon. So yes, it is very important to get fiber into your body! But that doesn't mean that smoothies are better than juices. Both are great. Both are good for you. Both have their value.

One of the benefits of a juice is that it can be absorbed directly by your cells. Your body doesn't need to do any work to extract juice from the fruit or veggie. Your juicer already did that work for you. In this way your body gets fed directly with vitamins, minerals and/or amino acids. That does not mean, by the way, that you should 'just' swallow your juice in a split second, although that is so tempting to do, because it tastes sooooo good!

No, you should chew your juice!
Chew my juice?!
Yup....

Just look at babies. Look at how they keep every bite or sip in their mouth for a bit before they swallow. We tend to stuff the food and/or drink quickly down their sweet little throats, but actually they are doing a great job by keeping their food/drink in their food for a little while before swallowing it.

The digestive system does not start somewhere down there, but it starts in your mouth! And if you do not chew well, whether it is your food or drink, you skip an important step. When you do chew well enzymes are released in your mouth and they make for your body to digest your food in the best possible way. This also helps your body to send the right signals so that you are (better) aware of when you have had enough.

Okay, enough about chewing. Let's get juicy!

If you are interested in the benefits of juicing and you want to learn more about it, then I would want to recommend books by Norman Walker. This pioneer in juicing and raw food has written quite a few books. And although they tend to get a bit technical at times, it is all explained in easy to understand language. Norman Walker is one of my heroes. I appreciate his efforts to share his knowledge and wisdom with the world so that we don't have to reinvent the wheel.

It is not hard to figure out that I love health. It's my passion and I also feel it is part of my calling in life. I love to inspire people to embrace a lifestyle that makes them whole. In the biggest sense of the word: body, soul and spirit. I am a strong believer that these three parts are intertwined and should be treated as one, although they are three different parts. You can juice all you want and eat lots of raw food every day, but if you hold grudges and carry bitterness in your heart, you are not really walking the path of health in this life.... We need to be whole to be healthy.

A question I get asked frequently is what would be really good to start with if someone wants to change their lifestyle a bit to get more healthy.
When it comes to nutrition I tend to say: start every day with a super green juice!

With 'super' I do not mean that your drink needs to be immensely green, although you cannot escape that fact when you want to make a green juice. But I mean that it needs to contain superfood. Superfood may carry this title when it contains a variation of at least 14 types of vitamins, minerals and/or amino acids.

Adding spirulina or wheatgrass to your juice will make your juice an incredible source of pure bliss and health. You should make sure it has no more than 1/3 fruits (use as a base apple, pear or pineapple) and a minimum of 2/3 dark (leafy) green veggies.

To your health.