Juice Fast

Three Pounds of Little Organic Apples

It is still hot and somewhat humid in the Southwest Desert.  It is just shy of 100 degrees (F.) and just over 50% humidity.  Everyone is getting tired of the summer heat and ready for it to cool.  I haven't felt like eating much so I decided to do a 10 day Juice Fast.  The juice fast or feast includes as much juice as one needs.  The average expected consumption is 12 to 16 cups of fruit and vegetable juices per day, as desired.  Sounds like a lot.  You can get the idea from the FREE e-book of juices and smoothies at   http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344 .  That site also has info about the 10 day juice fast.  I will keep you posted as I progress with the fast.

So far I have purchased a watermelon, a pound of mixed baby greens, 2 bok choy leaves (because I am not sure I like bok choy in juice), 3 bunches celery, 1 cucumber, 1 half head green cabbage, 5 pounds carrots, 1 very large beet, 3 pounds little red apples (the photos above), 2 oranges, 6 little kiwi, 1 lime and a bunch of little lemons.  Most of that is organic.  We will see how long that lasts.  I estimate 2 to 3 days.

If you follow my blog you know I grow basil.  It is still looking good.  I cover the plant that is in full afternoon southwest desert sun to prevent it from burning.  On shady days and at night I uncover it.  I am told I can add a leaf or 2 to a pint of vegetable juice.  It seems to lend itself to tomato based juice.  I am cautioned not to add too much basil.  Perhaps some garlic or onion with that tomato basil juice.  Almost a liquid pizza sans cheese.

I may get brave and add some kale to juice this week.  I don't like kale.  I don't understand the allure of kale.  I fear even one kale leaf will destroy a perfectly good juice.  But I also remember that I used to fear green smoothies and they are quite good.  I can even load more than the suggested amount of baby spinach into a smoothie and like it.  See some of my July posts for my green smoothie adventures and yesterday's blog post for my secret smoothie ingredients.  Also, do download the free e-book from the link in the earlier part of this post.

Finally, what juicer do I use?  It is a Juiceman Jr. that is over 16 years old and still going.  It is fussy with greens, but I have learned to do all I can with it.  I have looked at the new fangled juicers and may treat myself to one someday.  For now, the old tried and true Juiceman Jr. will be with me through the next 10 days of over 100 cups of juice. 

Off we go on a juicy adventure,
your Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011
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More Raw

I have been high-raw, i.e., eating over 80 percent raw food, most days 100 percent raw vegan, (but who knows if the nuts are really raw?) for over 40 days.  I have not had coffee for 45 days.  It has been (prepare yourself for a cliche phrase) life changing.  I am surprised at how much I like it and how easy it is.  The greatest challenge, thus far, is social dining.  Despite this, the rewards are great.

My sleep has improved.  Cuts heal faster.  My mood is more upbeat.  I get going in the morning without the two-plus cups of coffee I used to require.  No coffee to grind.  No coffee maker to clean.  No coffee to buy.  I drink a quart of water in the morning (it is dry here in the Southwest Desert) and add juice of a half lemon or lime.  Then I juice a quart of vegetable juice.  I drink one or two pints, whatever I desire.  If I only drink one pint, I save the other in the fridge for later.  If I am still hungry I have some fruit or a salad.  Yes, a salad for breakfast -- or lunch.  And I mean a vegetable salad, although sometimes I add a bit of apple, peach, or nectarine. If the salad is not sufficient, I have some nuts or seeds afterwards.  Be careful not to go nuts with the nuts.  Unless you are breaking them out of their shells, they are too easy to eat.

I generally save my smoothie for lunch or afternoon.  I have been making my smoothies with frozen fruit and greens -- green smoothie.  I freeze fresh fruit, peeled if necessary and cut into pieces, when it is sweet and on sale.  The frozen fruit makes the smoothie almost like a sherbert and I eat it with a spoon.  It is cooling, tasty, thick, convenient, fast, easy, and healthy.  No added sugar.  No added fat. No animals, animal parts, or animal by-products in the blender. Trust me, I never wanted a green smoothie until I tried one during the 7 Day Raw Food Challenge.  Look for my previous posts Is Your Drink Green?, Got Greens?, and other posts from late July for my green smoothie recipes, thoughts, and observations during my raw genesis.  Also link to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344 for a FREE easy juice and smoothie recipe e-Book, other easy raw recipes, videos, and info about the 7 Day Raw Food Challenge I completed.

Let me give you a secret ingredient I add to my banana spinach smoothie --- cinnamon.  It adds a new taste and the health giving properties of cinnamon.  I also add 4 to 6 ice cubes because my blender can grind them.  Note that I do not have one of those super-duper  $400 blenders.  Just something better than the old, bottom-of-the-line $15 model I used to have, for years, until the plastic handle broke off the (what is it called?) blender pitcher (?).  To recap:  the secret ingredients are cinnamon and ice cubes.  ;-)

I go to a naturopathic doctor.  After I stopped coffee for several weeks, a noon time slump in energy that would have been boosted by caffeine became pronounced.  The doctor found that my pineal gland was weak.  This has been corrected and my energy is quite sufficient to get through the day and evening.  Had it not been for quitting coffee, I would never have known that my pineal, a master gland, was weak.
I was advised it is OK for me to take vitamin B12.  The naturopath I go to has been a vegetarian since the 1960s!  He takes some B12.  He works long days, sometimes over 12 hours, and goes to the gym to work out during lunch.  We need more role models who practice what they preach and don't do too much preaching.  Also, it is good to have a practitioner you trust who can intelligently support you when you change your diet.  You want to be sure you are getting all your nutritional needs met.

In a previous post I promised to print some quotes from a book I read, Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda! or Sell Your Stove to the Junkman and Feel Great!  Here it is:
    Most people live on an omnivorous diet -- that is, anything that is possible to chew up and swallow      and live long enough to tell about it, they will eat.  But, for one reason or another, many people decide to adopt some restrictions...The great value of the raw food diet is its transformative value. To a great extent, when you take up the raw food diet, you become a new and different and better person.  You don't just stay the same old person, only a little healthier.  You become, to a great extent, a new being, with new interests, a new philosophy and outlook on life, new goals and desires...Such transformations of course are impossible to imagine before you have experienced them.  The raw foods diet doesn't so much "improve you" as "replace you" with somebody better!  -- Joe Alexander c.1990

Wow.  Lofty words Joe.  I could stand to be replaced with somebody better.

I am new and improved, or replaced...,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011