Vegetable Juicing

Valuable information on vegetable nutrition
that increase your chances in preventing
and reversing degenerative diseases.

If you have clicked on this section first, I suggest you also read the fruit juicing section later, about why you should juice. The reasons for vegetable juicing and fruit juicing are the same, but vegetables have something much more important that fruits do not have—chlorophyll.

What is chlorophyll?

When you hear the word "chlorophyll", you may vaguely remember this word from Biology in school. To some of you, the word may mean almost nothing, other than the green thing in plants.

Yes, it is "the green thing" in plants, the phytochemical that makes plants green. But, it is also a very important proteinous compound that acts as our internal healer, cleanser, antiseptic, cell stimulator, rejuvenator and red blood cell builder, just as it is the "lifeblood" of the plant.

Chlorophyll is a green photosynthetic pigment found in abundance in leaves of plants (vegetables). It absorbs sunlight and changes it into chemical energy for the plant.

Researches have reported that the chlorophyll molecule is remarkably similar to hemoglobin in human blood, the substance that carries oxygen in our body. Except that our hemoglobin has an iron element in the center of the structure and chlorophyll has a magnesium element. Experiments have shown that our body is able to convert chlorophyll into hemoglobin, thereby enriching the blood.

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The health benefits of chlorophyll

The power of sunshine in chlorophyll is wonderfully cleansing in the body. The greener the leaves, the more concentrated the amount of chlorophyll.

The reported health benefits from chlorophyll consumption are just too many. Taken consistently in sufficient amounts, here are some of the powerful remedial effects of this amazing substance:

• Increases blood count
• Detoxifies and cleansing
• Alleviates blood sugar problems
• Reduces or eliminates body odors
• Relieves gastric ulcers
• Greatly relieves respiratory troubles like asthma and sinuses
• Kills bacteria in wounds and speeds up healing
• Reduces inflammation pain
• Improves bowel functions
• Improves milk production in lactating mothers
• Soothes painful hemorrhoids

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Other important ingredients in green juices

Besides chlorophyll, green vegetables also contain other equally amazing substances that work together in synergy, to heal. Only nature has a way of putting groups of nutrients together that complement each other and when consumed, worked synergistically to repair, to cleanse and to heal.

This is why it is so important that you ensure that your healing foods intake outweigh the amount of harmful foods. Only when this happens, your body can start to heal and you will begin to feel rejuvenated.

But because there is only so much vegetables that we can eat in a day, we need to juice them so that we consume ample amount for our body's use, and in repair and healing. Also read about why we should juice.

Only nature has a way of putting groups of
nutrients together that complement each other,
and when consumed, worked synergistically
to repair, to cleanse, and to heal.

When we juice, we are able to extract almost 100% of the nutrients trapped in the fibers. Properly extracted, the green juices are loaded with live enzymes, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. There are also pro-vitamin A, vitamin B-complex and vitamins C, E and K.

For example, you will be surprised that when you juice 100g of fresh spinach and 50g of fresh parsley (total of 150g), the green juice would yield much more iron than 300g of beef and more calcium than 300g of milk!

Just imagine the amount of goodness you are consuming from these green juices! Moreover, the nutrients from these juices can be quickly assimilated and absorbed by your cells, not taxing on your digestive system.

On its journey down the digestive tract, it does a quick spring cleaning of your system—it vacuum cleans your blood of fungus, bacteria and undigested food particles that may have escaped digestion.

Don't we all need such cleansing? And what better way to do the job than with proper fruit/vegetable juicing?

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What vegetables to juice

To get you conditioned with drinking green juices, let's start with simple vegetables. Remember, your stomach must feel good after drinking these juices. If you feel queasy or nauseous after drinking any juice, then you must have drunk something which you should not have. In which case, try to take less of it the next time, and continue doing so, increasing the amount each time, until it no longer make its presence felt.

Celery, cucumber and fennel (anise) are the easiest vegetables to drink. If you think that even these are too "green" for you, try to mix them with either carrot or apple juice. It would make the taste more palatable. Though I must warn you, the color may look "different" from all your regular drinks.

Once you are familiar with these, upgrade yourself to the next level. Start adding in lettuce, spinach and cabbage. But, these by itself can be very potent and unpalatable. In which case, you may prefer to mix your green juices with juices from coconut, carrot, lemon or apple.

When you start to get the hang of juicing all the above, you may begin to experiment yourself with different combinations. When you get creative, the combinations are endless!

Getting all the nutrients you need

While chlorophyll is found in all green vegetables, some of the richest sources of chlorophyll are from alfalfa, barley grass, chlorella, spirulina and wheatgrass. But these may not be easily available. At least not where I am.

I cannot emphasize enough that we must have a variety in all that we juice, whether it be fruits or vegetables. This is to ensure that our bodies will get all the various nutrients that we need.

But with all the fruits and vegetables combined, the one element that is sorely lacking is vitamin B12. A strict vegetarian diet may cause vitamin B12 deficiency because this vitamin is largely found in animal products.

A deficiency in vitamin B12 may result in pernicious anemia or neuritis (inflammation or degeneration of a nerve).

To overcome this, you can either take a vitamin B12 supplement, or include chlorella (a kind of algae that has high content of vitamin B12) into your juicing. I do the latter as chlorella has much more health benefits besides providing my vitamin B12 supply.

I like to crush the chlorella tablets into powder form and add them into my green juices. This way, all the health nutrients get absorbed by my body almost immediately. And it also allows for the vitamins synergy to take place at the same time.

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Read: Important Lessons to remember
when you follow a juicing diet >>

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