JUST JUICE IT!

 

I have always been a picky eater. It was only when I stepped into motherhood that I started my friendship with the green leafy goods. I never grew to like the healthy stuff when I was young. I found them either too bland or bitter for my taste. Now, being a mother of a well-rounded eater, I realized the need to look after our wellness being by eating right.

It was a slow process of getting me to regularly include veggies and other fruits into my daily food intake. Nevertheless, the change of mindset and priorities (e.g. family and my kid’s future) did wonders to my diet and food preferences. I am still not a true-blue vegetarian at this point. In a toss-up between any chicken dish and a mix of vegetables, I still, sometimes, find myself choosing a happy slice of tasty meat over a mouthful of leaves.

 

 

Just this year, in my goal towards attaining the right balance of calories and nutrients, I decided to increase my daily intake of vegetables and fruits. This is a feat I am proud to share minus the extra chewing and gnawing --- well, at least for me. 

One thing I learned: It you can’t eat it, drink it.

 

 

Mind you, I am not saying you can skip chewing the real deal by chugging them instead. Juicing only gives you substantial supplement for some of the nutrients you don’t get from the vegetables served to you on the table. It offers you a faster and easier way of meeting your fruit and veggie quotient (which most of us take for granted), thus showering your body with concentrated amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. When you drink juice, highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and enzymes rapidly enter the bloodstream, absorbing all of the nutritional benefits of the fruits and vegetables which are vital for optimal health. It also gives your digestive organs a much-needed rest.

 

Juicing is fast becoming a thirst-quenching trend nowadays and it has taken the country by storm. A swarm of local celebrities and high profile individuals have caught the juice bug and jumped on the bandwagon for its convenient and beneficial approach to clean eating. I’ve followed a couple of netizens and saw a number of fashion bloggers promoting juice concoctions that are freshly made and sold by the bottle. One of my good friends in the PR world, Harold Geronimo, gets his supply of fresh juices from Detoxifybar (visit http://detoxifybar.com/about-us/) which accepts orders within Metro Manila. Other friends of mine, such as fellow working mom Mimi Vergara-Tupas, dedicate significant time in the morning to produce fresh stock of healthy concoctions for the entire family. I am quite impressed with Mimi’s enthusiasm in juicing, to a point of even getting her kids to help slice and press vegetables and fruits. In a way, it adds fun in the whole process and build up excitement for the kids.

 

 

For myself, I have this handy-dandy personal blender which I sometimes bring with me to work. I get to choose my own blend of the green mix anytime of the day. My carrot-orange-tomato-lemon mix helps boost my mood in the morning. The pulp doesn’t even go to waste as my daughter prefers to add them as extenders to simple dishes such as an Omellete. I add green apple, lemon, and raw honey to make the mean green formula (arugula, cucumber, broccoli, kale, garlic) less intimidating in terms of taste. For additional recipes, I log on to http://www.juicewithdrew.com.

 

Juicing is a time-consuming process and you might even wonder if you can juice first thing in the morning and then drink it later. This is not a good idea. Vegetable juice is HIGHLY perishable so it's best to drink your juice immediately. As soon as any juice meets the air it begins to oxidize, compromising its nutritional value. However, storing our full juices in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed glass jar slows this process. Just make sure to put your juice in a glass jar with an airtight lid and fill it to the very top. There should be a minimum amount of air in the jar as the oxygen in air (air is about 20 percent oxygen) will "oxidize" and damage the juice.

 

The biggest plus of a juicing is that it can help you lose weight and add radiance to your skin. It adds valuable, bio-available micro-nutrients with a wealth of health benefits at a minimal calorie cost, with no dietary fat. Fresh vegetable juice acts as a healthy, harmless appetite suppressant, and you can easily factor this in to your diet program.  A glass of fresh juice before meals can help you feel a bit full, thus making you eat just the right amount of solids. Your body will not only relish the rich nutrient boost that encourages cleansing and healing, but it will also react positively to your favor with noteworthy changes in poundage and inches.

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Story published on my newspaper column, Metro Mom.

A1, INdulge, Edge Davao,Vol. 6 Issue 158, 23 October 2013.