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Juices
are the perfect fast food for today's eat-on-the-run lifestyle.
They contain all the goodness of the whole product in a condensed
form. For example, half a kilo of carrots can be a significant source
of calcium and protein, but those five carrots may be more than
you’re willing to eat at a single meal. Juicing concentrates
that half-kilo into a single glass of easy to drink juice. These
nutrients are quickly assimilated since the body does not have to
separate the fibre.
Don't
be afraid to experiment with different combinations
of juices; just let your taste buds be your guide. Vegetable juices
that taste "strong" such as spinach and beet are high
in compounds that should be consumed in small quantities. Dilute
these with milder tasting juices such as carrot, celery, or apple
juice.
Fibre is extremely important to the human body, and your diet should
contain at least 30 grams of dietary fibre a day. Substituting whole
grains for refined cereals and flour, legumes for red meat, fruits
for sweet desserts, and adding salads on a daily basis, easily accomplish
this. Fruit and vegetable juices should not be used as a substitute
for whole produce, but as supplements to them.
Not
only are fruit and vegetable juices your best convenience
foods, they provide thousands of substances, some of which have
well-known functions, and some whose roles in the human body are
not yet understood or recognized.
Current
wisdom recognizes three roles that fruit and vegetables play in
the human body:
- Fruits and vegetables provide nutrients essential for growth
and renewal.
- Fruits and some vegetables contain substantial amounts of carbohydrates,
which supply most of the energy we use to live and perform work.
- Fruits and vegetables contain generous amounts of vitamins.
Vitamins regulate metabolism and help in the conversion of the
fats and carbohydrates into energy.
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Fruits
and vegetables contain minerals that are necessary
for the nerve and muscle function and are the building material
for some body tissue.
Fruits
and vegetables can protect the body from such major diseases as
cancer and heart disease. Some are high in substances called anti-oxidants,
such as beta-carotene, Vitamins C and E and selenium, which are
nutrients that protect cell membranes from the damage of free radicals.
Some are rich in other anti-cancer compounds, such as indoles. This
is especially true of the cruciferous family to which the cabbage
belongs.
Fruits
and vegetables can be your best non-prescription
drugs. For example, blueberries are an effective anti-diarrhoeal
agent, and ginger is as effective as well-promoted motion-sickness
drugs, and new studies show that it also relieves nausea and stomach
discomfort caused by pregnancy.
Fresh juices are a perfect food supplement. They
are far more potent than the isolated nutrients found in vitamin
pills. Nutrients influence each other and, therefore, they should
not be separated. Part of this influence is a synergistic effect
among nutrients, which means that nutrients combined naturally in
foods work together more effectively than when they are separated
as a single supplement.
Remember,
juices provide not only the nutrients well-known
functions, but also nutrients with roles that are not yet understood
or recognized. 
For centuries plants have been used for their medicinal
effects. In a maxim often quoted, our father of medicine, Hippocrates,
said that "we should let food be our medicine". However,
we do not advocate that juice should be a substitute for medical
care, but rather a valuable way to complement it.
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