Smoothies and juices, fruits and vegetables upside down!

Nutritionists recommend to eat fresh fruits and vegetables everyday because they are full of vitamins and minerals, which are very important to our body and its functioning.

The way you cook can destroy vitamins: these tiny elements are fragile. For example, vitamin C is particularly sensitive to heat.  Raw fruits and vegetables keep their micronutrients.

Vitamins and minerals are no energy-giving micronutrients but they are essential to live; that’s why, to have a good micronutrient intake, you can eat raw fruits and vegetables: they are not denatured.

Juices are tasty. Moreover, they are easily absorbed during digestion. Why? Because they are extracted from squeezed fruits and vegetables.  A juice is a liquid substance, made up of water, vitamins and minerals, without fibre (fruit pulp contains fibre), hard to digest.

Juices give you a lot of available nutrients and micronutrients in a very short space of time. When you eat fibre, your digestive system need to do “work harder” to find vitamins and minerals; Moreover, fibre accelerate intestinal transit: the contact between bolus and intestinal mucous membrane is reduced. However, fibre is beneficial to our body and it has an important trophic role.

Smoothies are made up of ground fruits and vegetables: you have juice plus fibre. Nevertheless, fibre is not absorbed: our digestive system has to work harder and longer. Specific intestinal enzymes are needed to facilitate digestion.

We know fibre is not like vitamins or minerals. So what is it exactly?

Fibre is a compound that is found mainly in plants. The different kinds of fibre are categorized based

on their solubility in water. Therefore, there are two categories: soluble fibre (pectin, gums and

mucilage) and insoluble fibre (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). These two categories perform

different functions, which is why it is important to eat both kinds regularly.

S o l u b l e F i b r e

Soluble fibre is found most often at the heart of plant material. In the small intestine, food residue

sticks to soluble fibre and is then be excreted by the body. In the colon, soluble fibre is attacked by

bacteria. When it comes into contact with liquid, this fibre becomes viscous, which favours the

passage of residue. Oat bran, legumes and citrus fruit are rich in soluble fibre.

I n s o l u b l e F i b r e

Insoluble fibre is generally found on the exterior of plant material. There are less easily attacked by

bacteria and therefore do not ferment as well. They retain water and have a great ability to increase in volume. Many foods contain insoluble fibre: wheat bran; many fruits and vegetables, such as cabbage;as well as bread and grains.

Soluble fibre creates a viscous gel that:

• stabilizes glycemia

• creates a feeling of satiation (to stop hunger during weight loss)

• allows an appetite-moderating hormone called cholecystokinin to be released

Insoluble fibre swells up in water:

• It helps stimulate intestinal transit and increases stool volume to prevent constipation

Smoothies and juices are full of essential elements: they are different and complementary. You need to eat different fruits and vegetables, specially raw ones and to vary your diet.

Some characteristics of fruits and vegetables you can use to make juices and smoothies:

• Carrot improves your vision thanks to vitamin A. Vitamin A is liposoluble, so don’t forget to add fat, such as olive or sunflower oil drops to improve absorption. Vitamin B6 helps your immune and neuropsychic systems to produce cytokines and neurotransmitters. Moreover, carrots are full of fibre.

• Avocado has high fibre content. Vitamin B5 is essential to skin and mucous membranes resistance.  Moreover, it helps to reduce stress. Vitamin K is essential to coagulation.

• Blueberry is an interesting oxidation inhibitor thanks to high flavonoid content. Vitamin C is a very important vitamin because it has a major role in different biological syntheses (red blood cells, collagen etc.) 

• Banana contains vitamin B6 and manganese. The latter is an oxidation inhibitor and enzymatic cofactor.

• Kiwi is rich in vitamin C, K and fibre.

Recipes:

Avocado/kiwi/carrot smoothie

Ingredients: 1 kiwi, ½ avocado, 1 carrot, 250ml apple juice, sesame seeds (1 teaspoon), ½ teaspoon olive oil.

Peel the kiwi and put it with avocado, carrot, apple juice and olive oil in a blender. Blend until smooth. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Blueberry and banana smoothie

Ingredients: 1 banana, 250g blueberries, 1 vanilla flavored soy yogurt, 1 glass of iced water, ½ teaspoon vanilla sugar, 1teaspoon grated coconut.

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Sprinkle with grated coconut and serve chilled.

Laure Martinat

(France)

Juicy Shortcut to Health and Vitality

Have you ever juiced spinach before? How about carrots? Apples? If you ever tried to fill a glass with the juice of any fresh produce, you know it takes a lot of produce to fill that glass. And there lies the key to juice's immense health benefits.

You could never hope to eat all that produce it takes to fill a glass of wondrous raw and living juice. Once all the fiber is removed, the nutrients are available for easy assimilation by our bodies. Now we shouldn't juice everything in our diets: we need some fiber in our daily regimen otherwise, waste produced by our metabolism won't move along as easily and blockage will inevitably occur. A raw and living foods diet will provide ample fiber to meet your bodily requirements. When we choose to juice a certain amount of fruits and vegetables from our daily intake, we can maximize nutrient intake. It just makes it easier to obtain and assimilate the recommended daily nutrient requirements from our food (hence, less need for supplementation!). Juicing allows us to get the nutrients from vegetables we ordinarily wouldn't eat by themselves or in sufficient quantities. An example of this are dark leafy vegetables. One large salad per day is what most raw foodist will have. But juice a whole pack of spinach, add some celery to that and maybe a carrot or two... Whoah! Now that's adding nutrition to a diet! It's worth making this practice an habitual one.
Do you experience some of these symptoms?

• fatigue, exhaustion, chronic fatigue syndrome
• frequent headaches
• skin problems, blemishes, acne
• brittle nails and hair
• muscular and/or joint pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia
• body odour
• coated tongue
• cardiovascular problems
• excess weight
• repetitive or chronic sinusitis
• environmental sensitivities (odors, cleaning products, etc.)
• irresistible and powerful cravings
• mood swings, anxiety or depression
• concentration and/or memory problems
• frequent colds and flus
• asthma
• insomnia or trouble sleeping
• food allergies
• constipation or diarrhea (or an alternance of both)
• flatulence and/or bloating

All these symptoms, and more still, stem from a toxic overload that the body cannot eliminate through proper channels. So, it has to improvise, so to speak! Hence, the importance to take the time to detoxify, periodically. Detoxification, like the one experienced while Juice Feasting for example, is an integral part, essential even, of any optimal health and vitality program. Detox, as it is also known, then becomes a valuable and efficient tool for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. When elimination becomes regular and through proper channels, toxins created by chemical, over-processed and acidifying foods are evacuated before they can damage or stress the digestive system, making for better bodily ressource allocation. Our body can therefore devote itself to repair, building and improving systems, without being impeded by a constant toxic assault.
Enzymes found in great quantities in raw and living foods, and made even more available and absorbable by juicing fruits and vegetables, are the catalysts of  hundred of thousands of chemical reactions in all over the entire body. They are essential to digestion, to absorption and to the production of cellular energy. Enzymes are vital to the construction and reconstruction that is continuously going on in our body.
Benefits resulting from detoxification include:

• reduced toxic load
• increased immunity
• liberation of excess weight, achieving a healthy weight
• softer, smoother skin
• healthy, functioning sinuses
• better sleep
• cravings are reduced or eliminated
• integral revitalization of all body systems
• physical, mental as well as spiritual well-being
• purified blood, balanced pH
• allergies, food and environmental sensitivities eliminated or reduced
• improved digestion, absorption and elimination
• better concentration and memory

So, get juicing! This simple to implement life practice can quite simply revolutionize your health!
Juicin' hugs,