I must get three calls a week from my 70-year-old father telling me, with excitement, about his healthy food choices from the night before.
The conversation always starts the same way: “You’d be really proud of our dinner last night! Your mother had the salmon and I had the grilled chicken salad."
As a raw vegan, I resist my immediate reaction to their selections and, in the interest of encouragement, ask them some positive follow up questions, “What were the sides? What was in the dressing? How was the salmon cooked?” More often than not, they can’t answer all of the questions, and they always omit their bread and dessert consumption.
Actually, my main concern isn’t about their choices; it’s about their lack of connection with what they’re eating. How could a person not be concerned about how his or her food was prepared for the sake of health and also for all those affected by its production?
We should each gain a stronger connection to our food and understand its power over our bodies’ functions. Ask questions! Make an effort to prepare your own food. After all, what we choose to eat is one of the most important decision we make all day, and we make it every day.
One of the best ways to improve nourishment and become more involved in the process is through juicing. Juicing organic fruits and vegetables provides immediate and concentrated nutrition and can be key to overall health and vitality.
Ingredients
1/2 sweet potato
1 medium apple
1 medium orange
1/2 pomegranate
Method
1. First, investment in a juicer. There are wonderful juice bars popping up all over metropolitan areas, but use those for supplementation. There is no greater source of nutrition than when you put your own sense of commitment behind your consumption. The Hurom juicer is by far the best residential machine on the market. It retails for around $350, but because of its unique and nutrient-minded extraction method, it requires 2/3 the amount of produce and discourages oxidation. It’s easy to clean and assemble, and takes up half the counter space of other high power juicers. This is worth every penny and is a great way to begin reconnecting to your own nourishment.
2. Most of my friends and family have purchased juicers and use them daily. But their comfort with their extractors did not develop immediately. The first thing they all ask for is recipes. And, while my business partner Nikki Gumpel and I have a generous catalogue of juice combinations, the real recipe is in the procedure. There is no real consistency with organic produce, and you have to develop your own eye through experience.
3. With that in mind, I do have some tips for more successful residential juicing:
Cut your produce up into one-inch pieces, especially if you have a low-quality juicer. This decreases foaming. Always start with your greens and end with fibrous vegetables like celery because the strings will clog the juicer. If the juicer gets clogged, flush it with watery produce, such as apples or cucumbers.