Juicing for Health

Juicing for health is a daily part of my life. Until my breast cancer diagnosis, juicing had never been my thing. I always perceived it to be tedious, messy and (especially for all of the work) not so tasty.  Also (it must be said) whenever I drank green juice, I always seemed to spend the rest of the day burping.  Gross, I know.

No longer. Now, I crave juice. Everyday. The Silver Lining is that there is a bit of a juice craze going on which means that juice keeps getting more and more delicious, with the exception of wheatgrass. When it comes to wheatgrass, I drink it because it is so extraordinarily good for me, but I do still pinch my nose when it goes down the gullet.

Juicing is incredibly healthy. It provides vital nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals for our bodies to repair themselves, strengthen the immune system and for cell regeneration and growth. The antioxidant effects of juices help detoxify the body and help eliminate the toxins, fats, preservatives and chemicals that a diet of processed foods leaves behind. An added benefit of juicing is that the process pre-digests the vegetables for you, thereby optimizing the amount of nutrients that your body can absorb.

When I drink juice, I feel lighter and more energized. Not only is my pesky perioral dermatitis kept at bay, but I feel a little glowy – yes, glowy – when I drink juices. An added – huge Silver Lining of juicing is that it makes my immune system sing. I swear, since I’ve started drinking juices, I don’t get sick (and I used to get sick ALL of the time!).

Truth be told, with all of the wonderful – and affordable – juice companies popping up, I find that I do tend to buy juice rather than make it myself. It’s just easier and cleaner and…easier. There. I said it.

When I travel, the first thing that I look for in my destination is a juice bar. Here are some helpful hints for buying juice:

1. Buy organic. Always organic. I mean, really: why put pesticides in your body when you are trying to clean out your body?
2. Drink from glass bottles. The thing of it is that plastic and its rival, the biodegradable product PLA take a huge amount of energy to produce, making the reusable glass option better for the environment. If plastic is the only option, then I’ll drink it, but my preference is always glass.
3. Buy and drink in 8 ounce increments. Even though juice is so doggone yummy, it’s best to only drink 8 ounces at a time because that’s the optimum amount that your body can handle.

If you happen to be in Santa Barbara, I highly recommend trying The Juice Club. Can I just say Ahhhhh-mazing! The Silver Lining is that if you aren’t in Santa Barbara, they do offer nationwide shipping!

The Juice Club sources organic ingredients from local farms (right now they source from Milliken Family Farms, Tutti Frutti, Fat Uncle Farms and Givens Farm).