Koko's Kitchen

Now, before I start this article, I must mention that I am not yet a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. I am in the process of becoming one. So all that I say here is my own personal opinion.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about whether or not to include juicing in your diet. After much thought, and an old juicer conveniently being found in my garage, I decided to take the plunge! I am all stocked up on fabulous fruits and veggies and I can’t wait to take a couple of days to just fill my body with all these nutrients, and give it a rest from some heavier and not so nutrient-dense foods. I’m somewhat following a juicing cleanse from a book published in 1992 called Juicing For Life by Cherie Calbom and Maureen Keane. Though it’s over a decade old, I think it’s extremely informative and relevant to today. These ladies were clearly ahead of the game!!

I wanted to give you a sample of what a typical day of juiceing would look like, though I must add that if you ever feel the need to eat the food in it’s whole form such as a salad (just a squeeze of lemon for dressing), that is perfectly okay. It’s all about finding your comfort zone- in no way is it about feeling hungry or deprived. Juicing will give your body a break by providing it with pure nutrients in an easily digestible form. Lots of time for your body to clean itself out!

Juicing isn’t really something you should begin spontaneously. Think about it, plan it out, and prepare your body for juicing by a day or two of light eating- ease into it. Don’t begin your first adventure into juicing with a 7 day juice fast…take it slow. Try starting with one day or even half a day. You just want to offer your body a little break, to heal and recover itself. If you jump into juicing you may even feel lightheaded or develop a headache as toxins are ‘stirred up’ in your body. Slow is the key.

**if you are juicing, BUY ORGANIC!!!! Actually…buy organic all the time!

**Don’t forget to consume lots of water

Here is a sample of what I will be consuming in one day

Breakfast- Juice of one grapefruit and one apple. This tastes absolutely delicious and so refreshing in the morning!

Snack- juice of 1/4 inch ginger, 1 beet, 1/2 apple, 4 carrots. I spilled this entire glass of super-staining beet red juice all over my kitchen counter, cupboards, appliances, and floor. I don’t suggest doing this….I ended up with two shots by the end of it, but it was fun to drink it out of shot glasses!

Lunch- 2 parsley sprigs, handful of wheatgrass, 4-6 carrots, 2 stalks celery, 1 apple, 1/2 beet

*Since it was my first time juicing, I stopped here and ate a light dinner instead of juicing all day. Like I said, take it slow at first! I’ll post the rest of the day’s juices anyway, though.

Snack- handful of parsley, five carrots, 1/2 and apple

“Happy Hour!”- 4-6 sprigs fresh mint, 2 apples, 1 lemon, sparkling water

Dinner- 3 broccoli flowerets, 1 garlic clove, 4-5 carrots or 2 tomatoes, 2 stalks celery, 1/2 green pepper

Snack-  any juice mixture frozen into a popsicle!

What to do with all that pulp?

It looks kind of gross but it really contains great nutrients and it’s GREAT for compost!! I filled up the pulp bucket with water and watered my garden. It’s like a powershake for your plants- so many vitamins and minerals! If you don’t have a garden to do this, you can use the pulp in your baked goods- try making carrot muffins with all your carrot pulp! Hopefully I can post a recipe that includes pulp sometime soon. In the meantime, enjoy your juice!

For some more information on juicing, click here.