The
Macrobiotic Health Benefits of Juicing- By Scott Ohlgren
©The Macrobiotic
Guide - May 2005
JUICING
Or,
How I Learned to Lighten Up by Squeezing A Few Vegetables
By Scott Ohlgren Writing
an article about the health benefits of juicing to a largely Macrobiotic audience
has quite a different focus (and boiling point) than the same topic written to
the general health conscious public. The reason for this is because of the often
strongly held beliefs that the early, most well-known Macrobiotic books and teachers
taught us.
Granted, the argument of what Macrobiotics is, and what it
is not, will be a discussion that will go on long after we are all pushing up
daisies. But when I graduated from the Kushi Institute in 1985, one of the beliefs
that we took from the Beckett, MA classroom read something like this: "Be
careful of raw food. Juicing can make you too cold, too mentally spacey, and isn't
good for cancer and other illnesses. Besides, it's yin, and you know how bad yin
can be."
Based on blind faith, I did believe that for the first
few years after graduating. Then, as it happens, something called "personal
experience" made me confront that belief. This came about from the same two
things that come into play whenever one of my cherished certainties starts getting
in the way of reality. The first was meeting people who did not hold this belief
and who were doing quite well (in some ways, better than me). The second was my
own experience of juicing and how great it made me feel.
Quick Squeeze
History
Squeezing the liquid from plants is as old as agriculture itself,
but it wasn't until the first quarter of the 20th century that juicing started
to become popular as a tool for improving health. This came about largely because
of two converging forces: the growing popularity of the Naturopathic and Natural
Hygiene movements (both which were seeing results with fresh vegetable juicing),
and a couple of timely technologies: refrigeration and juice extractors.
The
first home juice extractor was not invented until the 1930s. It was called the
Norwalk Juicer, by nutritionist Dr. Norman Walker. Walker was a fascinating thinker
and health practitioner, on the same par as many of my own early health teachers.
His exact age isn't known, but he was purportedly over 110 years old when he finally
died in 1984. His juicer worked by grating produce, placing the resulting mash
in a bag, and then squeezing the bag under a hydraulic press. It was big and clunky,
but it made great juice, and much of Walker's first books were filled with testimonies
that rivaled Macrobiotic stories.
The next big innovation came in 1955
with the Champion juicer. The Champion was the first to pioneer the idea of forcing
the pulp through a screen during the grating process. This shrunk the juicer down
to kitchen counter size. From that point on, the juicer extraction business exploded.
Manufacturers started coming up with hundreds of models, trying different modes
of extraction, and becoming smaller and easier to use over time. With ease and
availability, tens of thousands of consumers purchased juicers and started adding
to the pile of empirical evidence that showed the healing properties of juicing.
Empiricism
A side note here: the concept of "empirical
evidence" is an important one to any of us involved in the natural healing
model. Empiricism loosely means "evidence derived from personal experience."
Why important? In a culture that generally only teaches, acknowledges and validates
the "scientific method" of evidence, where the only truth accepted is
that concluded through laboratories, double blind studies and lots of small rodents,
empirical evidence allows each of us to be our own human laboratory, our own walking
Petri dish. As the Internet becomes more and more the giant Alexandria's Library
that it is, I believe that each of our empirical "hey, this is what is happening
to me when I do XYZ" science projects are going to play a larger and larger
role in how we determine what works and what doesn't. This sharing of experiences
will not only help others in their search for healing, it will also be a powerful
method for getting rid of dogmatic beliefs.
Advantages of Juicing
Juicing's
biggest health benefit can be summarized in one phrase: cellular cleansing.
Bar none, cellular cleansing is the single biggest reason for why I have
stayed drug free, pain free, and symptom free for the past 29 years.
What
type of cleansing have I done? Every kind that has ever been thought up. Imagine
us all being kids again and we have spent the day out in a big huge pile of beautiful
dirt, digging holes, making castles, playing with toys, living large. We come
back inside and it's time to clean up. How? Every which way; we clean our hair,
our nails, our skin, our feet, our backs, our ears... wherever the dirt and gunk
of the day got into. Same goes for cleansing our insides, and juicing cleanses
the cells faster than any other food that I've found.
Cleansing is not
"new, and improved." We are all cleansing right now, and have been since
the moment of conception. Every cell is constantly peeing and pooping. Every time
we breathe out, we've cleansed our body of the metabolic waste known as carbon
dioxide. Every time we have a bowel movement, our body is eliminating old cellular
material (interesting: up to 40% of every bowel movement is dead cells). Cleansing
occurs because our body's cells are constantly dying and being replaced with new
cells. Our spleen and liver and stomach cells do it, our intestinal walls do it,
even our bones and muscle cells do this regeneration circle of life. All vegetable
juicing does is improve this spring-cleaning regeneration process.
Juicing
works so well at cleansing because of a few reasons: 1.
There is hardly any digestive work needed to process raw, enzymatically active
liquid. Vegetable juice gets into the system quickly.
2. Squeezed vegetable
juice is very nutrient-dense. This concentration acts to supercharge the system
in the same way that herbal tinctures work. One of the $10 words we are going
to hear more about over the next few years is "phytonutrients," or plant
chemicals. They are proving-as those who have switched to whole foods always have
known-to be the key behind keeping our bodies free of cancer, digestive problems,
and other degenerative illnesses.
3. The most important, and most overlooked,
reason: juicing cleans the liver. I believe that the next big advance in understanding
health will be in acknowledging the importance of self-detoxifying and de-sludging
our liver. Sure, if you look into any human biology book, it already tells us
that there are now over 700 known functions of the liver. But what we don't realize
is how that functionality is dependent on how unclogged it is.
Liver
cleansing is actually easy, because the number one job of the liver is to
...cleanse the blood! In other words, every drop of your nine pints of blood runs
constantly through the liver, removing toxins and metabolic waste every second
of every day of your life. Since crushed vegetable juice goes quickly into the
blood stream, it goes quickly into the liver as well.
I cannot say this
enough: a cleansed liver is a felt sensation. Improving its function seems to
affect everything, from mental clarity and focus, to emotions, to sleep, to how
stress is handled, our digestion, our skin, even how we perceive and deal with-at
least in my experience-relationships (!)
Sometimes I think the word "juicing"
is the wrong word. We should just call it "Liver Desludging and Overall Life
Enhancement Liquid." Liver detoxification is so important, and nothing comes
close to it like the juice of raw vegetables.
How to Start
Beg,
Borrow, or Buy a Juicer
If you're new to juicing, borrow one from a friend.
Once you feel the benefits, buy your own. There are three distinct and valid ways
to do that:
1. Buy a used on eBay. Use the two ideas below to guide you.
2.
Buy a starter juicer. These will run from $50-150, and will last a year or two
before burning out. This can be a quite suitable way to test out juicing in your
own body.
3. Buy a juicer that will outlive you. These will start around $200
(for the Champion) and can go up to the $390-$600 range (for the twin-helical
gear models). There are juicers priced beyond this, but for home juicing, they
are unnecessary.
What Kind of Juicer
Having experimented
with a dozen models over the years, I think the finest juicers on the market right
now are the twin-helical gear units. There are about six models to choose from,
available in both 110 and 220v, and competitively priced throughout the Internet.
Regardless of the hype you will read, they are ALL good, and ALL made by two extremely
reputable manufacturers in Korea. And they will all last for ten years or longer.
There are many reasons why they are so good, but I'll quickly mention two: 1.
they juice leafy greens and wheatgrass (no more need for two separate juicers!);
and 2. they spin at very low speeds (below 200 rpm), thus avoiding oxidation of
the juice.
What
to Juice
Every plant on earth has distinct properties and effects on
our body, and since life is an experiment, you can juice anything you want. To
start out, though, here are some suggested vegetables that work well on a regular
basis:
The
"baseline" vegetables: carrots, parsnips, cabbage, beets, celery,
cucumbers, broccoli, burdock root...
The bitter greens: kale, collards,
parsley, wheatgrass, lettuces, dandelion, watercress...
The "high
note" vegetables: onions, ginger, radish, chives
The "high
note" fruits: apples, lemons, limes, oranges, cranberries, grapes
Recipes:
Bah Humbug
Juicing with recipes is not necessary. To begin, try this:
Start
with equal parts of carrots, cucumber and celery
Add a piece of ginger
and handful of parsley.
Add 10% from the bitter green list.
Add
a piece of apple or citrus
General
Juicing Tips
Start a simple experiment of 1 to 2 cups of juice every
day for 28 days. Juice lasts in a refrigerated tightly closed glass jar for at
least 2-3 days, so you can juice every other day.
In general, make your juice
taste good. That said, I divide vegetable juices into two categories:
Delicious
juice. This is the kind that you drink and immediately think "ahhh!"
You could drink a quart a day, even your UPS driver would like it, and it's generally
enjoyed any time.
Tequila juice. This is the kind of medicinal
juice that you sip and immediately make a face. This is the intensely green drink,
the kind that immediately opens up every duct in your gall bladder and liver.
I call it this name because it's best done in small 1 to 4 ounce amounts, shot
back like you would tequila, and works best if you finish with a grimace, a grin,
and a loud "Yeah!"
Try a little of both kinds each week.
I'm
generally not a big fan of using my juicer to make and consume 100% fruit juices.
I love fruit, I find it one of best quick energy sources and can be very healing
in their own way, but I would rather just eat an apple or orange.
That
said, don't be afraid to add some citrus, rind and all. Or half an apple, a few
grapes, or a handful of cranberries. Before I ever started juicing, I would have
presumed that vegetable juice would not digest well with fruit juice. What I found
was what many of the juicing authors and experimenters were saying: a bit of lemon
and lime actually do quite well when combined with most vegetables. I've also
found this true with apples and cranberries.
To avoid clogging the screens
and having to clean them mid-juicing, alternate your soft and hard produce. This
will help clear out the screens. Done right, I can juice a full quart without
having to stop and clean the screen.
I don't think it is necessary to
get too specific about which juice works best for each condition and symptom.
I would just start juicing. Still, it's interesting to note that every vegetable
has its own particular healing properties.
Cucumber juice is thought
to clean your kidneys, lower high blood pressure and improve skin problems (I've
found this skin part to be especially true).
Cabbage juice is one of the most
healing nutrients for stomach repair. Contains sulfur and selenium, both which
are good for joint stiffness. While cooked cabbage can give me gas (ask my wife),
I digest raw cabbage with no problem.
Beets are famous for their
ability to cleanse the blood and strengthen the gall bladder and liver. Beet juice
is very concentrated, so a little goes a long way; try 20% of the total amount.
Broccoli: Even the staid National Cancer Institute is excited about this plant,
saying that it's showing anti-cancer properties. A strong taste, so I only add
about 10%.
Apples: I think tart apples are one of the most underrated
healing foods we have. Apples contain malic acid, which is capable of softening
gallstones and other hardening the body. In August, when organic, wild apples
are falling off the trees around our Colorado county, I take that as a hint to
clean out my liver. My wife and I will drive around and get a bushel of these
amazing little apples and juice them up (it's one of the few times I drink 100%
fruit juice). There are few things in life that make people roll their eyes up
in ecstasy, and this apple juice we make is one of them. If there is a heaven,
they serve it there.
Celery: long considered a nerve tonic. Parsley: amazing
plant, very high in chlorophyll.
Cranberries: Contains quercetin
and tannins, flavonoids that are getting a lot of attention for their anti-bacterial,
inflammatory and tumor properties. Seems to help cleanse the kidneys, because
it helps lower uric acid levels (often associated with gout, kidney gravel, and
joint pain). One of the few frozen foods I'll let into my juice, mainly because
you can now get raw, organic cranberries in the freezer section.
Collards and
Kale: more calcium than milk, and in an extremely bio-available form.
If
you do use fruit in your juice, especially apple, don't eat anything solid for
60-90 minutes afterwards, to prevent indigestion. Let the juice do its work by
itself, so that it is the only thing in your digestive tract.
A pinch of Celtic
gray sea salt can perk up many juices.
I never put garlic in my juice.
I eat raw garlic all the time (there is no stronger anti fungal/bacterial/viral
food out there) and it's one of life's true superfoods, but I refuse to make my
juices taste that bad.
I use ginger all the time, especially in combination
with apple. Wheatgrass is an alkalinizing miracle unto itself; belongs to the
"tequila juice" category. I always drink it separate from my other juice,
and I always mix in a half lemon. A little onion (like 1%) goes a long way.
Beliefs
That Get in the Way of Juicing
"Vegetable
juice contains too much sugar"
I've seen people eat flour-based
"health" desserts on a regular basis and then say they don't juice because
"juice has too much sugar." I'd suggest exactly the opposite: one evening,
instead of eating flour products (yes, including macrobiotic noodles...) try juicing
before your dinner.
I pray for the day when our children's largest health
problem is too much sweetness from fresh vegetable juice. I can't wait to hear
those complaints: "Did you hear what they're now serving in the vending machines
at my kid's grade school? Fresh carrot and celery juice! That's way too much sugar
for my kid! Yeah, I want them to go back to the Snicker's bars."
If vegetable
juice is too sweet for you, cut it in half with water.
"Juicing
isn't suggested for cancer"
Only someone who doesn't read from
a very wide swath of data could possibly have come up with this. Successful cancer
cures-current and going back to early 20th century naturopathic treatments-involve
raw vegetable liquid. Juicing has saved lives.
"Juicing isn't
natural"
(Also known as the "if god had intended us to eat
this way, he'd have given us juicers" belief). Is wearing shoes natural?
How about pressure-cooking? How about moving over the ground at 70 mph while hanging
onto a steering wheel?
"Juicing is too concentrated"
(This
also lies in the "if god had intended..." category) Ever use herbal
formulas? Those are concentrated herbs. Salt is concentrated minerals. Your body
can handle a bit of concentration.
"Juicing is too cooling"
Then
put on a sweater and exercise until you sweat! This often-spouted belief just
drives me crazy, and I have never, ever heard it said by an athlete; it only comes
from people who do not exercise.
Is your body really that precious and delicate?
Are you sure? Can we not torque and play with our core energetics more than we
think? I have had a sauna in my backyard for years, where I regularly sit, like
my extraordinarily healthy ancestors did, for one to two hours in temperatures
that hover around 180ºF/82ºC. Every 30 minutes, I (and my guests) run
outside to the 3' by 5' cold plunge pool where,-during the Colorado winter-we
have to chip away or slide out the 4-inch slab of ice before plunging into the
water for a count to 15 (that's right, 15 seconds; one of the house rules). We
do this weekly, often more. Along with raw garlic and miso soup, I don't have
a method of kicking out viruses, bacteria, or sore throats better than these amazing
sauna rounds. Think about this: sauna rounds purposely get me really hot and then
get me really cold. And I have not had a cold or flu in years.
"Juicing
is too yin, and makes you spaced out"
Compared to what... coffee?
Macrobiotic Brick Desserts™?
Give me a break. This cold/yin thing has
gone too far.
Blaming juicing on the initial spacey feeling that is sometimes
felt is like blaming miso soup on a skin discharge. It isn't the juice, folks.
It's the metabolic waste that gets released into the bloodstream and brain when
you start detoxifying.
I, too, have met very spacey people who tell me
that they're "into juicing" and are juicing all the time. If you'll
dig a bit deeper, you'll find out that they are also doing a lot of pot and other
drugs, or have done their fare share of them in their past. Drugs, along with
other everyday toxins, can be stored in our fat and liver cells. Juicing cleanses
the liver, releasing these temporarily into the body.
"Juicing
makes you acidic"
Absolutely nonsense. If you don't think it's
alkalinizing, try this: do two shots of wheatgrass every day for two weeks. Just
two, 1-ounce shots of liquid wheatgrass a day. Then test your urine with one of
those pH strips. Unless you've been doing too many of those brick desserts, you
will see a rise in overall pH. Juicing can reduce body acidity.
Conclusion
Squeezing
vegetables isn't the Be All, End All to staying healthy. And it's certainly not
the main ingredient of my diet. But it has helped me stay flexible and symptom-free
for the past two decades. Like many of the great ideas and concepts that we learned
from Macrobiotics, juicing is one more brilliant tool that we can use to stay
healthy.
My advice: lighten up. Try a 28-day program, where you eat what
you normally eat, but you also add a cup or two of freshly prepared vegetable
juice each day. Don't be alarmed if you go through a bit of detoxification in
the first couple weeks. That's normal, and temporary, and the blessing of the
plant kingdom.
And remember the concept of empiricism: we are all our
own walking Petri dish, and others need to hear of your experiences. And I would
love to hear your results. Please post them, or ask me any questions, on my online
forum, at www.HowHealthWorks.com.
Scott
Ohlgren studied whole food nutrition at the 9-month Kushi Institute Graduate
Program. He became a certified Rolfing Practitioner in 1988. He has sold over
90,000 tapes, videos and books on the diet/disease, diet/health connection. He
is currently board-certified as a Holistic Health Practitioner by the American
Association of Drugless Practitioners. Each month, his online 28-day Cleansing
Program at www.HowHealthWorks.com takes hundreds of participants through the same
process that he learned 25 years ago. His latest book, Cellular Cleansing Made
Easy, is available at Amazon.com. Scott paraglides, skis, and has been a scuba
diver since 1980. He and his wife Gael live in Boulder, Colorado with cat Lila,
and an outside sauna and cold plunge. His next big acquisition will be a goat
and a few chickens, to mess with the cat's mind.
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