Beauty Tip: Juice Cleanse!

1 whole cucumber, 4 sticks celery, 3-4 kale leaves, 1 whole green apple, ½ lemon, peeled. That’s my Mean Green juice recipe. Sometimes I like to get a little crazy with it and add some mint or basil…a thumb of ginger makes me feel reaaaally exotic…but in the end, it’s always the same: it always tastes like my lawn. And I love it. Juicing makes my eyes brighter, my skin more radiant, my frame much lighter. It’s the most effective TOTAL BODY beauty treatment I’ve found.

Since completing my 10 day juice cleanse back in March, a la “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, I have had loads of people asking me for my best juicing recipes, assuming that 10 days times 3 juicings daily would equal an advisable accumulation of knowledge. Unfortunately, they are asking the wrong person. I am very practical by nature in these matters, and always remember that one fact that I learned in geometry: “The fastest way from Point A to Point B is a straight line.” I determined, after following three separate juice recipes, that each of them tasted like the landscape, and that it was easier to buy the same five life-giving ingredients, follow the recipe by rote, and get on with the day, than to get bogged down in the recipes. But that’s just me.

Once you have decided how long your cleanse will be (and have cleared it with your doc, if necessary), it is important to fully understand WHY you are doing it, so that you can keep your eyes on the target. (Trust me- when you start craving things, you think of all sorts of reasons why a bacon cheeseburger is considered “nutritious”!)

With that said, I’d like to focus on THE POINT of a juice cleanse, and by way of paradigm shift, THE POINT of daily juicing:
Raw fruits and vegetables use the sun’s energy to convert inorganic minerals found in the dirt into living, organic nutrients that our bodies need to thrive. The most compelling description that I have heard to describe this process, the metaphor that caused the paradigm shift in my brain, was written by Jordan Rubin, in his book,“The Raw Truth”. Here’s how he described it:

“Cereal grasses, vegetables, fruits, seeds, and sprouts all depend upon the energy of the sun…they are the most efficient means to transfer the sun’s energy to humans and animals…Those ankle- high blades of grass waving in the fields are actually TINY SOLAR PANELS CAPTURING THE POWER OF THE SUN AND TRANSFERRING THAT ENERGY…TO US.”

He called farmers “Sun Harvesters”.  So when you consume raw fruits and veggies, you are actually harnessing the sun’s energy in your body, which in turn, gives you LIFE.
Juicing those same “solar panels” (as opposed to chewing them) is beneficial for two three main reasons:

• It is very difficult to physically chew and swallow the amount of produce that our bodies actually require daily for optimum performance; Juicing condenses the micronutrients into manageable portions without the bulk.
• Juicing sends the nutrients directly into your bloodstream and leaves the fiber behind, giving your tummies a rest in digestion. Consider it a sabbatical for your bowels, and an IV drip for instant beauty.
• Juicing (especially the Green Juice) makes everyone think you are crazy. People won’t mess with you if they think you are crazy. (Hint: take your glass of Mean Green into stores with you- everyone will let you in front of the line) (*this technique won’t work in natural grocery stores or at Half-Price Books. You look normal in there.*)

fresh tomato juice fights high cholesterol

Juicing as a time of cleansing for your body is a very intensive and beneficial process that requires a bit of research and preparation beforehand. Here’s what happens if you jump in cold-turkey:http://savvyboheme.com/10-day-juice-cleanse-saga/ . Once you have decided how long your cleanse will be (and have cleared it with your doc, if necessary), it is important to fully understand WHY you are doing it, so that you can keep your eyes on the target. (Trust me- when you start craving things, you think of all sorts of reasons why a bacon cheeseburger is considered “nutritious”!)

Juicing as a daily regime continues to deliver those same micronutrients into your blood, in a very convenient 16 ounce drink. It’s a great and EASY way to add REAL value to your diet, and is very adept at promoting pH balance to your internal system (balanced pH=better oxygenation in the blood=less disease). Juicing daily also presents the body with natural electrolyte minerals, which act as a buffer for the acid intake that we get from our meats, cheeses, caffeine and chocolates, as well as physical and emotional stress. Think of your Mean Green as a glass of Gatoraid, minus the sugar and fake stuff…It  promotes the most radiant skin of your life, as well as has the potential to change your physique entirely.

And as for your recipes, if you’re a linear thinker like me, stick with my recipe. You can get fancy with a sprig of parsley or a beet for color if ya like, but it’s still gonna taste like grass. And you’re gonna love it!
For you culinary enthusiasts who couldn’t imagine drinking the same juice day after day, here’s a GREAT E-book on juice recipes written by a brilliant lady who knows her stuff: http://crazysexyjuice.com/. She will disagree with my “lawn/landscape/grass” statements. That’s ok. She’s probably right.

Pinkies Up!

Healthy Beauty Project note: We juice here in our office daily and contend that our juices do NOT taste like lawn – lol. Add a fresh peach, mango or a piece of pineapple to your green juice for a delicious and nutritious fresh juice. Here’s our suggestion for a good consumer quality juicer.