Juicing...Worth the Hype?

As a bzzagent I have the opportunity to try products out for free, report back about them and talk with others about how I did or did not like them. I recently had the opportunity to receive "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" to watch and give my opinion about it.

How many of you have seen the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead"? It chronicles the life of one man who decides to take his life into his own hands. Weighing in at over 300 pounds, the realization that he is unhealthy and headed down the wrong path hits him. He can either continue down this path of self-destruction or he can do something about it and fight for his health and a better life.

He chooses the latter and begins his journey with 60 days of juicing. In the end, he is healthier, happier and an advocate of juicing and healthy lifestyles.

There is no need to jump in and do 60 days of only juicing. I think many individuals get scared thinking that they need to go to the same extremes to get any benefits. Visit this website to read about his program called the "reboot" program. The nice thing about the reboot program is that there are a number of different programs to choose from. Some are all juicing no solids while others incorporate juicing at the beginning of the day and then eating a well-balanced, healthy dinner. One program is simply as many and as much fruits and vegetables as you want. Simply click here to take an assessment to find out which program fits your lifestyle. I love that it is FREE to access these juicing and meal plans.

I am incorporating juicing into my family's 100 days of Clean Eating Challenge. My kids like juicing and it gets them to eat more fruits and especially vegetables each day.
This morning we had this juice:

Apple, Carrot, Kale and Cantaloupe Juice

1 Cantaloupe

2 Apples

2 Handfuls of Baby Kale Leaves (found at Costco)

7 Carrots

Mmmmm so good for me!

The vegetables this site recommends to juice are: Arugula, Beets, Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Collards, Cucumber, Endive, Fennel, Garlic, Green Beans, Jerusalem artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Mustard Greens, Onions, Parsnip, Pumpkin, Radish, Sweet peppers, Romaine, Scallion, Snap peas, Spinach, Sprouts, Squash, Sweet potatoes, Swede, Swiss chard, Watercress, Zucchini and Tomato.

There are recipes, guides to what fruits to eat and general juicing facts and information. The main guideline is to eat a rainbow everyday. Make sure you get enough different colors into your diet so that you are receiving all the benefits.

The downsides to juicing are that it costs more money because lots of produce needs to be juiced and it is more time consuming to clean-up. Each time you use the juicer you must clean it up. My new juicer is much easier to clean than my old one and I have a system that works for me. I fill my sink with hot, soapy water. As soon as I am finished juicing I rinse off each part and put each piece in the soapy water. I scrub the piece with all the tiny holes in it before putting it in the water. Then after drinking my juice and getting picked up I pull each piece out, thoroughly wash them and replace the pieces for next time.

Considering the health benefits, I say incorporating juicing into the diet is worth the effort. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Happy Rebooting!