Juicing! A lot of people just don't get it

In her book "How to Know If You are Magnesium Deficient - 75% of Americans Are", Elizabeth Lipski talks about mineral deficiencies in humans, something that is far more common that we are lead to believe.  One interesting section of the book looks at the zinc content of carrots. She says that back in the 1930s, the Department of Agriculture measured the levels of nutrients in a shop bought carrot.  The average carrot contained 20 mg Zinc.  Around 50 years later, the average carrot contained 10 mg zinc.  Today, Elizabeth guesses that the average carrot may only contain 2-5 mg zinc.  

To me, this is shocking.  I mean how many people realize that the fruit and vegetables we consume are getting less nutritious over time?  The fact is that fruit and vegetables get a lot of their nutrients from the soil they grow in.  If soils are deficient in minerals, then so will the produce that grows in that soil.  Each generation of plant grown on a patch of soil will take out nutrients, and, if they aren't put back into the soil, then successive generations will grow up with lower mineral content.  

Thinking about this in terms of the quantity of produce we consume, back in the 1930s, we could eat one carrot and get 30mg zinc.  Today, to get the same amount of zinc you'd need to eat 6 or more carrots. 

As Elizabeth says in her book, 75% of Americans are deficient in magnesium and don't even know it. How many other minerals and vitamins are we deficient in? If those zinc tests are anything to go by, then probably quite a lot. Most of us don't eat enough fresh fruit and vegetables, and that is a great place to start, but juicing can offer us an amazing way to supplement out diet.  

Instead of eating 10 carrots (which would be a challenge for most people), you could juice them and end up with a glass of juice containing high doses of vitamins, minerals and live enzymes found in the carrot.  

By juicing, we can concentrate down the volume we need to consume, meaning we can drink far more nutrients than we could ever eat as whole produce.  When you think of it that way, then drinking one large glass of juice can give you the same doses of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes as 2-3 lb of fresh produce. 

But what about fiber?

This is one argument I hear a lot.  When you juice you remove the fiber, and we all need fiber.

Well, the truth is that juicing doesn't remove all of the fiber. Juice contains water-soluble fiber, plus some water-insoluble fiber that gets through the juice extractor into the juice tray.  However, most insoluble fiber is removed.

Fiber is extremely important in our diet as it helps to keep things moving along in our intestines.   It also has important roles in lowering cholesterol and stabilizing blood sugar levels.  Eating almost any fruit or vegetable will give you the extra fiber you may need, but is there a way you can get the fiber from the stuff you juice? Let's look at that.

I love to add carrots to my juices.  Not only do they taste sweet, they are also packed with nutrients and are moderately anti-inflammatory.  Since inflammation is the cause of many diseases, this is an important consideration.  

Most people know that carrots are good for eyesight because of the alpha and beta-carotene and high levels of vitamin A.  However, carrots also contain high levels of vitamin K, C, B6, manganese and potassium as well as trace amounts of many other vitamins and minerals.  The beta-carotene in carrots is even thought to have strong anti-cancer properties.

If you have a juice extractor, here is a simple juice you can make that is packed with nutrients.  We'll even keep most of the pulp and use that later.

• 500g chopped carrots
• 2 large oranges, peeled.
• 1 Slice of ginger.

If you are using organic carrots, they don't need to be peeled.  If they are not organic, I'd recommend peeling them to make sure to remove any surface chemicals that were used in the growing or just present in the soil.

Put the oranges through your juicer extractor first, followed by the slice of ginger.  

The pulp that comes from these can be discarded (I put it on my compost heap).  If you are using a centrifugal juicer, clean it before juicing the carrots.  If you are using a masticating juicer, there is no need to clean it.  

OK, now juice the carrots, but be sure to keep all of the pulp from the carrots.

This juice recipe makes around a pint of juice in my single gear juicer.

Add the carrot pulp to a large bowl and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil (you can add more if you like).  

Juice a small lemon and add that to the mixture.

At this point, you can add in any other salad ingredients you want.

I like red bell peppers and red onion, both chopped finely.  You could also add chopped parsley as that is an amazing herb packed with minerals.  Parsley can be toxic in large quantities though, so if you are pregnant, I'd recommend you don't add it.

You can season with sea salt and pepper if you want.

Mix the ingredients well and you have a lovely, tasty, nutritious salad that is a great side serving to any meal.  It's also a good salad if you want to give your liver a rest, as olive oil and lemon are classic ingredients in liver detox programs.

Earlier you made the juice, now you have a high fiber salad for later in the day that will keep your intestines and liver happy.

Joe Cross took things to the extreme with his 60 day juice fast, but in doing so, cured his "incurable" disease, lost weight and became incredibly healthy.  I'm not suggesting that you start a juice fast, but I do know from personal experience the rush of energy you get from juicing everyday. It gives me more of a bounce in my step, and even on a cloudy day, things look brighter.

Give it a try and let me know how you get on.