Health Benefits of Raw Juicing vs. Diabetes & Heart Disease

It is well-known that eating raw vegetables and fruits is very beneficial to your health.

These super foods contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and other phytonutrients that help to prevent and reverse various diseases, especially heart disease, cancer,  Type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Raw juicing and smoothies are two excellent ways to obtain these powerful phytonutrients on a consistent basis.

Health benefits of raw juicing include the following:

Raw juices provide enzymes needed for digestion. Juicing is easy on your digestive tract because your body doesn’t have to use a lot of energy to digest raw juiced fruits and veggies, so it can more easily absorb the vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants you get by drinking the fresh juice. The enzymes in fresh raw foods increases metabolism, so you will feel energized. Also, when your metabolism is higher, it’s easier to drop those unwanted pounds.

Raw juicing provides phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are plant chemicals that prevent and reverse diseases such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. The lycopene found in tomatoes, the chlorophyll found in vegetables, and the flavanoids found in fruits are all phytonutrients.

Phytonutrients are beneficial because they have antioxidant properties that protect your cells against the damages of oxidation, which reduce your cancer risks. Phytonutrients also stimulate enzyme activity. Enzyme-stimulating phytonutrients block estrogen to some extent, reducing breast cancer risks for some. Phytonutrients such as chlorophyll in green vegetables help to cleanse and detox your cells so that your cells can function better. Other phytonutrients, like isoflavones, found in soy products, actually imitate some estrogens and can help ease osteoporosis and menopause symptoms. Still other phytonutrients have antibacterial effects. You would have to consume a large quantity of fruits and vegetables to get sufficient benefit from phytonutrients, but you can get a sufficient amount through raw juicing.

Vegetables and fruits provide needed water for hydration. Water is essential to maintaining good health, but few of us drink enough of it. Juicing fresh fruits and vegetables can provide your body with the water it needs. Since more than 67% of your body cells are made of water, and your brain cells can contain as much as 80 percent, it is key to your health to drink water (or drink raw juices that contain water).

Juicing increases phytonutrient assimilation into your cells. When indigestible fiber is removed from fruits and vegetables, your body can absorb more nutrients. If you eat a raw carrot, you absorb only about one percent of the beta-carotene, but when you juice the carrot and remove the fiber, your body can absorb almost 100 percent of the beta-carotene.

Juicing puts nutrients into the bloodstream quickly. Scientist says that when you drink juice, the nutrients enter your bloodstream within 30 minutes, so you get the healthy benefits from your fresh fruits and vegetables almost immediately.

Patients suffering from degenerative diseases such as Type 2 diabetes almost always have difficulty properly digesting and absorbing food. This can be a result of toxicity, malfunction of the digestive system, a decrease in stomach acid production, or a variety of other causes. This digestive weakness is the same reason that many patients have difficulty digesting and absorbing vitamin and mineral supplements in pill or capsule form.

Raw juicing  dramatically helps your body increase the absorption of nutrients in order to effect healing, and produce the remissions and cures for diseases and ailments such as heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes..  

Juicing allows your digestive system to rest. If you feel sluggish and tired after you eat, you’ll love juicing. With juicing, your body doesn’t have to focus its energies on digesting, so it focuses its energies upon eliminating toxins through your liver and on repairing anything in your body in need of repair. Your intestines, pancreas, gallbladder and liver are not required to overwork, so you don’t burn as much energy. This is very beneficial when your cells are fighting a disease such as diabetes.

Green juices contain detoxifying chlorophyll. Chlorophyll helps strengthen your body through cellular cleansing. It assists the liver with detoxifying, it rebuilds blood cells, removes parasites and exotoxins, eliminates mold, and assists your body in preventing and eliminating cancer cells. It also assists your body by helping to stabilize your blood glucose and better regulate your diabetes.

Juicing helps alkalize your body. Illness thrives in a body that is overly acidic. When your body’s alkaline balance is maintained, your risks for developing disease lessens.

Juicing offers a powerhouse of nutrients. The nutrients in raw fruit and vegetable juices include vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes, and other nutrients essential to healing and cell regeneration.

Juicing restores mineral and biochemical balance. Raw fruits and vegetables contain organic minerals like calcium, silicon, and potassium that help your tissues and cells maintain their mineral and biochemical balance, which aids in disease prevention and premature aging.

These are just a few of the many health benefits of raw juicing. You’ll look and feel more vivacious, younger, and healthier, because your body will actually be healthier. The high concentration of nutrients you can get through juicing can help heal many illnesses and diseases, lower your risks for others, and even prevent others.

One thing to remember about juicing is that juicing with too many fruits is not as beneficial as juicing with vegetables, especially if you're fighting a disease such as Type 2 diabetes, cancer or heart disease. 

Juice Fasting for Diabetics & Non-Diabetics

Juicing helps the body to fight disease and repair itself from the damage caused by diseases such as diabetes.

Juice fasting makes every other natural method of alternative therapy work faster: massage therapy works faster for fibromyalgia, acupuncture works faster for pain, energy healing is sped up, nutritional therapy works faster for diabetics, etc. 

Juice fasting is a multidimensional therapy in which the body goes through a major transformation -- physically, biochemically, and hormonally. There are a wide range of metabolic changes that occur. For example, the blood and lymph are detoxified; and, toxins are released from the colon, kidneys, bladder, lungs, sinuses, and skin. This clears out complications that have arisen from a bad diet and unhealthy lifestyle.

The benefits of following a juice fast include heightened spiritual awareness and relaxation of the body, mind, and emotions. Many people feel a sense of letting go of pain from the past and developing a positive attitude towards the present. 

During juice fasting, the body is able to clean out its system because it is not expending energy towards the digestive organs dealing with the accumulated toxins, sludge, and other waste. 

Note: But, if you're diabetic, juice fasting may not be the best strategy to help reverse your diabetes. Make sure that you test your blood glucose to ensure that you don't go hypoglycemic!

Juicing vs. Blending to Reverse Diabetes

Juicing is a process which extracts water and nutrients from vegetables and fruits  and discards all the fiber.  Without all the fiber, your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard to break down the food and absorb the nutrients. This is especially helpful if you have a sensitive digestive system or illness that inhibits your body from processing fiber.

Blending is a process which mixes the entire vegetables and fruits, skin and all, to produce a smooth consistency known as a smoothie. Blending vegetables and fruits  leaves all the fiber in the mixture, which helps to create a slow, even release of nutrients into the blood stream and avoids blood sugar spikes.

So, which is better to help reverse your diabetes? Actually both serve a vital purpose in helping to reverse your diabetes.

Juicing allows the nutrients to get into your cells faster and helps to repair the damage caused by diseases such as diabetes so that you can optimize your health.  Blending allows you to consume "whole" meals in liquid form which allows you to use blended smoothies as replacement meals. This helps to repair your cells but also helps with weight loss.

Juicing Advantages:
-- The nutrients are more readily available to the body in much larger quantities. It’s like injecting nutrients straight into your blood stream.  This means your body is better able to absorb the nutrients without having to digest the dense bulk of the plant.  This helps to heal the body faster.
-- You can fit an incredible quantity of vegetables into a single glass of green juice, leaving you with simple, smooth and delicious drink that packs an incredible nutritional punch!

Juicing Disadvantages:
-- Juicers can be very expensive and hard to take care of. They need to be thoroughly cleaned after every use.
-- Stocking enough fresh, organic vegetables to make daily juices can also be expensive.
-- Can't use juicing as meal replacement, because of blood sugar spikes.

Blending Advantages:

-- The blender is relatively inexpensive.
-- Smoothies tend to be more filling since the plant fibers are present
-- Generally faster and easier to make than juice.

Blending Disadvantages:
-- Your body has to work a little harder to digest a smoothie and absorb the nutrients.
-- A smoothie won’t be as nutrient-dense as your green juice since it’s difficult to pack in the same volume of vegetables into a blender.

Both Juicing and Blending are healthy ways to help reverse your diabetes and optimize your health. Use each method as it appeals to your needs. If you need something filling that will hold you for a while make a smoothie. If you’re feeling like you need a pick me up and  a boost of nutritional power; the best thing you can do is get a fresh juice. If you've been diabetic for several years or want to wean off the drugs as soon as possible, then, drink fresh green juice at least 3 to 6 times a day.

Juicing for Reversing Diabetes, Weight Loss and Other Health Issues

Juicing is a powerful nutritional therapy that can address many disease and health issues because juicing nourishes the body, strengthens the immune system, reduces cellular inflammation, reduces insulin resistance, detoxifies the body, and facilitates weight loss.

The disease/health issues that raw juicing helps include (but, is not limited to) the following:

• Prevent/reverse Type 2 diabetes
• Prevent/reverse heart disease
• Weight Loss
• Chronic fatigue
• Arthritis
• Kidney problems
• Vision problems
• Allergies
• Autoimmune diseases

The following is a list of methods that you can use to implement raw juicing into your diet:

• Add juicing to each meal
• Use juicing as a snack or dessert
• Use juicing (or a green smoothie) as a replacement meal
• Perform a juice fast (but only with proper supervision)

Juicing to Reverse Heart Disease and Diabetes

Heart disease and Type 2 diabetes are two of the major diseases in America and around the world, primarily due to poor dietary habits and lifestyle behaviors.

If you want to prevent (or reverse) cardiovascular disease and diabetes, consider juicing with mostly fresh vegetables, and, a few fruits. Juicing is a good way to get the necessary 5-9 servings of vegetables and fruits every day. Drinking green smoothies is another way to accomplish this.

Vegetables include: beetroot, aloe vera, carrots, tomato, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, red

bell peppers, celery, cabbage, parsley. They will help reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol, strengthen arteries and veins, increase blood circulation, act as antioxidants, and work to prevent blood clots.

Fruits include: orange, orange, grapes, pomegranate, apple, cranberry, red grapefruit, strawberry, cantaloupe (muskmelon), watermelon, blueberries, kiwi. They will help lower blood pressure, improve blood vessel cells, prevent blockages of the arterial walls, reduce cholesterol, act as anti-inflammatory, lower triglycerides and prevent the formation of fats.

However, if you're diabetic, you should limit your intake of fruit juices.

Vegetables & Fruits by Color

If you want to stay healthy and not become diabetic or develop some other systemic disease, then, eat a variety of vegetables and (some) whole fruits as part of the Death to Diabetes Super Meal program. Similarly, if you want to reverse your diabetes, you should also eat a variety of vegetables and (some) whole fruits.

RED

Fruits: Apple, Cherry, Cranberry, Guava, Mangos*, Nectarines, Persimmons, Pink Grapefruit, Pomegranates, Raspberry, Red Grapes*, Strawberry, Watermelon*

Vegetables: Beet, Radish, Red Cabbage, Red Peppers, Red Potatoes, Rhubarb, Tomato

ORANGE

Fruits: Apricots, Cantaloupe, Mango*, Oranges, Tangerines

Vegetables: Carrot, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Yam

YELLOW

Fruits: Yellow Apples, Lemons, Mangoes*, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapple*, Yellow Watermelon*

Vegetables: Butternut Squash, Corn, Rutabagas, Yellow Peppers, Yellow Summer Squash, Yellow Tomatoes

GREEN

Fruits: Green Apples, Green Grapes, Honeydew Melon*, Kiwi, Limes

Vegetables: Artichokes, Asparagus, Avocados, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cucumbers, Greens, Green Beans, Green Cabbage, Green Lettuces, Green Onions, Green Peas, Green Pepper, Kale, Spinach, Zucchini

PURPLE/BLUE

Fruits: Blackberries/Raspberries, Blueberries, Figs, Plums, Prunes, Purple Grapes*, Raisins*

Vegetables: Eggplant, Purple Cabbage

*Please Note: Avoid these fruits if you are diabetic, or, until your blood sugar is in the normal range.

Importance of Juice Quality

The quality of raw juice is at the optimum level right after the juice has been produced by your juicer.

However, due to our busy schedules, sometimes we would like to make some extra juice and store it in a container of some kind to drink later.

Unfortunately, the quality of the juice suffers and the juice loses its nutrient value over a period of 2-3 days.

The two main factors that effect juice quality are: Heat and Oxidation.

Heat can affect the juice mainly by causing enzyme deactivation.  Enzyme deactivation only occurs when temperatures exceed 118 degrees Fahrenheit.  In addition to the heat, there is a time component associated with enzyme deactivation.  For example you could probably heat juice to 130 degrees for 1 nano-second with no enzyme deactivation.  Passing your finger over a flame is a similar example. (this is not advised). 

 
Oxidation occurs when you break open cell walls of the produce and expose it to oxygen.  Oxidation occurs when you cut open an apple and it turns brown. In general, oxidation does affect the quality of the juice. Many of the nutrients in the juice are not affected by oxidation, but some are.  Oxidation is a natural process.   Its best  to minimize oxidation.  One way to minimize oxidation is to CONSUME THE JUICE RIGHT AFTER IT IS MADE.

Heating the juice (below 118°F) is not as serious a problem as the oxidation. All juicers heat the juice somewhat, including the Single Auger Juicer/Twin Gear Juicer.

However, oxidation dramatically reduces the quality of your juice. Oxidation occurs with all juicers.  Some juicers create less oxidation in the process of juicing, i.e. masticating vs. centrifugal.   Oxidation increases the longer the juice is sitting around.  So to MINIMIZE oxidation, its more important to DRINK THE JUICE RIGHT AFTER ITS MADE than to worry about, "oh, my centrifugal juicer produces more initial oxidation".  If you cut open an apple, oxidation is created (it turns brown). You never see the browning occur if you eat the apple as soon as you cut it!

We believe manufacturers talk about oxidation and heat to influence your purchase decision.  Heat should not be a factor, since all juicers will raise the temperature of the produce being juiced.  Oxidation plays a role in the quality of juice, this is true.

We would recommend taking the  oxidation factors "lightly".  One could purchase the best juicer that produces the least oxidation, only to have it sit on the counter, and it never being used, since they didn't consider that its one of the hardest juicers to clean.  We have found that if a juicer is hard to clean, it will not get used -- then, what is the advantage of having "the best" juicer, if its never used? 

Tip: Although we don't recommend storing the juice, if you store the juice properly, i.e. filled them up to the brim to prevent air that causes oxidation, in an air-tight thermos/vacuum flask, and stored away in the refrigerator, the juice quality can last from 1 to 3 days as follows:

• Using a centrifugal juicer - juice gets oxidized almost as soon as you're done juicing, so drink juice immediately.
• Using a single-gear juicer - possible to keep up to 24 hours from time of extraction.
• Using a twin-gear juicer - possible to keep up to 48 hours from time of extraction.
• Using a hydraulic press juicer - possible to keep up to 72 hours.

Here are some other tips if you want to increase the quality of the juice from your juicer:

• Start off with the coldest possible produce - leave the produce in the refrigerator before juicing. Set your refrigerator a little colder.
• Do not overload the juicer!  Feed in only a little produce at a time. Let it work itself out of the juicer before adding more.  Overloading will cause the juicer to work harder, causing excess friction and generating heat.
• While juicing, occasionally juice an ice cube, which will help to reduce the temperature of the blade/auger and the juice. It will also dilute the juice.
• Be sure to inspect the cutting blade (on centrifugal juicers) or cutter (on the Champion juicer).  Replace if they are dull.  Dull blades do not cut as well, and thus will cause excess friction, which generates heat.
• Juice in small batches, rather than "juice marathons".  The longer the juicer runs, the warmer things get.
• Start off by juicing the highest quality produce available.  In some studies, organic crops have been shown to be higher in some vitamins, essential minerals and phytonutrients.  
  
• If your juicing with a CHAMPION Juicer, chop produce into smaller pieces. Produce with strings will get stuck around the cutting blade and cause more friction and heat (especially Celery and leafy greens with long stems)
• JUICE CONSISTENTLY and DRINK YOUR JUICE AS SOON AS YOU MAKE IT (DO NOT STORE IT) FOR HIGHEST QUALITY. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR.
  

FYI: A Green Star juice extractor as well as most other twin gear juicers make juice with the least amount of oxidation to them. The Norwalk press also does but it is a lot more expensive. It's physically big and involves more of a commitment due to the different stages of cutting, pressing and then cleaning in order to get a glass of juice. If you are really concerned about these issues consider getting a Green Star at a quarter of the price of a Norwalk juicer. You'll be very happy because they are great machines. If you want to spend a little less, go with an Omega 8003 juicer. This juicer delivers higher quality juice, is easy to clean, comes with a 10 year warranty, and it will change your life.

Smoothies

A smoothie is a healthy version of a milkshake and is a nice alternative for people who either don't like to juice or get tired of juicing and cleaning the juicer everyday. A green smoothie is an even healthier version of a regular smoothie. These green smoothies are scrumptious and easy to make with your blender. Smoothie recipes are included in the juicing book.

Although it seems simple (just throw some stuff into a blender and press Start), most people don't know how to make a  healthy, well--balanced smoothie that will fight their diabetes and optimize their health.

You don't need to use syrup and lots of fruit to make a smoothie taste good. If you use ripe fruits, tons of sugar shouldn’t be needed. Also, always ensure that you use a high-powered blender and also ensure that your smoothie contains the following five (5) components: a base, a liquid,  some fruit, a nutritive additive, and a flavoring additive.

Examples of a base, a liquid,  some fruit, a nutritive additive, and a flavoring additive (in that order) are a banana, some almond milk,  some fruit, some spinach, and some cinnamon, respectively.

For more details about smoothies and  how to make them, plus lots of recipes get the Power of Juicing & Smoothies ebook.

Start drinking smoothies to reverse & cure your diabetes.