VEGETABLE JUICES
Written by Slawomir (“Swavak”) Gromadzki, MPH
According to the concept introduced by Dr. H. E. Kirschner, in order to get today proper amount of minerals and vitamins from vegetables we would have to consume them in too big amounts. For this reason he proposed drinking raw vegetable juices simply because they are much higher in essential minerals. Also Dr. Walker encourages to drink raw vegetable juices by stating that the harmful toxins present today in vegetables remain mostly in the pulp. By the way, it was after Dr. Walker became very ill (in his early 50s) that he totally changed his diet and became a raw vegetarian. As a result he not only recovered from all health problems, but he managed to live almost 120 years!
Another reason our diet should include more vegetable juices than raw vegetables is our insufficient ability to digest and break down the cellular structure of raw vegetables, and assimilate their nutrients. In addition, it is believed that we also use huge amounts of energy to digest raw vegetables, thus, by drinking raw juices we may omit this process and feel better by saving a lot of energy. Fibre is very important in case of fruits because it greatly slows down digestion of sugar, but in case of vegetables it is much less important as they are significantly lower in sugar. That is why fruits should be consumed with the pulp. Apart from that, fibre itself contains no significant nutritional value and is only the carrier of the nutrients. Also because vegetable juice is deprived of fibre, the percentage of nutrients able to reach the cellular level raises from 30 to even 90 per cent! In addition, the nutrients from the juice reach our cells almost immediately after it is consumed. Nevertheless, because we still need fibre our diet should include some raw vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds and nuts. Seeds and nuts are important also because they are usually relatively high in omega 3 fatty acid.
Vegetable juices provide our body with much higher amount of nutrients than raw vegetables. For example, in order to make a glass of carrot juice we have to use one pound of carrots. But, because during the process of digestion and assimilation of raw vegetables we are able to absorb much less nutrients than from a juice, it means that to get equal amount of nutrients which is found in this one glass of juice we would have to consume at least two or even three pounds of raw carrots! The problem is, though, that nobody is able to eat that amount at one meal, and even if we tried we would still lose 60 to 70 per cent of the nutrients during the digestive process. This example also shows that just one glass of vegetable juice contains the amount of nutrients which is found in all the raw vegetables people usually consume in a week and some even in a whole month!
However, in order to make a juice which would be fully beneficial to your health you can’t use a blender but a cold pressed and low speed juicers such as Hurom slow vertical juicers which make juice surprisingly quickly and without heating or oxidizing it, and destroying enzymes and vitamins. It is possible by keeping a really low RPM rate of around 70-80. But in spite of that, they can squeeze the ingredients until nothing is left apart from dry pulp. The secret of incredible health benefits of vegetable juices squeezed in slow juicers is that they allow to preserve enzymes alive for up to 48 hours. Apart from that, tests done in the Michelson Laboratories Inc. and the Korean Food Research Institute revealed that slow juicers are able to extract over 40% more Vitamin C, and over 60% more Vitamin A than traditional juicers.
Dr. Kirschner treated his patients, who often suffered from so called ‘incurable diseases’, with fresh vegetable juices for over 50 years with excellent outcomes. As a result of drinking mostly vegetable juices many people recovered from various cancers, cardio vascular diseases, leukaemia, arthritis, eyesight problems, depression, skin problems, diabetes, haemorrhoids, kidney disease, obesity and many other diseases and health-related problems.
There are many places where vegetable juices are used to treat different disorders. One of them is the Gerson Hospital in Mexico where patients recover from terminal cancers as a result of being on plant-based diet and drinking eight glasses of carrot juice every day.
You can make juice from any fresh vegetables, but the ones which are recommended to use most often are carrots and green leafy vegetables as they contain a lot of chlorophyll. The chemical structure chlorophyll is very similar to the human blood component – haemoglobin. According to the Science Newsletter in over one thousand recorded cases chlorophyll has been effective in fighting various infections, chronic sinusitis, common colds and many other problems.
The most popular and recommended vegetables for juicing are the following: Carrot, Green leafy vegetables (Kale, Spinach, Watercress, etc.), Celery, Beet, Turnip, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Sweet Peppers, Parsley, Chard, Beet greens, etc. Dr. Kirschner also recommended adding some other ingredients to the vegetable juices such as Spirulina, Alfalfa, Turmeric, young Dandelion or Nettle leafs, Mint, Comfrey, and other herbs.
If you don’t like the taste of vegetable juice and have to mix it with a fruit juice try to use apples. Normally vegetables shouldn’t be mixed with fruits at one meal as together they may cause some fermentations and small indigestion but apples are believed to be the only fruit which can be used with vegetables.
Drink only raw fresh vegetable juices – 1 or 2 glasses 2 to 3 times a day before meals or instead. It is even better to have them with chlorella or spirulina, alfalfa, turmeric and barley grass. If your intention is only to maintain your health drink 2 to 3 times 1 glass. But in case you want to treat different health problems you need to have 2 glasses 3 to 4 times a day.