Happy Thanksgiving!

At this time of year, our taste buds often turn to spices and root veggies. I’ve been making yam bisque this season that satisfies those desires and is a very healthy choice. It’s rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and manganese, a trace mineral that helps with carbohydrate metabolism. This is also a low-glycemic recipe because the yam juice sits for a while so the starch can settle to the bottom. It gets discarded and you get the health benefits of yam juice without all the starch.

You might enjoy this raw soup recipe as a starter for your Thanksgiving Dinner!

Yam Bisque
2 cups yam juice
2 cups almond, rice, or sesame milk
1/2 cup soaked pine nuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cardamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 avocado

Directions
Juice the yams and let the yam juice sit for at least 45 minutes so the starch can settle to the bottom.
Pour the juice off the top into a blender and discard the starch. Add the milk, pine nuts, spices, and avocado and blend until smooth.
Serves 2

Juicing Helps Improve Brain Health

The brain is one of the organs that is particularly sensitive to free radical damage and oxidative stress.  It is very important to include lots of antioxidants in your diet to protect it.  Juicing is one of the best ways you can accomplish that.

There are a number of studies showing that juice helps to improve brain function.  Noted here are two studies showing that juice helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Apple Juice Can Delay Onset of Alzheimer’s Disease

According to a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Jan. 2009), a growing body of evidence demonstrates that we can take steps to delay age-related cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease.  A team of researchers at Neurodegeneration Research University of Massachusetts found that drinking apple juice helped mice perform better than normal in maze trials, and prevented the decline in performance that was observed in aged mice.  The researchers observed that mice drinking the human equivalent of two glasses of apple juice per day for one month produced less of a small protein fragment called “beta-amyloid” that is responsible for forming senile plaques that are commonly found in brains of individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.  The researchers concluded that regular consumption of apple juice can not only help to keep one’s mind functioning at its best, but may delay Alzheimer’s disease.

Cherie’s note: I suggest choosing green apples because they have less sugar.  Keeping sugars very low in your diet is also good for brain health.  I don’t recommend much fruit juice because it has too much sugar, but adding half a green apple to your veggie juice combo can improve the flavor immensely and help your brain at the same time. I recommend always diluting fruit juice with plenty of greens and some water.  Add a cucumber to each juice combo and you’ll get lots of water with minerals.  I also recommend buying organic apples.  Apples are one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits.

Drink Your Vegetables 

The Kame Project showed that those who drank juice more than three times per week compared to less than once a week were 76 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.  (The American Journal of Medicine, 2006)

Cherie’s Juice Tips: Include spinach in your juice recipes.  Spinach is known to help protect the brain from oxidative stress.  And ginger is rich in zinc; zinc deficiency has been linked to learning impairment.  Toss in a chunk of ginger every time you juice for a boost of flavor, extra zinc and the anti-inflammatory action of ginger.

Get a good juicer!  To make sure you stick with juicing every day, get a good juicer—one that’s easy to use and clean.  Check out my “Top Picks” at www.juiceladyinfo.com

Scientists and health officials, who scared the wits out of us recently, are now trying to reassure us that the first wave of the Swine Flu–now spreading across the Northern Hemisphere–is apparently not as virulent and life-threatening as future mutated waves of this H1N1 virus might be in the Fall.  

Now is the time to get prepared for fall by strengthening your immune system, not by getting what could be a life-threatening vaccination against this flu.  (Read Swine Flu Update @ articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspx)  This very informative article will help you put the whole Swine Flu scare and flu shot promo into perspective.)

Here’s what you can do to support your immune system:

Juice ginger root.  Ginger is antiviral.  It’s also one of the best sources of zinc.  Studies show that zinc deficiency increases susceptibility to infections by impairing immune function.  Adequate zinc will help prevent shrinkage of the thymus gland and support thymus-hormone activity.  Other sources of zinc include: turnips, garlic, parsley, carrots, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, and cucumbers.  You could juice up one of my favorites recipes:  carrot, lemon, ginger, cucumber, and parsley.

 Juice beetroot.  Traditional remedy says that beets help inactivate viruses.  One thing we know for sure:  beets are good for the liver.

Fresh apple juice is antiviral. 

Wheatgrass juice is a blood purifier.

Garlic is know to kill influenza virus in test tubes.  It also stimulates the immune system.  It should be juiced or eaten raw for its antiviral effects.

Juice selenium-rich vegetables. A deficiency of selenium can result in reduced antibody production and a decrease in the microbe-eating ability of white blood cells, known as phagocytes.  Choose from carrots, cabbage, garlic, turnips, radishes, and Swiss chard.

Include Vitamin C (with bioflavonoids), vitamin D, and beta carotene.  All these nutrients support the immune system.  (I have excellent vitamin C with bioflavonoids and vitamin D in 1000 and 5000 IU by Thorne Research at very reasonable prices, if you want to order them.)

One final note about the Swine Flu

Mexican health officials and the Wall Street Journal also revealed a few days ago that the pigs in Mexico that likely set off the epidemic are not native Mexican pigs, but rather pigs from Smithfield Foods’ factory farms in the U.S. that were shipped to Mexico. The rather alarming bottom line, however, is that CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) pose a deadly threat to our health.

Swine CAFOs, such as Smithfield, as well as giant poultry operations, such as those operated by Tyson Foods and Perdue, produce cheap food by cramming thousands of animals together inside hellish disease-ridden factory farms, injecting pigs and chickens with powerful vaccines and antibiotics to keep them alive, thereby putting enormous pressure on swine and bird viruses and pathogens like MRSA to evolve into dangerous killers. Filthy and disease-ridden factory farms for pigs and chickens, maintained by exploited and often unhealthy farm workers, kept in operation only with massive injections of animal drugs, are a biological time bomb set to explode. We face more and more killer viruses in the future, unless we shut down the CAFOs and transform the current global industrial/factory farm agriculture system into a chemical and drug-free organic system, whereby local and regional organic farms produce healthy food for local and regional markets.  And swine flu vaccines are not the answer.  Read Dr. Mercola’s article, noted above, about the people who were paralyzed with the last Swine Flu vaccination.

Cover girl Sarah Taylor lost 20 pounds with Cherie’s juice program. She attended Cherie’s class on juicing, bought The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health and a juicer from Cherie, and took the handouts from the class. When she put it all into practice, the weight literally melted off. Sarah said “I’m so thankful you taught me about juicing. I have a healthier body and more energy! That is invaluable.”

Many weight loss programs offer special foods or a supplement, but these plans don’t give you live food that gives your body life. The Juice Lady’s Program gives you the live food plan that melts away pounds and increases energy and vibrancy.

You, too, can get the plan Sarah Taylor used–the Juice Lady’s Plan described in Woman’s World magazine.

“I’ve designed an easy-to-use plan that includes freshly made vegetable juices and whole foods, which will help you alkalize your body so it can let go of fat cells that store acids and other toxins. With the alkaline and antioxidant-rich juices and diet plan, you’ll see the pounds simply melt away.

I’ve assembled the best products I could find at the best prices to help you reach your weight goals.” Cherie Calbom, MS, The Juice Lady To get a copy of The Juice Lady’s Turbo Juice Diet & Weight Loss Plan, go to www.juiceladyinfo.com

As the Juice Lady, and best-selling author of The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health, people often ask me to recommend the best juicer.  I like to ask questions at this point.  What are your juicing goals?  How busy are you?  Do you want to juice wheatgrass?  

If you want to juice wheatgrass, my recommendation is the Omega 8005.

If you are in a hurry and you want a juicer that is fast to use, then I recommend either the Omega 4000 or the wide-mouth Jucieman Pro.  

You can look at all models at my website www.juiceladyinfo.com.  If you still have questions, you can email or call me.

Happy Juicing!

Cherie Calbom

Why is it that wheatgrass juice makes people feel so healthy and is used by many people as a tonic for various ailments?  Well for one, it’s loaded with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients.  But the most important nutrient it offers is chlorophyll. People have found that chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for its green color, is the life of the plant.  The leaves of plants convert sunlight to energy and store that energy in plant fibers.  When you drink the juice of these tender blades of grass, you’re getting “concentrated sun power.” That means energy for you; lots of energy!

You can go to juice bars and buy a shot of wheatgrass juice.  Or, you can get a juicer that does wheatgrass juice, which needs to be a masticating juicer, and make your own at home all the time.  You’ll reap multiple health rewards!

Until recently, I had not found a juicer that did wheatgrass juice easily and was easy to clean.  Then I discovered the Omega 8005.  Go to my website www.juiceladyinfo.com and take a look at the sleek new Omega 8005.  I highly recommend it.

                                                                                     Cherie Calbom, M.S., The Juice Lady

Are you stressed?  Many people are feeling the pressures of our economic downturn-401Ks diminishing, home values falling, jobs in jeopardy, and the economy in trouble.  When we’re under a lot of stress, the tendency is to eat junk, especially, sweets.  On a psychological level, eating sweets can represent an attempt to bring sweetness into our lives.  But sweets don’t bring sweetness in the end.  Most people find that they have the reverse effect.  Sweets, junk food, and refined carbs, such as white flour baked goods that quickly turn to sugar when we eat them, often cause us to be irritable and out of sorts. That causes even more stress.  We find ourselves snapping at others more easily and getting irritated at little things. That’s because these foods cause wide swings in blood sugar.  When we’re stressed, we need better nutrition than when we’re not stressed out.  That’s where juicing fresh produce comes in.  When you start juicing a lot of vegetables with a little fruit to sweeten the blend, you’ll feel happier, more emotionally stable, and less irritable.  You’ll find that you make better decisions.  And you may start smiling more, even when you don’t have a particular reason for your good mood.  Start your day with a delicious glass of vegetable juice.  Eat healthy throughout the day, such as choosing veggies, salads, beans, whole grains, soups, and lean protein.  Drink a fresh juice cocktail  to unwind when you get home from work.  You’ll do more than unwind.  You’ll revive! You should feel more creative, too, because your brain will get the nutrients it needs.  With renewed energy, you can face the challenges of your life with more emotional stability and creativity.  

Making fresh juice is easy.  The only things you’ll need are fresh produce (organic is always best) and a good juicer.  Delicious recipes are also very helpful so that you don’t make something that tastes bad.  You can find dozens of great recipes  in The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health (Avery).  If you don’t have a good juicer, look for one with a strong motor (1/2 hp), a wide spout so you can add a whole apple or lemon, stainless steel (it won’t stain then), and only a few parts to wash so it’s easy to clean.  I recommend the Juiceman Pro.  You can read more about it on my website www.juicebookinfo.com.

Here’s a couple of recipes to energize your day!

Happy Morning

1/2 green  apple

4-5 carrots, well scrubbed, green tops removed, ends trimmed

3 fennel stalks; include leaves and flowers

1/2 cucumber

Handful spinach

1-inch piece ginger root

Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube.  Juice apple first and follow with other ingredients. Stir and pour into a glass; drink as soon as possible.

Serves 1

Note:  Fennel juice has been used as a traditional tonic to help the body release endorphins, the “feel good” peptides from the brain into the bloodstream.  Endorphins help to diminish anxiety and fear and generate a mood of euphoria.

Stress Buster

3-4 carrots, scrubbed well, tops removed, ends trimmed

1 cucumber, peeled

1/2 apple

1/2 beet, scrubbed well (may include stem and 1-2 leaves)

1/2 lemon, peeled

1-inch chunk ginger root, scrubbed, peeled if old

Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube.  Juice all ingredients and stir.  Pour into a glass and drink as soon as possible.

Serves 1-2

You can get more recipes and information about juicing at www.juicebookinfo.com

  So start unwinding from a stressful day with a juice cocktail and see what happens. As you juice your way to more energy and better health, you’ll find that you can handle the stresses of your day with greater ease and emotional stability.  So, what are you waiting for?  Raise a glass that will really make you feel good!

When we’re under a lot of stress, like we’ve lost a good portion of our 401K, or our house value has dropped significantly, or we’ve lost our job, or we can’t pay all our bills, the tendency is to eat junk, especially, sweets.  On a psychological level, eating sweets represents an attempt to bring sweetness into our lives.  But sweets don’t bring sweetness in the end.  Most people find that they have the reverse effect.  Sweets and refined carbs, such as white flour baked goods that quickly turn to sugar when we eat them, often cause us to be irritable.  We find ourselves snapping at others more easily and getting irritated at little things.  When we’re stressed, we need even better nutrition than when we’re not so stressed.  That’s where juicing comes in.  When you start juicing a lot of vegetables with a little fruit to sweeten the juice, you’ll feel happier, more emotionally stable, and less irritable.  You may find yourself smiling, even when you don’t have a particular reason for your good mood.  Start your day with a delicious glass of vegetable juice.  Eat healthy throughout the day, such as choosing veggies, salads, soups, and lean protein.  Drink a fresh juice cocktail when you get home from work to unwind.  You’ll do more than unwind.  You’ll revive! You should feel more creative, too, because your brain will get the nutrients it needs.  

Cherie Calbom, MS