Friday, October 28, 2011

Benefits of Juice Fasting for Crohn's, Colitis, IBS, and Celiac desease.


I enjoy a good meal and a glass of red wine as much as the next person – so forgoing those two things has never been very high on my to-do list!  But when you get sick with ulcerative colitis (like I did), you get so desperate, you’ll try anything.
I knew that, for years supervised fasting has been used with great success as part of European medical treatments. The first time I personally tried fasting was in a few month ago. 10 days of juice fasting together with nutritional supplements and herbs stopped my IBS and joint pain.   I felt energetic and excited about being alive. Juice fasting will save my life I know that now.  I realized Hippocrates, the father of Western Medicine was right: fasting allows the body to heal itself.

Why Does Fasting Work?

When we stop eating our usual 3 meals a day, and start consuming live, raw juices our bodies spend all that extra energy (used to digest food) on detoxification, including purging from drugs, chemicals from personal care products, mucus, bacteria, parasites in our intestines, and food additives and preservatives.

The Benefits of Fasting

Fasting allows our major organs (e.g. colon, liver, kidney, lungs, and skin) to release and eliminate toxins. Fasting promotes the formation of new, healthy cells. It can be used as a method of healing from acute and chronic illness or as a disease prevention tool for healthy people. Fasting can reverse the aging process for the middle-aged and elderly. Your body has a built-in mechanism of breaking down and digesting diseased tissues and damaged cells. After all the garbage in our system is disposed of, the body starts building new, healthy organs and tissues. The raw power of juice also purifies the blood, removes the waste from large intestine, and rejuvenates the endocrine system.
Fasting is highly effective for the following conditions:
  • Food allergies/Sensitivities
  • Asthma
  • Arthritis
  • IBS/Celiac Disease/IBD
  • Flus/Colds/Fever
  • Constipation
  • Migraine Headaches
  • Skin problems (eczema, psoriasis)
  • Back problems (sciatica, low back pain)

How Often Should You Do Juice Fasting?

Juice fast 1x/week for one month, then expand to 2 days/week, once a month. Seven day fasts can be done 4 times/year, at the beginning of each season: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

How to Juice Fast

To prepare for a fast longer than 24 hours, eat vegetables and some low-sugar fruits for at least 3 days before embarking on 3-14 days fast. While fasting, consume hot herbal teas and hot vegetable broths, in addition to fresh vegetable juice. To improve the absorption of the juice, I would recommend diluting fresh juice with some water in a ration of 75% juice and 25% water.

Juice Fasting vs. Water Fasting

Juice fasting is much easier than water fasting. A water fast puts more stress on your vital organs (kidney, liver, heart and intestines) by promoting a faster release of acids (eg. uric acids) and toxins.  This process itself could be overwhelming for a person who is doing fasting for the first time. Raw juices supply much needed vitamins, minerals and enzymes, improves cell oxygenation and promotes recovery from sickness.

Side Effects of a Juice Fast

Be aware that during a fast, as a part of the body’s tissue cleansing process, you may experience any of the following symptoms:
  • Coated tongue
  • Metallic taste in the mouth
  • Headaches/Dizziness
  • Mucus discharge from sinuses and bowel
  • Diarrhea/Fever/Fatigue
  • Dark, foul smelling urine and feces
  • Joint aches and pain
Do not be alarmed – this is a part of the internal detoxification process. Those symptoms are not dangerous and should go away after couple of days. Using colon therapy for the first 3-5 days will help you to minimize all those unpleasant physical symptoms. Stop fasting if your experience vomiting and diarrhea for more than a day! The possibility of dehydration is too high and might become dangerous for the faster.

Who Should Avoid Fasting?

Individuals with the following health conditions should avoid juice fasting:
  • Anorexia
  • Malnutrition
  • Peptic Ulcers
  • Tuberculosis
  • After Surgery
  • HIV an Chronic Infections
  • Type I Diabetes
  • Advanced Stage of Cancer
  • Pregnant and Lactating Women
  • Acute or Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Patients taking prescription medications should consult their doctor
Another very helpful step - is to add raw vegetable juices to some of your meals. try drinking a few ounces of vegetable - followed by a few ounces of pure water, 15 to 20 minutes before your meal. drinking a few ounces of vegetable - followed by a few ounces of pure water, 15 to 20 minutes before your meal.
The living enzymes are invaluable to your whole system and the vitamins and minerals are completely bio-available to you. The juices will give you a much needed nutritional and enzyme boost and help begin the healing process.
Keep in mind, the "American Cancer Society" has recommended that people eat more of the cabbage/broccoli family of vegetables because of their protective effects against cancer.

All juicers are not created equal, by any means. Just because a machine squashes and grinds up a vegetable or fruit to a certain degree and you are able to extract a bit of juice doesn't mean you are getting the enzymes and the nutrition you need for all your efforts. The better the quality of the machines used ... the better quality of the juices extracted. They will extract much more juice, thus ultimately saving you money when you buy your organic vegetables and fruits.

Here is one and it won't break the bank! 


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Kiwi prevents Asthma

Eating kiwi fruit is clearly a healthy choice, and it is particularly useful in these cases:
  • Prevents Asthma
  • Prevents wheezing and coughing, especially in children
  • Protects our DNA from mutations
  • Provides a healthy amount of antioxidants and vitamins
  • Helps prevent colon cancer thanks to a high fiber content
Sorry everyone, I have been sick and just so depressed!  Life is a funny thing.  One day you think all is good and the next all things just can fall apart.  Well, I am sorry to let any of you down.  So here is a new recipe, yeah lol I did make a new one.  You know to be honest it can get very over whelming trying to come up with new recipes and drinking the same thing day after day.  But, the way you feel is worth it.  Just got to keep the will power and that is the HARD PART!  So, once again I will styart a new journey.  I did gain 7 pounds back :( but I will get it off! 


Celerey, carrot, Kiwi, Wheat Grass, apple and strawberry

You get a powerhouse of nutrition and antioxidants with this combo. 

Kiwi fruits are rich in many Vitamins, flavonoids and minerals. In particular, they contain a high amount of Vitamin C (more than oranges), as much potassium as bananas and a good amount of beta-carotene.
Studies in Italy, though, performed on 6-7 year old children, have also demonstrated additional health benefits to the respiratory tract. In particular, children that were fed 5-7 portions a week of citrus and kiwifruits had 44% less probability wheezing compared to children eating less than once a week.
Shortness of breath was reduced by 32%,night time cough by 27%, severe wheeze by 41%, chronic cough by 25%, and runny nose by 28%. This results is not only traceable to the content in Vitamin C or Potassium, but in substances which are still largely unknown contained in kiwi fruit.
These substances are most likely flavonoids that help protect our cells from oxidative damage, and are therefore considered very helpful in protecting our DNA from mutations and damage.

Protection from Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD)

A series of studies published by the Archives of Ophthalmology have proven that consuming 3 or more servings of fruit per day (including kiwi fruits) can reduce by 36% the risk of developing an eye-related disease called ARMD (the primary cause of vision impairment in adults), if compared to people who only consume 1.5 servings of fruit per day.
The study was conducted on 110.000 women and men and lasted several decades. Surprisingly, the study found that while vegetables were not correlated with an improved resistance to the disease, fruits containing high amount of Vitamin C,A and E (the most common antioxidant vitamins) helped significantly in protecting against ARMD.

Anti Oxidant properties of Kiwi Fruit

It is important to note that kiwi fruits contain a remarkable amount of Vitamin C, E and A. Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant that has been proven to protect our body from free radicals, dramatically improving the health of individuals who consumed it regularly against all kinds of disease, from cardiovascular problems to cancer and obesity.
Vitamin E has been proven to have similar effects, but is fat-soluble and thus is complimentary to Vitamin C in its functions. Kiwi fruits contain both these vitamins in high amount, which help protect our body against free radicals from all fronts.

Kiwi fruits have a high fiber content

The high content in dietary fiber helps improving diseases such as diabetes, by controlling sugar levels, and colon cancer, since fiber binds to toxic compounds in the colon and helps us expel them.
Fiber has also been proven to reduce cholesterol levels, improving the conditions of patients with cardiovascular diseases and lowering the probability of heart attacks.