food and nutrition 67
vegetables and fruits one is keeping the vitamin, mineral and fl uid content
while discarding the fi ber. This means that the goodness of the alkaline
vegetables or fruit can be assimilated by the body in about 15 minutes
instead of hours.”
Who would chew through ten raw carrots, fi ve sticks of raw celery, and
two raw beets at one sitting anyway? You couldn’t. The juicing process
also sets free a lot of the food value that can remain permanently locked
up in those whole raw vegetables because their molecular structure is too
complex. For instance, the vitamin A (beta-carotene) in carrots is not
surrendered except in light steaming or juicing of the vegetable.
Juices are one of the best ways I know for bringing sick and depleted
bodies back to health, and for the healthy to enjoy ever-increasing vitality.
They are also important for growing children, especially for calcium
intake. Live, organic fruit and vegetable juices supply us with organic
vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are very easily assimilated by our
bodies. It is preferable to have your own juicer and to use organic ripe
fruits and vegetables — preferably locally grown and in season. However,
other fruits are also highly recommended.
The majority of the vitamin and mineral content of a fruit or vegetable
lies just beneath its outer layer. It is vital, therefore, to juice the skin as
well if it is organic. Also include the white pith, which is rich in
immunostimulative chemistry. It is very important to chew the juices.
This sounds funny, but they are more than water, they are food, and
should therefore be well mixed with saliva and chewed for quite a while
before swallowing to allow the greatest assimilation.
Cooking kills many enzymes, alters nutritional food values, and changes
food from alkaline to acidic. However, fi ber, as everyone knows, is vitally
important to one’s diet for peristaltic movement and cleaning of the
intestines, so suffi cient whole raw food
must be eaten as well.
Immunity through Fermented Food
Benefi cial bacteria are vital for health; they
inhabit the intestines, teeth, hair, appendix,
and other places. They help digest food and
create essen-
tial vitamins. Also, they play an important
role in inhibiting the growth
of disease-promoting pathogens and
sustaining the correct amount of benefi cial
organisms. One’s diet provides the balance
of benefi cial intestinal micro organisms that
67 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
A fruit and vegetable juicer