Benefits of Juicing

Benefits of Juicing

 

If getting enough fruits and vegetables throughout your day is difficult, juicing is a way to gain most of the benefits of the vitamins and minerals from fresh produce without having to eat a lot of whole fruits and vegetables throughout the day. I've been getting the hang of it lately and feeling the positive benefits of consuming fresh juice. Sometimes it can be hard to actually sit down and eat all the vegetable and goodness you know you should be having daily. We all know the benefits but with busy lifestyles today we sometimes short cut it...and feel the after effect later. Juicing is an easy way to consume all your vital nutrients for the day and can be actually fun in the process! You start getting creative with your combination...your body starts to talk to you about what parts need a good cleanse then you find combo's that aid and assist this area. 

A good juicer today runs between $60-$100. I recommend the Jack Lalanne juicer that is available at most commercial stores such as Walmart and Target. The spout is large enough to handle most vegetables and fruits in its whole form without a lot of chopping. Hamilton Beach brand also makes a fairly okay juicer for cheaper but doesn't handle leafy greens and small items such as garlic and ginger as well.

Anything is a start! A cup a day keeps the doctor away! And it's a quick thing. It usually takes me less than 5 minutes to juice and a total 10 minutes to consume and clean.

Here's the thing. You usually need to drink the juice right away. You lose vital nutrients by having it sit plus unhealthy bacteria creates from being exposed to air. Don't be afraid to down it quickly. Bottled juices such as Naked Fruit have preservatives to make it have shelf life but fresh juices are meant to be enjoyed and taken right away for its full benefits.

Above is my platter of goodness! Feel free to contact me with questions about juicing and what may be a good 'recipe' for your personal needs.

Below is a list of health benefits from of the veggies I've been 'working' with lately. These are a few of my favorite veggies to juice currently; however feel free to think out the box and create your own combo's that fit your needs and taste. 

Carrots

The two major nutrients in which carrots provide are vitamin A and Beta carotenes. You can never have enough Vitamin A when it comes from a natural source such as carrots.

Beta-carotene is also a major anti-oxidant. This when in carrots, is good for vision and maintaining epithelial tissue, the tissue surrounding internal organs. 

Carrots help destroy per-cancerous cell tumors. Hence, an abundant amount of vitamins and minerals help keep cancer away.

Major health benefits:

Drinking carrot juice cleanses and restores the liver. The liver after all, is our "Master Cleanse Organ". Carrot juice is known as the "Golden Juice of Healing."

Celery

Celery is highly underestimated in its medical purpose. It adds that extra crunch in tuna salad and soups but there's a lot more to this stalkly green.

Celery has a high content of:

B1

B2

Vitamin A and C

Potassium 

Frolic Acid

Calcium

Iron

Amino acids

Benefits of juicing Celery:

Fighting cancer: celery is known to contain 8 families of anti-cancer components. It contains components called acetylenics and this compound has shown to block the action of tumor cells.

Other aids in health:

Aids in digestion

Natural diuretic

Anti-Inflammatroy

Lower's blood pressure

Insomnia

Weight loss

Elimination and prevention of gall bladder stones

Increased sexual drive!

Beets

Beets cooked are not my favorite. I usually have in the past baked them with a little sugar and spice to make nice but still not my favorite. But I have found this veg has incredible value in a juiced "State of mind."

Benefits:

A huge blood purifier and helps build healthy Red Blood Cells. The major component to health. Having your RBC out of whack is the major reason for disease and health problems into your system.. Beets help clean your blood. You get a new set of RBC every 90 days by the way. Juice your beets while you make beats! Lol

Benefits:

Colon cancer: 3rd most diagnosed type of cancer in the USA. Juicing beets can be a major health saving aid in your life. 

Blood cleanser: as I stated there is no mistake that beets are already red and good for your blood. After 3 months of juicing with beets could drastically change your health.

Cucumber

Cucumbers...ahhhh...so refreshing...so vibrant. I usually just crunch down on a cumber while talking facts of life with a friend. Wish I could be on a beach in Hawaii with cucumbers surrounding me. As u can see...I'm a fond admirer of Mr. Cu :-)

Cucumbers come from the melon family. Surprisingly, cucumbers are about 96 percent water. Juice some cucumber to change your regular consumption of water.

Benefits:

Alkaline vegetable: it creates healthily bacteria in your body.

Blood pressure

Helps connect healthy internal blood tissue

Aids in fevers

Natural directuic

Hair growth

Puffy eyes

Skin care

Water retention

Kale

Love me some Kaley! I usually enjoy it in a whole form in stir-frys or in miso soups but you get a good dose of nutrients when it's juiced. FYI, you usually need a really good high powered juicer to be able to handle leafy greens. Some of my favorite greens are dandelion tops, carrot tops, beet tops, and kale. Spend the $60-100 to get a good juicer that can handle juicing finely so it doesn't just end up as pulp.

Benefits:

Low calorie- kale provides a large amount of nutrients with a bunch with the fewest calories per cup of any vegetable.  A cup of kale is in fact only about 36 calories! Whoop!

Other benefits:

Luctein- good for your eyes

Vitamin K-skin/wound repair

Vitamin A-healthy skin

Vitamin C-healthy body tissue

Calcium-healthy bones

Garlic

Who is not a fan of garlic? Can I sit down and interview u personally to find out why? Garlic is the beloved ingredient to many Chefs and u will definitely see it time and time again in my food. It adds a certain riches and depth to food that is unparalleled. Carry you're breathe mints with u but that garlic breath may good for ya! Lol

Garlic revolves around its anti-microbial effect that efficiently combats bacteria, fungi, intestinal parasites, viruses, yeast, etc.

Garlic is also a natural antibiotic/immune enhancer and a good anti-oxidant that helps neutralize free radicals in the body.

Other benefits of garlic juice:

Anti-coagulant- try garlic with apple juice next time as an aspirin.

Cancer prevention- decreases risk of cancer such as stomach and colon cancer.

Diabetes- a clove a day lowers blood sugar levels.

Fungal infections- raw garlic juice is effective in the treatment of fungal infections such as athlete's foot, ear infections...apply juice even external to soothe affected area's.

Blood-the sulfur component aids in detoxifying the blood from heavy metals in the body.

Ginger

I've considered changing my legal name to Ginger many times because I'm such a fan! Seriously. I decided on Robyn Tree instead :-) People who have worked in the kitchen with me know how much fondness of ginger I have and how far it goes...we understand each other! :-)

Quite the contrary Ginger is actually a herb. It is an underground stem, sometimes known as rhizome. My friend Ginger is fragrant,pungent, fresh and juicy...and holds some powerful benefits in its root.

Juice benefits:

Anti-oxidant- it is known to have 12 types of anti-oxidants! Making it a widely medicinal purpose herb.

Cold- effective in reducing fevers and other cold symptoms.

Fatigue-fresh ginger with cinnamon bark is great energy boost!

Female menstration pain- pain-relieving and anti-cramping components in ginger effectively relieve painful menstruation cramps.

Juicing is not for everyone. It can be costly if you decide to go strictly organic in your approach....but the health benefits pay off in full.  Actually not really. Its been costing me about $40 a week to juice organically. That's not a whole lot to invest in your health that can safe u time and anguish in other issues down the road, After juicing for awhile u are naturally more clear in thinking and able to make wiser decisions. You're skin glows inward and outwardly and u feel a need to attend to all areas of your life that need that same TLC. Be experimental with your combinations. These are a few of my favorites that works for me. But go for what you know and what feels good. Whole foods never steer u wrong!

Peace. Love. Power.

Robyn Ginger Tree

Brown rice salad/Benefits of Brown Rice

SPRING RAINBOW BROWN RICE SALAD

Spring Rainbow Brown Rice Salad

And the debate continues...White rice or brown rice? Which is better? Are they the same? Is one healthier than the other? Some people would say, "it's just rice"  it's all the same...but one does cross the finish line before the other....and the winner is: Brown Rice!

First off, what is the primary difference between White rice and Brown rice?

Seems like a simple enough question but can also be confusing.

Answer: Brown is considered a whole grain, with the first outer layer (husk or hull) removed through milling. It retains it's fiber and germ which contains vital nutrients. White rice is Brown rice that has been milled to remove the bran and much of the germ, reducing fiber and nutrient content drastically. Then it's furthered polished to take away the remaining layer of germ. 

Why then is Brown rice the healthier one? 

Answer: Brown rice has:

1) Twice the manganese and phosphories as white rice.

2) 2 1/2 times the iron and 3 times more vitamin B3

3) 4 times the vitamin B1

4) 10 times more the vitamin B6

5) 1 cup of brown rice has 3 1/2 grams of fiber while the same amount of white rice has less than 1 gram of fiber.

6) Chewing brown rice thoroughly while eating mixes with your saliva in the process producing healthful enzymes beneficial during the digestive process.

Medical fact:

Medical experts advocate replacing white rice with brown rice if you have diabetes. Diabetics are often warned off about the link between eating white rice and bringing on rapid peaks in blood sugar levels.

So with that said, I came up a spin off on kinda of rice pilaf/salad that can be a way to enjoy brown rice. Has good flavor and color; can be be enjoyed both hot or cold. I over cooked the rice slightly to get more of a mashy sustainable binding quality to grab hold to the other ingredients.



Spring Rainbow Brown Rice Salad

(makes 4 to 5 cups)

3 cups of short grain Brown rice

1/2 cup shitake mushrooms or portabella, sliced thin

2 julienned carrots

2 yellow onions, chopped finely

2 stalks of celery

I cup of crushed pecans

3 gloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 corn (optional)

1/4 cup dried currants or cranberries

Healthy handful of fresh chopped scallions

Cooking method:

In a small sautee pan with a little olive oil, sautee the garlic and onions until brown. Add in the carrots, mushrooms, celery and corn. Lightly flash cook these leaving them slightly crunchy. Add this mixture to your cooked brown rice, let cool. Add in crushed pecans, currants and fresh scallions.

Lemon Tamara Ginger Dressing

1 cup of olive oil

1 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup honey, agave nectar or maple syrup

1/2 cup Tamara (aged soy sauce)

Large piece of fresh ginger (roughly chopped)

Method:

In a vitamix or blender blend all ingredients until smooth. Apply dressing to your salad.

Add fresh lemon zest at the end for garnish.

ENJOY!!!

PEACE. LOVE. LIGHT

Vegan Tempeh Cajun Burger

Vegan Tempeh Burger

Vegan Cajun Tempeh Burger with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and caramelized onions

I still love me a good burger…I was brainstorming on how to still appreciate and indulge in a good satisfying burger without the guilt and fat at the end…So 4 hours of thinking led me to this burger! I’m fairly happy with the results…considering I was able to make it vegan, no dairy products at all as binding agents…Me and Tempeh are cool…we are becoming close friends. LOL! The trick to this burger I found was using short grain brown rice and bread crumbs as the binding agents…Someone’s hand was on the burger so I had to take a quick shot…I hope you got a good idea of how it came out….always put your own twist on things…this is encouraged and appreciated! 

Ingredients- (I was cooking in a mass amount on this one to feed up to 24. So some of my measurements may be off to feed about 2 to 3…use your best judgement in spice profile…sometimes cooks just add a little bit of this and that to get the desired result) You can always freeze the burgers for enjoying at a later date if you make more than excepted.  2 patties per burger do the job.

1 to 2 packets of Tempeh ( I am totally in love with the LightLife brand….They make really good products…I would go with them…)

1 ½ cup green bell peppers diced finely

½ red cup bell peppers diced finely

1 ½ diced cup yellow onions

1 whole jalapeno pepper (pitted and diced finely…be careful…use gloves if you rub it on your hands or face…this will give a nice burn to your eyes or skin)

3 cloves of fresh minced Garlic

Cajun Mix: If you have a Cajun spice then that is even better…however I didn’t have one so on the fly I had to think of a “Creole/Cajun spice with help from my cooking bud Anthony. We came up with this:

3 TBSP of Garlic Powder

4 TBSP of Onion Powder

4 TBSP of Chili Powder

3 TBSP of Cayenne Pepper

1 Cup of Vegetable base

2 TBSP of Cumin

½ of a small Tabisco sauce (think the restaurant Chipotle)

1 cup of Short brown rice…cooked and then processed in a Cuisine Art, blender or Robocoupe.  (This is your major binding adjacent…)

1 cup of Breadcrumbs;  (from day old bread or store ready breadcrumbs.  I like the spiced Italian Breadcrumbs found at most grocery stores…adds a nice distinct flavor to it.)

2 TBSP of liquid Smoke (Wright’s is a great brand).  Mostly used in Bar-b-que sauces…This is a major ingredient! It gives depth to the burger…A nice smoky savory effect. Don’t over do it. It’s a strong flavor and you need just a little at the end to top it off….

Crumble the Tempeh into small pieces…sautee all ingredients leaving out the tempeh (reserve your tempeh, brown rice and bread crumbs in another bowl) ….Sautee all your other ingredients in olive oil or margarine….. add the brown rice, bread crumbs and veggies to the tempeh…slowly kneed and grind the mixture until you are able to make patties….I had a reserve of my Cajun mix to ‘ coat’ the patties at the  and then baked them off for 30 minutes….at 350 degrees

Sun-dried  Basil Tomato Pesto

Originally I tried a completely different sauce…a Chipotle Vegan Tofu dressing that was a flop. It just didn’t work with this burger. So I switched it up and went with a Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Pesto that was perfect for it….accompanied by caramelized onions and a whole roasted red pepper.

2 cups of Sun-dried Tomatoes (Soaked in lukewarm water before blending makes them even better)

¼ cup fresh Basil

2 to the 3 fresh cloves of Garlic

½ cup of roasted walnuts (Put the nuts in the oven for 20 minutes…it’s well worth it in the long run…they come out with a nice robust taste at the end)

I cup of Lemon Juice (adds some acidity and tang to it at the end)

Lots of olive oil as you blend all the ingredients to come out with a nice “paste” of a pesto at the end

Caramelized Onions, Roasted Red Peppers and Mixed  Greens to top it off...

Always

Peace. Love. Light.