Juicing Our Way To Health

In the month of July, Mandy and I watched the documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." If you haven't watched it, I recommend it. The basis of the film - a guy from Australia is fat and sick and he goes on a quest to use nutrition to get

healthy and lose weight. How does he do it? Through juicing and nothing but juicing.
   If you don't know what juicing is, it is putting vegetables and fruits into a juicer machine and then drinking said juice. All of the pulp is deposited into a receptacle and you are left with all of the nutrients and flavor in a cup. The resulting nutrients are more easily absorbed by your body, as there is not much to break down. So, it is extremely healthy for you. As long as you juice the right things. For example, you don't do a ham. You might not feel your left arm afterward. But all fruits and vegetables are on the table. And the results can be quite tasty.
   Some results - not so much. Cherries, lemon, carrots and a cucumber is pretty gross. Mandy made a strawberry, watermelon, carrot concoction that tasted like cucumber to me.
   Now, what we are doing is called a Reboot and the goal is to have nothing other than juice for 10 days and see what results we come up with. So far, my weight loss plateau has been busted. I've been the same weight for months. I've lost 40 pounds of baby weight, but I still have some more weight to lose - around 60 pounds. So, when I got on the scale and found that I was finally less, I did a little victory dance. In the meantime, Mandy has discovered her wedding ring is a little looser. And this is only after a few days.
   But, far more important than weight loss is discovering whether or not this improves our overall health. In the documentary, the gentleman had a rare autoimmune disease which caused his immune system to overreact to the smallest things - like mosquito bites. After he Rebooted for 60 days, he was able to give up his medication. He also had increased energy. A woman who did not do a full-fledged Reboot, but started juicing - her migraines went away. I know this will not cure my Type 1 diabetes, but I know it will cause me to take less insulin.
   There are concerns that juicing will cause a person to either starve or be malnourished. Let me assure you, you are still "eating" and your body is getting the nutrients it needs. Of course, the Reboot is not something you should do permanently. The main goal of the Reboot is to reset your body systems. I can see how juicing permanently could lead to an anorexic look, but this is not a permanent diet for us.
   If you care to try it, get a juicer and do a Reboot for at least 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, see how you feel. If you feel like you have had enough, stop. If you feel like you can do more, go for it.