My Juicer is here!

I got my juicer pretty late tonight so I didn't really have time to experiment with it. But I have a few foods I've decided to put in my juice in the morning, like broccoli. Broccoli has a strong, positive impact on our body's detoxification system. Broccoli may help us solve our vitamin D deficiency epidemic. When large supplemental doses of vitamin D are needed to offset deficiency, ample supplies of vitamin K and vitamin A help keep our vitamin D metabolism in balance. Broccoli has an unusually strong combination of both vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene) and vitamin K. For people faced with the need to rebuild vitamin D stores through vitamin D supplements, broccoli may be an ideal food to include in the diet. I have a vitamin D deficiency so this is perfect! Broccoli also has some real nice anti inflammatory properties.

I think carrots are a must in any juicing concoction. I read about a study done on them: We are fortunate to have the results of a new 10-year study from the Netherlands about carrot intake and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)—and those results are fascinating. Intake of fruits and vegetables in the study was categorized by color and focused on four color categories: green, orange/yellow, red/purple, and white. Out of these four categories, orange/yellow (and in particular, foods with deeper shades of orange and yellow) emerged as most protective against CVD. And even more striking, carrots were determined to be the most prominent member of this dark orange/yellow food category. Participants who had the least carrot intake had the least amount of CVD risk reduction, even though they still received risk-reducing benefits from their carrot intake. However, participants who ate at least 25 more grams of carrots (with 25 grams being less than one-quarter of a cup) had a significantly lower risk of CVD. And the groups of participants who ate 50- or 75-grams more had an even more greatly reduced risk of CVD! I'm not sure how any study could better demonstrate how easy it can be to lower disease risk by making a food like carrot part of the everyday diet in such achievable amounts.

Some sour green apples should make an appearance tomorrow morning. I found that some health benefits they have are: good for digestion, helps reduce blood pressure, stabilizes blood sugar (yay!), contains protein, and has antioxidants. Green apples have plenty of vitamins, such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6 and they are one of the most prominent green apple benefits.

I'm excited to try it out tomorrow, wish me luck!