Juicing for Immune Boosting

Juicing for immune boosting is the primary reason why I do it. If your body feels run down, weak, or diseased compromised, I want to encourage you that you can juice and feel the difference!

First off, let me say that I am no expert on juicing, in fact I feel like a juicer-failure most days. However, there are some basics I have learned in the last year since I watched the movie Fat, Sick , and Nearly Dead. (You can watch it for free) 

We watched the movie in July 2012, then I quickly realized why juicing was such a great way to boost my immune system. Here are the basics on why and how to juice based on my simple experience. I hope my experience and resources will help boost your immune system to. 

Choosing Your Juicer.

Not all juicers are created equally. I did alot of research, which I would like to save you the trouble of, so I'll cut to the chase and tell you the best juicer "type" is a Cold-Press, or Masticating Juicer, that is if you are juicing for the nutrients. Here is a web page explaining the differences between the most common types. (Juicer Types) 

We tried a centrifugal juicer first for a few months, we got less juice pressed, it was loud, and harder to clean. I read a great article which led me to choose the Masticating type. If you are on a tight budget, try looking on craigslist for a used Champion, I hear they last forever, and because they have been around forever, its easy to get replacement parts. 

Our choice? We got an Omega, and we love it. 

Getting Your Vitamins. 

As I said earlier, the epiphany I had when I watched the movie was that no matter how much good food I eat or vitamins I take, it simply was never enough. In fact, most vitamins I have tried made me fatigued, weak, or sick. After doing tons of research and trying different things I found certain "allergens", for lack of a better term, were hurdles for my body. Most vitamins, either in their contents or coating, contained whey, soy, or corn products which I had discovered were slowing my immune system down. The other problem was that vitamins in pill form may not be absorbing as much as my body needs or distributing evenly. Not all vitamins will work on every body type and my poor body was exhausted trying so many. 

But the beauty of juicing is that juice absorbs right away, you control how much you give your body at any given time, and you can easily avoid your own body's allergens by controlling what you juice. Win. 

Juicing for Fasting

There are lots of article and information on the web about juicing and fasting, I just want to give you a couple of suggestions if you are planning on drinking alot of juice in place of food. This is from my research and experience, I am not giving medical advice, nor suggesting you juice-fast.

1. Increase Slowly

I want to suggest that you don't just decide to juice and stop eating one day. Start by juicing 4 oz. as a nutritional supplement and build your way up to 16 oz. or more a day. We were so excited about juicing we juiced so much that I got so sick of juice! My tummy was not having any more after about 6 months. In hindsight, slow and steady wins the race!

2. Be Wary of Internet Recipes

There are lots of juicing recipes out there, be wary. Keep it simple and organic. I find that the more complicated you make something the harder it becomes to keep up. If your gonna spend a few hundred dollars on a good juicer, don't let it just be a fad for the month. Make juicing a part of your life by keeping it simple. 

3. Don't Mix Fruits and Veges

OK, so this is debatable, but I want to give you my advice, since this is my blog. Why I don't mix them is because:

• It upsets my stomach and I feel nauseous  (and I can tell right away cause I am very in tune with my body)
• It gives me #3 (you should not have diarrhea from juicing)
• You lose some of the nutritional value of the juice from the enzyme arguments happening in your stomach. (here's a decent article on it)

So veges don't taste super great alone so there are a few "neutrals" that can be used. Those would be fruits that fall into both categories of "fruit" and "vegetable", "root", or "herb". Those would be apples, bananas, or carrots. Oh, and don't forget about coconuts, they are amazing in smoothies, and they are not fruit, they are nuts!

Here's the recipe I used (not exact, but these basic ingredients) for many months, in my Juicing 101 post.

Another simple recipe is: S.A.C.K.

Spinach (1 Cup)
Apples (1 Large, or two small)
Carrot (2, or 1 Cupish of baby)
Kale (4 big leaves)


Makes 12 oz bottle. (I reuse glass bottles from iced tea or kombucha, fill them with my juice, and drink 1/2 the bottle at a time.)

- enjoy!