Calling all fitness peeps! Are you ready to take your physique to a whole new level? Ready to lift heavier, run faster and feel more alive than you ever have in your life? Then I am going to introduce to you the purest form of sports performance supplementation that an athlete needs to burn fat, put on quality muscle and increase energy. That’s right, you are about to embark on the holy grail of the whole food supplements. Can I have a drum roll please… JUICING!
What is Juicing?
Juicing is extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables and consuming them in liquid form. It provides the body with fast, high-quality nutrition that is easily digestible. The best part is you can ingest many different types of fruits and veggies that are densely packed with vitamins, minerals and nutrients all at once that will nourish your body cell by cell for superior quality body function.
Why You Need to Become a Juicehead
Here are the main reasons a fitness enthusiast needs to juice on a regular basis:
1. Adding lean muscle. Juicing raw fruits and veggies will help build lean muscle by providing us with high-quality, bio-available vitamins needed for cell repair. Vitamin A helps increase testosterone, which in time will add more natural muscle to your physique. Also, juicing is a great way to combat muscle cramps. The electrolytes will hydrate and nourish the cells.
2. Cardiovascular health. Raw, fresh antioxidants vitamins C and E will prevent the damaging effect of free radicals on the artery wall, which will keep the blood from sticking and clotting. Also minerals, potassium and magnesium are also essential to proper heart function.
3. Weight loss. Consuming high quality, nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables on a regular basis instead of processed foods will shred you up in no time.
4. Increased energy levels. Forget coffee! Ingesting raw fruit and veggies will speed up enzyme activity in the body, increasing your energy levels and keeping you hydrated.
5. Improved immune system. No more sick days! Drinking a wide variety of nutrient-dense fruits and veggies daily will protect your immune system by nourishing the cells with the proper vitamins, minerals and nutrients to keep you healthy.
6. Rebuilding blood cells. The dark green chlorophyll in plants becomes hemin (a product of red blood cells), which cleans your blood. The cleaner your blood, the more efficiently your body will run.
7. Detoxing your body. Consuming real, whole fruits and veggies every day will clean your blood and remove toxins; your liver will thank you.
8. Anti-aging. Listen up, ladies— instead of going out and buying all those expensive beauty creams, drink an anti-aging cocktail. Daily juicing will help the hair, skin and nails glow. It neutralizes free radicals in the body and brings back vitality to the skin. This should be your main beauty weapon.
How to Juice
If you can, try to choose organic fruits and vegetables. If not, conventional is fine, but make sure you wash them thoroughly. I like to use a veggie wash to get rid of all the chemicals and pesticides that were sprayed on the fresh produce. It also helps get the waxy coating off as well. Then store the fresh produce in your refrigerator.
Picking a Juicer
You will need a high-quality power juicer to extract the juice from your fruits and veggies. There are many great ones out there, but which one to choose? I can vouch for two juicers that I have used for the past seven and a half years. I had a Jack LaLanne juicer for over seven years and it never steered me wrong. You can get one for about $100. It is great for beginner juicers. I retired my Jack LaLanne juicer after I found out about the Omega 8005! I am impressed with the quality of this juicer and how easy it is to clean. You can get one for about $250. But, whichever one you choose, you can’t go wrong. Think of juicing as cheap life insurance. This will bring added quality to your life.
Final Thought
Juicing daily with a healthy, balanced diet will bring your physique to a whole new you from the inside out. You only have one body. Now go take care of it!
Marzia’s Lean and Green Juice
½ cucumber
1 stalk of romaine
1 stalk of kale
1 celery stalk
3 asparagus spears
1 or 2 pears (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 inch of ginger root
Juice all the above together and stir
Serves 1