Recently I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead – a documentary about a man who finds himself overweight, diseased and unhappy. He decides to challenge himself to take on a 60-day juice fast wherein he will ingest nothing but water and juices made from fresh fruits and vegetables.
The results are good, and he goes on an awareness campaign across America. People try his idea for ten days and see great results, cue victory music etc. Now they have a website that endorses juicing products and talks about the wonders of their “Juice Reboot” program, and even offers some useful recipes. I am glad the movie came out and I hope people watch it.
At any rate, I just got back from a job that required me to travel to Bossier City, Louisiana and stay at the Louisiana Boardwalk for a month. This was like the inverse of the 60 Day Juice cleanse; the Boardwalk is essentially a tourist trap with restaurants like Fuddruckers, Joe’s Crab Shack, Buffalo Bill Wings and Coldstone Creamery. Asking for a salad usually results in a small bowl of iceberg lettuce with croutons and shredded cheese on top, usually covered in thick gloppy dressing. After a month of trying to sort through this fare, I put on another five pounds and felt like a marshmallow that had been left behind the fridge. In a bucket of bacon grease. Time to reset.
Stocked up and ready to juice!
I grew up on a diet that intermittently consisted of juicing and macrobiotics interspersed with a light omnivore’s menu (because I don’t like feeling as wispy as I do when I don’t eat any animal protein at all.) So as soon as I got back I bee-lined for Target and bought the first reasonable powerful juicer I could find for under 200 bucks and five grocery bags filled with fruits and veggies (as many from the organic section of the store as possible).
I am not going to provide you an official guide to juice fasting properly or responsibly. I am not going to give you medical advice. You must always consult your doctor before taking on any form of special diet, particularly when you have existing health issues. I am also not going to necessarily share my progress in a daily journal, because that would just be too much work for me and not enough fun. But I will be sure to offer some small tips where I can.
BUT I am going to document some of the juice recipes I come up with. While I do reference some greatbooks on juicing, due to the fact that I have been doing this virtually my entire life, and because I like to experiment and after this IS the Taste Odyssey (da dum!) I hope to share some creative and exciting juice ideas with you. And heck, maybe I’ll report on the improvements I’m seeing (and juice combo mistakes I may make) just for good measure.
Today I woke up anxious to put my new juicer to work. Here is what I put inside it:
Keram’s Kickstarter Energy Blast
- 4 carrots (tops removed always as the greens are toxic to humans)
- 1 handful of raw spinach leaves
- 1 Green apple (always remove apple seeds before juicing as they contain cyanide)
- 1 handful of Italian parsley (push it through the hopper with the carrots)
- 1/3 raw sweet potato
Let me tell you this makes for a very sweet, slightly thick concoction that tastes like a fruit drink. It will definitely start “cleaning you out”. Be sure to supplement your juicing habits with plenty of water throughout the day.
People who go on juice diets tend to feel a little weird the first couple of days as they begin to detox and adapt to the change. It is best to start slow, winding down a heavier diet by transitioning to a diet of light soups and salads. But like I said, I do not plan to offer a dietary guide since I am not a qualified dietician, nutritionist or doctor so again please do your research when embarking upon such a thing.
Look forward to your comments and hope you come along for the ride. Please feel free to share your recipes with me too.