Courtesy of Tipdeck
Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
| Wed, 03/25/2009 1:56 PM | Life
Being sick is no fun, no matter how pretty the colors of the drugs are. But if it's too late for prevention and you have succumbed to an illness, some raw and fresh fruit and vegetables could be your savior.
Sounds too simple? Never underestimate what fruit and vegetables can do for you when you are sick. From headache to heart disease, diarrhea to insomnia, acne to obesity, fruit and veggies can be really helpful, if you consume them as religiously as you do your medicine.
In the 16th century, for example, lime juice was found to be an effective treatment for scurvy, saving thousands of sailors' lives on their long voyages around the world. Ever since, researchers have been uncovering the healing powers of fruit and vegetables. From plump red apples to luscious tangerines, crunchy carrots to rich green spinach, all are found to have therapeutic benefits.
"Fresh fruit and vegetables have a significant role in replacing damaged body cells and cleansing our body of toxins from the residues of the food we eat," said nutrition expert Prof. Dr. Radja Aman Nainggolan, writer of the book Terapi Jus dan Diet (Juice Therapy and Diet).
Consuming our fresh fruit and vegetables raw, as Radja suggests, is important because cooking can partially or fully destroy vitamins and other nutrients, as well as changing their chemical composition. Cooking fruit and vegetables, he reveals, "could cause the loss of some 60 to 70 percent of nutrients".
| Wed, 03/25/2009 1:56 PM | Life
Being sick is no fun, no matter how pretty the colors of the drugs are. But if it's too late for prevention and you have succumbed to an illness, some raw and fresh fruit and vegetables could be your savior.
Sounds too simple? Never underestimate what fruit and vegetables can do for you when you are sick. From headache to heart disease, diarrhea to insomnia, acne to obesity, fruit and veggies can be really helpful, if you consume them as religiously as you do your medicine.
In the 16th century, for example, lime juice was found to be an effective treatment for scurvy, saving thousands of sailors' lives on their long voyages around the world. Ever since, researchers have been uncovering the healing powers of fruit and vegetables. From plump red apples to luscious tangerines, crunchy carrots to rich green spinach, all are found to have therapeutic benefits.
"Fresh fruit and vegetables have a significant role in replacing damaged body cells and cleansing our body of toxins from the residues of the food we eat," said nutrition expert Prof. Dr. Radja Aman Nainggolan, writer of the book Terapi Jus dan Diet (Juice Therapy and Diet).
Consuming our fresh fruit and vegetables raw, as Radja suggests, is important because cooking can partially or fully destroy vitamins and other nutrients, as well as changing their chemical composition. Cooking fruit and vegetables, he reveals, "could cause the loss of some 60 to 70 percent of nutrients".
So if it's all about raw and fresh fruit and veggies, why go to the effort to have their juice extracted from them?
The reason is simple: Solid foods have to go through the body's digestive system, which can take several hours and requires the system to be healthy and functioning well. The nutrients in juice, on the other hand, are assimilated and absorbed very quickly into the blood stream without taxing the digestive system.
"Blended fruit (and vegetables) are absorbed in 20 minutes, while those that are not are absorbed in around 18 hours," Radja explained.
By juicing fruit and vegetables, he added, "you lose only the fiber, but this means that a much higher quantity of nutrients is available in the juice".
Furthermore, juice therapists believe that if the body does not have to digest solid foods, it will have more energy to devote to healing and repairing. And, of course, for those who find eating fruit and veggies difficult, a glass of juice could be the only way to package Nature's gifts as something attractive and delicious.
Juice therapy, which has been gaining in popularity since the 1970s, is actually part of the 5,000-year-old tradition of Ayurveda, a traditional system of medicine that originated in India. In this system, juices are used to fortify body tissues, or dhatue.
These days, many health practitioners regard juices as natural tonics, offering a safe, inexpensive way to stimulate digestion, bolster the immune system and encourage the elimination of toxins. In addition, juices contain an abundance of alkaline elements, which may help to normalize the acid-base balance in the blood and tissues.
In the tradition of juice therapy, specific juices are recommended for particular ailments. If you suffer from acne, for example, juice from grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes and spinach should be included in your daily intake. Lemon, pineapple, peach, carrot, radish and celery juices, as another example, can be used to treat asthma.
Unlike solid foods, juices can be mixed in many ways because they are mostly water. There are a variety of juice therapy combinations, including mixing fruit and vegetable juices. And the therapy's growing popularity means there is also a growing number of juice recipe books that can help you plan your diet.
Radja's book, for example, reveals that a combination of cucumber, carrot and beetroot juices can be used to treat rheumatism. And if hair loss is proving a problem, Radja has a solution for that too.
"A mixture of half a glass of carrot juice, a quarter glass of lettuce juice and a quarter glass of spinach juice every day will help promote hair growth," Radja said in his book.
Juice therapists, however, warn that acidic juices, such as lemon or orange, should not be mixed with other types of juices because the acids can curdle some liquids.
They also recommend that juices be consumed as soon as they are extracted, because any contact with light, heat or air will cause an oxidation process that will eventually break down many of the nutrients. The use of honey or palm sugar instead of cane sugar is also recommended in juice therapy.
A regular juice therapy diet involves drinking one to two 250 ml glasses of juice per day. A stricter diet recommends drinking juice up to six times a day, with a three-hour interval between drinks, or according to the therapist's recommendations.
While juice therapy keeps you healthy, however, it should be noted that people with certain health problems should avoid or limit their intake of particular juices. This includes those who are allergic to certain fruits or those who have a problem with sugar, diabetes or hypoglycemia.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/25/juice-therapy-color-your-diet.html
The reason is simple: Solid foods have to go through the body's digestive system, which can take several hours and requires the system to be healthy and functioning well. The nutrients in juice, on the other hand, are assimilated and absorbed very quickly into the blood stream without taxing the digestive system.
"Blended fruit (and vegetables) are absorbed in 20 minutes, while those that are not are absorbed in around 18 hours," Radja explained.
By juicing fruit and vegetables, he added, "you lose only the fiber, but this means that a much higher quantity of nutrients is available in the juice".
Furthermore, juice therapists believe that if the body does not have to digest solid foods, it will have more energy to devote to healing and repairing. And, of course, for those who find eating fruit and veggies difficult, a glass of juice could be the only way to package Nature's gifts as something attractive and delicious.
Juice therapy, which has been gaining in popularity since the 1970s, is actually part of the 5,000-year-old tradition of Ayurveda, a traditional system of medicine that originated in India. In this system, juices are used to fortify body tissues, or dhatue.
These days, many health practitioners regard juices as natural tonics, offering a safe, inexpensive way to stimulate digestion, bolster the immune system and encourage the elimination of toxins. In addition, juices contain an abundance of alkaline elements, which may help to normalize the acid-base balance in the blood and tissues.
In the tradition of juice therapy, specific juices are recommended for particular ailments. If you suffer from acne, for example, juice from grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes and spinach should be included in your daily intake. Lemon, pineapple, peach, carrot, radish and celery juices, as another example, can be used to treat asthma.
Unlike solid foods, juices can be mixed in many ways because they are mostly water. There are a variety of juice therapy combinations, including mixing fruit and vegetable juices. And the therapy's growing popularity means there is also a growing number of juice recipe books that can help you plan your diet.
Radja's book, for example, reveals that a combination of cucumber, carrot and beetroot juices can be used to treat rheumatism. And if hair loss is proving a problem, Radja has a solution for that too.
"A mixture of half a glass of carrot juice, a quarter glass of lettuce juice and a quarter glass of spinach juice every day will help promote hair growth," Radja said in his book.
Juice therapists, however, warn that acidic juices, such as lemon or orange, should not be mixed with other types of juices because the acids can curdle some liquids.
They also recommend that juices be consumed as soon as they are extracted, because any contact with light, heat or air will cause an oxidation process that will eventually break down many of the nutrients. The use of honey or palm sugar instead of cane sugar is also recommended in juice therapy.
A regular juice therapy diet involves drinking one to two 250 ml glasses of juice per day. A stricter diet recommends drinking juice up to six times a day, with a three-hour interval between drinks, or according to the therapist's recommendations.
While juice therapy keeps you healthy, however, it should be noted that people with certain health problems should avoid or limit their intake of particular juices. This includes those who are allergic to certain fruits or those who have a problem with sugar, diabetes or hypoglycemia.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/25/juice-therapy-color-your-diet.html
