Juicing and tooth enamel.

MYTHS OF JUICING PUT TO REST

There are many stories in the media advising of the cons of juicing. Here is some advice in how to overcome the negative effects of juicing.

*        Juicing wears away the enamel of teeth. 

When you drink fruit juices that are high in acids, the acids try to dissolve the outer layer of your teeth (the enamel). This is when the saliva of the mouth comes into play. Saliva is naturally super-saturated with extra calcium and phosphate to prevent the acid from demineralising your teeth. This saliva helps your teeth to harden and absorb more calcium, which then acts like a coat of armour. Waiting to brush for at least 30 minutes gives your mouth time to produce enough saliva to neutralize the acidity. If you were to brush your teeth straight away, the enamel is susceptible to being rubbed away by the bristles of a toothbrush. Waiting a while gives saliva a chance to demineralise the teeth so the brushing doesn’t worsen damage.

I always advise clients to give the mouth a good swirl of water straight after drinking juices and waiting at least 30 minutes before brushing their teeth. Another piece of advice is to drink juices through a straw and aim to toward the back of the mouth. It is important in children that they do not direct the stream through their teeth which rather defeats the purpose of drinking through a straw.
Some groups recommend that you swirl your juice in your mouth, for reasons noted above this is something that I do not recommend for juices high in fruits.

*        Avocado are so expensive and difficult to find all year round

I buy my avocado in bulk during the high season and when they are the correct texture (soft to touch, dark in colour) I cut them in half, peel them and then store them in individual plastic wraps to be stored in the freezer. Only 5% of the enzyme activity is lost in an avocado when put into the freezer. It may be a little brown when you defrost it but once mixed into a smoothie it is delicious and no one can tell the difference.

I also cut up fresh ginger and turmeric root and pop into the freezer so I have a plentiful supply and never run out. They both retain all their medicinal properties if snap frozen.

RECIPE FOR THE DAY (and some info behind the ingredients)

CARROT AND GINGER SHOT

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 apple

Knob ginger

Carrot: contains beta-carotene which converts to Vitamin A (in the correct amounts, many people can easily overdose on Vitamin A if taken as a supplement). Important for health of eyes and skin and great to assist getting the body back on track after alcohol indulgence.

Apple: natural in pectin, a soluble fibre, forming a get in the intestine that eliminates toxins and decreases blood cholesterol

Ginger: Natural antibiotic, decongestant and anti-histamine. Great a easing any inflammation in the body and helps with any flatulence or nausea. Can increase the ginger if suffering flu-like symptoms.

Brushing teeth and Juicing

Many of my clients ask about the hazards of drinking juices and the effect it has on their teeth. Here are a few bits of information for you to ponder over:

1. Dr Peter Alldritt, chairman of the Australian Dental Association's oral health committee,states that  sometimes brushing too soon after drinking juices can damage your teeth.
"Fruits, particularly lemons or pineapples, all have a reasonable level of acidity in them and what they do is soften the enamel," he said. "If you then go and brush your teeth straight away you're going to damage the softened enamel." Waiting to brush for at least 30 minutes gives your mouth time to produce enough saliva to neutralize the acidity, Alldritt says. This saliva helps your teeth to harden and absorb more calcium, which then acts like a coat of armour. "Saliva contains calcium and phosphate ions and teeth also contain these ions, so saliva acts as a reservoir of calcium and phosphate for your teeth," he said. "Saliva also contains enzymes and buffers which neutralize acid and return the pH of your mouth to neutral over time."


It is recommended after you juice you rinse your mouth out with water to allow the natural saliva to do its work in neutralising the acidity and brushing your teeth half an hour later. 

An alternative is to drink through a straw or to drink your juice in a reasonable manner and not let it stay in the mouth for too long.

Do keep in  mind most of the juices on the plan have vegetables included which helps in keeping down the acidity level of the juice. And, although acidic in nature, once broken down by the body the juices are alkaline in the body.

Happy Juicing

Julie

3 Day Raw Food/Juice Detox

For those of you who are interested in doing a 3 day detox in beautiful surroundings with like minded people then read on.
Julie Dargan is hosting two retreats, one in Daylesford, Victoria and another in Port Douglas, Queensland.
Julie is a qualified nurse, Naturopath and Natural Juice Therapist. All juices and raw foods will be supplied with lots of information and demonstrations throughout the day.

Group sizes will be limited to 16 so be quick to inquire and make your booking.
 For more information email Julie at juicemaster47@gmail.com

Cancer and Juicing

I have been asked by quite a few people lately about what I would recommend for people with cancer. Is there a particular juice that I would recommend for different types of cancer is one popular question. Juice Therapy Australia’s aim is to promote a healthy system inside the body to create an environment that does not promote the growth of cancer cells, not matter what the type of cancer one is affected by. An acidic environment promotes rapid growth of cancer cells, so to create an alkaline environment is very important.

So how to promote an alkaline environment:

By limiting the amount of processed foods in our diet is the most important thing you can do. Most people get despondent when they find out that they have to make radical changes to their diet. They tend to focus on what they cannot have, rather than what they can have. This serves no purpose and you should not allow yourself to think like this. Juicing and raw foods may sound very daunting in the beginning but once you realise how much better you feel and what alternatives there are such as tasty juices, you will be converted.

Juicing extracts all the essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and many other nutrients from within the fibre of the fruit and vegetables you are juicing. By extracting the fibre, the body does not have to work its way through the fibre in order for it to be absorbed by the body. It truly is liquid gold of the nutrient world. Many people with cancer are unable to digest big meals, are too tired to make nutritious meals. They may be under stress, the list is endless. By juicing the food, the juicer is doing all the hard work for you so the minute it hits the stomach and then into the intestines it is ready for immediate absorption.

Be sure to add wheatgrass (an excellent alkaline product), or protein sources such as wheatgrass, avocado or yoghurt (by blending into the juice) to help with any muscle wastage that can occur due to the cancer.

Who else can benefit?

It never ceases to amaze me when I see my clients and their families in my clinic in the sense that the person with the ailment is the only one doing the things I recommend while everyone around them continues to eat the unhealthy lifestyle that the client used to eat. They are drinking coke at appointments while I am making up the juicers. We all need wake up calls. In order for is to keep our bodies in tip top condition to help it to cope with whatever we encounter means maintaining an alkaline environment. There is a great deal of stress surrounding those with cancer diagnosis. If it is a child, mother, father with the diagnosis that comes with its own stress and we need to make sure as the carers that we do not get sick. It also takes away the pressure of the client feeling isolated that they are making all the changes.

Feel free to add any comments at the end of this blog.

Juicing with Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in the Western World. What used to be seen as a late adult onset disease, this condition is becoming more prevalent in the younger age group which is an alarm bell for improving ones diet. I am going to share some juicing tips for those who have Diabetes Type 2 or may be pre-diabetes (with raised blood sugar levels but not enough to warrant medication).

With Type 2 diabetes the pancreas is overworked and becomes exhausted and does not respond to fluctuating blood sugar levels correctly.

The best dietary approach is to slow the effect of blood sugar fluctuations. Diabetics do need to exercise caution when drinking fruit only juices due to the resulting rapid rise in blood sugar levels. Juicing with cabbages has been found to have a slowing effect on blood sugar rises. Another tip is to add avocado into your freshly made juices, and juicing cabbage into the juice to buffer the fruit sugars and assist in regulating the release of fruit sugars into the bloodstream.

Juices blended with higher proportions of vegetables and only moderate amounts of sweet fruits like apple and apple are preferable for diabetics. Adding plain yoghurt (full of acidophilus and with no sugar), Spirulina, Juicemaster Superfood Blend, Wheatgrass, or ground linseeds all help with adding protein and fibre to the juices, or adding and essential fatty acid oil blend (such as flaxseed oil) all help with buffering the fructose and slow the rise in blood sugar levels. The protein also helps with feeling satiety feeling.

Careful management of one’s diet can help reduce the need for medication but this must be done under the supervision of your health practitioner. It is recommended that you monitor your blood sugar levels closely with any major diet changes. By the reduction of processed foods and well as the inclusion of at least two vegetable juices daily can help improve one’s overall health, all under the supervision of your health practitioner.