There are many methods we use to gently detox our bodies from toxins—a holistic way to aid healing. This series explores each of them. We’ve covered oil pulling, detox baths, sunbathing,enemas, and grounding. Today, we’re covering juicing.
Why do we detox?
Detoxing helps take the load off our liver. Our liver does many things, one of which is to process toxins out of our bodies. In the simplest terms, toxins are anything that are not helpful to the body at that time. Gentle detoxing methods, including detox baths, can have a positive effect on symptoms triggered by inflammation: like allergic reactions, headaches, aches and pains, negative emotions, brain fog and fatigue.
What is juicing?
Juices provide many nutrients in concentrated amounts, helping to remove nutritional deficiencies.
People all over the world have freed themselves from the most deadly diseases with juicing. Some very big names in natural medicine strongly advocate juicing and use it actively in the treatment of their patients, like Dr Gerson and Dr Norman Walker.
Hundreds of scientific studies have been published on the health benefits of fresh raw fruit and vegetables. Juices provide all the goodness from these fruit and vegetables in a concentrated form and in large amounts. For example, to make just a glass of carrot juice you need a pound of carrots. Nobody can eat a pound of carrots at once, but you can get all the nutrition from them by drinking the juice.
Juicing removes the fibre, which impairs absorption of many nutrients in fruit and vegetables and aggravates the condition in the already sensitive digestive system of a GAPS patient. The digestive system has virtually no work to do in digesting juices, they get absorbed in 20-25 minutes, providing the body with a concentrated amount of nutrients.
What juices should I consume?
A combination of pineapple, carrot and a little bit of beetroot in the morning will prepare the digestive system for the coming meals, stimulate stomach acid production and pancreatic enzymes production.
A mixture of carrot, apple, celery and beetroot has a wonderful liver-cleansing ability.
Green juices from leafy vegetables (lettuce, parsley, dill, carrot and beet tops) with some tomato and lemon are a great source of magnesium and iron and good chelators of heavy metals.
Note: Spinach and kale are also great heavy metal chelators, but I only recommend consuming them cooked or dried, as these raw vegetables may have a goitotrophic effect, especially in people who have thyroid issues.
Cabbage, apple and celery juice stimulates digestive enzyme production and is a great kidney cleanser.
There is an endless number of healthy and tasty variations you can make from whatever fruit and vegetables you have available at home.
How should I juice?
Only organic fruit and vegetables should be used, as non-organic contain pesticides and other agricultural chemicals; by juicing non-organic produce you will get a glass of concentrated amounts of those chemicals.
Juices are best taken on an empty stomach 20-25 minutes before food and 2-21/2 hours (or more) after a meal.
Can I buy juice from a store?
Juices that can be bought in a store have been processed and pasteurised, which destroys all the enzymes and most vitamins and phytonutrients. They are a source of processed sugar, which will feed abnormal bacteria and fungi in the gut. In freshly extracted juice the natural sugars are balanced with enzymes, minerals, and other nutrients which turn them into energy for the body. The only exception to this is juice bought from a juice bar, where they prepare the juice from fresh ingredients right in front of you.
When you make your juice at home you know what you put into it, you know that it is fresh without any contamination and oxidation, and you can have great fun by mixing different fruit and vegetables together, making different tasty combinations. There are a large number of books on juicing with wonderful recipes for every health problem and every occasion.
The GAPS Milkshake
One of my favorite juicing recipes in the GAPS Diet was the GAPS Milkshake. The addition of sour cream and egg yolk balances the sugars in the juice with protein and fat, and it is so delicious! It helps to remove bile stones from the liver and improves fat digestion over time.