Juice Therapy

Juice Therapy

Raw juice therapy is a method of treatment of disease through an exclusive diet of juices of fruits and vegetables. It is also known as juice fasting. It is the most effective way to restore health and rejuvenate the body. An exclusive diet of raw juices of fruits and vegetables results in much faster recovery from diseases and more effective cleansing and regeneration of the tissues than the fasting on pure water.

As juices are extracted from plants and fruits, they process definite medicinal properties. Specific juices are beneficial in specific conditions. Besides specific medicinal virtues, raw fruit and vegetable juices have an extraordinary revitalizing and rejuvenating effect on all the organs, glands and functions of the body. The first item you will need to invest in is an electric juicer for extracting fresh juices.

Who Should Avoid This Therapy

Juice fasts provide minimal calories and little fat or protein. They are not recommended during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, and they are also unwise for infants, young children, and the elderly. Certain health problems can make it necessary to avoid or limit intake of particular juices. For example, you should obviously avoid the juice of any fruit or vegetable to which you may have an allergy. If you have a problem with sugar, you’ll need to dilute sugary juices such as carrot and beet with low-sugar juices such as celery. And if you have diabetes or suffer from hypoglycemia, you should always take fruit juices with food.

Side effects of Juice Therapy

Although, in general, there are no side effects from juice therapy, certain medical conditions such as diabetes may be aggravated by excessive intake of certain juices. It’s also possible for a juice such as grapefruit to interact badly with certain prescription drugs such as Crixivan, Halcion, Lexxel, and Neoral. If you have chronic health problem or are currently undergoing treatment, it’s wise to check with your doctor before undertaking juice therapy. Avoid including excessive amounts of tomato and citrus juices in your regimen. Because they are highly acidic, they could conceivably upset the body’s natural acid-base (pH) balance. Remember, too, that the juice of a food to which you’re allergic can be just as upsetting as the original source.

When Should Treatment Stop

Juice supplementation can last a lifetime. Juice fasts, however, should be limited to no more than 2 weeks at a time. No matter how many juices you include in the regimen, it will still lack many of the elements of a balanced diet. A protracted diet of juice alone will damage, rather than improve, your health.

What are the favourable effects which you will get after this therapy

The favorable effect of raw juices in the treatment of disease is attributed to the following facts. Raw juices of fruits and vegetables are extremely rich in vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes and natural sugars. They exercise beneficial effect in normalizing all the body functions. They supply needed elements for the body’s own healing activity and cell regeneration, thereby speeding the recovery.

1.The juices extracted from raw fruits and vegetables require no digestion and almost all their vital nutrients.are assimilated directly in the bloodstream.

2. Raw juices are extremely rich in alkaline elements. This is highly beneficial in normalizing acid-alkaline balance in the blood and tissues as there is over-acidity in most conditions of ill-health.

3. Generous amounts of easily absorbed organic minerals in raw juices especially calcium, potassium andsilicon help in restoring biochemical and mineral balance in the tissues and cells, thereby preventing premature ageing of cells and disease.

4. Raw juices contain certain natural medicines, vegetal hormones and antibiotics. For instance, string beans are said to contain insulin-like substance. Certain hormones needed by the pancreas to produce insulin are present in cucumber and onion juices. Fresh juices of garlic , onions, radish and tomatoes contain antibiotic substances.

Precautions to be taken

Certain precautions are, however, necessary in adopting an exclusive diet of raw juices:

1. All juices should be made fresh immediately before drinking. Canned and frozen juices should not be used.

2. Only fresh ripe fruits and vegetables, preferably organically grown, should be used for extraction of juices.

3. Only as much juice as needed for immediate consumption should be extracted. Raw juices oxidize rapidly

and lose their medicinal value in storage, even under refrigeration.

4. The quality of the juices has a distinct bearing on the results obtained. In case of incomplete extraction of

juices, their effective power is proportionately reduced due to the absence of the vitamins and enzymes

which are left behind in fiber and the pulp.

5. If juices are too sweet they should be diluted in water on 50 : 50 basis or mixed with other less sweet

juices. This is especially important in some specific conditions such as diabetes, hypoglycemia, arthritis

and high blood pressure.

Fruit and vegetable juices may be divided into six main types.

1. Juices from sweet fruits such as prunes and grapes.

2. Juices from sub-acid fruits like apple, plum, pear, peach, apricot and cherry,

3. Juices from acid fruits like orange, lemon, grapefruit, strawberry and pineapple.

4. Juices from vegetable fruits, namely, tomato and cucumber.

5. Juices from green leafy vegetables like cabbage, celery, lettuce, spinach, parsley and watercress.

6. Juices from root vegetables like beetroot, carrot, onion, potato and radish.

Generally speaking, fruit juices stir up toxins and acids in the body, thereby stimulating the eliminative processes. Vegetable juices, on the other hand, soothe the jaded nerves and work in a much milder manner. They carry away toxic matter in a gentle way. Owing to their differing actions fruit and vegetable juices should not be used at the same time or mixed together. It is desirable to use juices individually. In any case not more than three juices should be used in any one mixture.

The following broad rules apply when using mixtures of juices:

Juices from sweet fruits may be combined with juices of sub-acid fruits, but not with those of acid fruits, vegetable fruits or vegetables.

1. Juices from sub-acid fruits may be combined with juices of sweet fruits, or acid fruits, but not with other juices.

2. Juices from acid fruits may be combined with those of sub-acid fruits or vegetable fruits, but not with other juices.

3. Juices from vegetable fruits may be combined with those of acid fruits or of green leafy vegetables, but not with other juices.

4. Juices from green leafy vegetables may be combined with those of vegetable fruits or of the root vegetable, but not with other juices.

5. Juices from root vegetables may be combined with those of green leafy vegetables, but not with other juices. A proper selection of juices in treating a particular ailment is very essential. Thus, for instance, juices of carrot, cucumber, cabbage and other vegetables are very valuable in asthma, arthritis and skin disease, but juices of orange and mosambi aggravate their symptoms by increasing the amount of mucus.

Method

When on a raw juice therapy, the prescribed juice should be drunk every three hours. One can thus take juices five to six times a day. A warm glass of water mixed with lemon juice, one teaspoon of honey, a dash of vinegar plus a small pinch of cayenne pepper may be taken first thing in the morning on arising to aid with the toxin cleanse.

Thereafter, the prescribed juice may be taken at three-hourly intervals. The quantity of juice on each occasion may be 250 ml on the first day. This quantity may be increased by 50 ml each succeeding day till one takes 600 ml on each occasion. The juice diet can be continued for 30 to 40 days without any ill-effects. The patient should take adequate rest during the raw juice therapy.

Raw juices act as a cleansing agent and start eliminating toxins and morbid matter from the system immediately. This often results in symptoms such as pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, loss of weight, headache, fever, weakness, sleeplessness and bad breath. These reactions, which are part of the cleansing process, should not be suppressed by the use of drugs. They will cease when the body is able to expel all toxins.

After the raw juice therapy, the return to normal balanced diet should be gradual, and in stages. In the beginning, two juice meals may be replaced by milk and fruits. Then gradually juice meals may be substituted by a balanced-diet.