Banana Date Smoothie

• ¼ cup soaked almonds  (soaked overnight)
• 1 frozen banana
• 4 dates (soaked)

Soak ¼ cup of raw almonds in water overnight.  Skin the almonds by simply popping them out of their skins.  Split the dates, remove the pits, and soak for at least an hour.  Peel the frozen banana.  Throw out the water (or use it on your compost or garden).

Cover almonds with filtered/purified water in a blender and blend until smooth.  Looking for some of our top-selling blenders at decent prices? Check out the link! Now, continue: add banana and dates and blend.

Click here for the nutritional benefits and other recipes for bananas.

Click here for the health benefits of almonds and almond milk.

Digestive Benefits of Date

The versatile date

The date is an action-packed fruit when it comes to nutrition, and it’s a beneficial addition to any diet. Dates are considered the royalty of sweets for their ability to balance the body’s energy and blood sugar levels.  They are high in fiber and enhance the functioning of the entire digestive system.  Basic digestive benefits of the date include:

• A Natural Laxative: if you’re suffering from constipation, then dates are sweetest way to bust a smooth move.  Soak the dates for 12 hours in water, then consume the soaked dates first thing in the morning. The dietary fiber of dates adds plenty of other health benefits alone.
• Intestinal Disorders: that discomfort can be alleviated through continuous intake of dates over time. The content of ‘nicotinic’ in dates helps keep in check pathological organisms in the digestive tract and promote the rise of friendly bacteria.
• Prevents Diarrhea: the potassium levels in dates helps maintain the water balance in the digestive tract.

Other Nutritional Benefits of Date

• Tannins: dates contain tannins. Tannins have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and anti-hemorrhagic properties.
• Vitamin A: dates have Vitamin A, which is an antioxidant and essential for vision. They say eating a date a day will help with overall vision and help prevent macular degeneration.
• Antioxidants: they also have some antioxidant flavonoids – lutein, and zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene – which protect the body from oxygen free radicals. Dates protect against cancers that attack the colon, prostate, breast, endometrials, lungs, and pancreas.
• Minerals: dates are rich in calcium (good for the bones and teeth), manganese (vital for energy production), copper (for red blood cell production), and magnesium (for bone growth).
• Iron: dates are a fantastic source of iron, contributing about 11% of the recommended daily value.  Like copper, iron is an essential ingredient for the production of red blood cells.
• Vitamin B: dates are rich in the B-complex group of vitamins.  The dates B-vitamin wealth helps the body metabolize carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Selection and Storage of Date

Choose dates are that are organic and well-processed and packed.  The sticky surface of dates can pick up a lot of impurities, so care should be taken in the selection.  Wash the dates thoroughly before consuming or using in recipes.  Store dates in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place.

Hot summer days and nights mean lighter bites. Summer soups are an easy way to explore fresh, fun, and flavorful fare.

Why use raw food?

Cooking chemically alters foods.  In some cases, cooking food can destroy vital nutrients and enzymes that are better used by our bodies in their raw form. Cooking can also create the much dreaded free-radical and other toxins.

A raw food diet typically consists of 75-100% uncooked and unprocessed foods. The foods are nutritionally dense in their unaltered form and are best when organic. Choose organic, because pesticides are not food and can cause harm to your health. Raw food is naturally alkaline, which is great for the body. Cooked food reduces the alkalinity and creates acid. Also, certain types of food such as meat are naturally acidic.

Since our bodies are alkaline based, it’s  important to keep our bodies on the alkaline side of the pH balance to maintain homeostasis. The alkaline pH normal for our bodies is 7.35 – 7.45.  As you can see, there isn’t a lot of room for movement, so a .10 of a difference can have huge effects on our body’s health. Often this is indicated as an overly acidic blood level, poor digestion, or weight gain.

Biggest obstacles to raw food: time, money, and nutrition

Including more raw food into your diet or going totally raw is often thought to be time-consuming and very expensive. The truth is that raw food is actually fairly easy to prepare, has ‘grab and go’ convenience (prepare and store in the fridge), and is more economical than other diets.

Because raw foodists typically adhere to an organic diet, the food they consume can be 80 – 300% denser in nutrition than non-organic food. This means your body can better use the food for energy and power. It will burn clean, and the benefits for the consumer are less hunger and more energy. You will eat less therefore reducing your food costs. Not to mention what a raw food diet does for reducing healthcare costs over time.

Two Summer Soups to Tempt Your Palate for Raw:

Carrot Ginger Soup

• 2 cups carrot juice (reserve pulp)*
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• 1 ½ – 2 Tablespoons ginger juice (according to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:  Juice carrots reserve the pulp.  Juice ginger.  Mix all ingredients together and chill.  Serves 4

Gazpacho

• 2/3 cup cucumber juice,  reserve pulp to add some back in for texture
• 2 ¼ cups tomato juice
• ¾ cup carrot juice, reserve pulp to add some back in for texture
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped fresh herbs:  basil, oregano, thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper

Juice and reserve pulp as desired.  Mix all ingredients.  Chill before serving.  Serves 4

*For more ideas on what to do with juice pulp, check out this article from a few weeks back!

So whats your favorite raw foods meal or snack?

Share it in the comments below!

There are a plethora of plums in the world – over 2,000 varieties in existence and over 100 available in the United States, in fact! Plums are categorized as:

• American
• Japanese
• Damson
• European/Garden
• Ornamental
• Wild

All of these plums vary in size and shape, though it’s common for plums to be heart or oval-shaped. Plums are the rainbow of the fruit world, with color variations of their skin coming in red, purple, blue-black, green, yellow, and amber. The plum’s flesh varies from green, yellow, pink, and orange. The peak plum season runs from May to October, depending upon the variety available.

Plum Passion Juicing Recipe

• 1 apple
• 4 plums (pits removed)

Cut the apple into wedges that will fit into the juicer shute. Remove the pits from the plums. Juice the fruit and enjoy!

Plum Nutrition

Plums contain unique nutrients called phenols, which are antioxidants. These phenols are the prime neutralizer of a free radical called the ‘superoxide anion radical’ which can damage brain cells. Plums protect brain cells and the neurons that fire information between our cells.

The plum also allows the body to better absorb iron. It is thought that the benefit of iron absorption is related to the plums high Vitamin C content. Vitamin C is an all around immune booster. Consumption of fruits and veggies high in Vitamin C is highly recommended by health professionals far and wide. Plums are also a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B2, and potassium. All which are vital to good health.

Plum History

European plums were discovered over 2,000 years ago in an area near the Caspian Sea. In ancient Rome, over 300 varieties of the European plum where known. Plums came to the Americas with the pilgrims.

Japanese plums are actually Chinese in origin, but received their name from the country that cultivated them.

Selection and Storage

Plums are ripe and ready to eat when they yield to slight pressure and are a bit soft at the tip. If the plums are firm, leave them at room temperature to ripen. Once the plums are ripe you can store them in the refrigerator for several days. Avoid overly firm plums, as they are immature and will probably not ripen to be sweet and juicy as the best plums are. Avoid any plums with bruises or punctures. If you wish to freeze plums, remove the pits beforehand to preserve that plum-goodness.

Cantaloupe is one of the most popular melons in America. They are at their best from June through August, the juicy fruit’s peak season of ripeness, lushness, and all around freshness.

My favorite summer Cantaloupe Chiller is as follows:

• 1 cantaloupe, deseeded and rind removed
• 5-7 ice cubes
• 2 Tbs or less of honey or agave nectar
• A dash of cinnamon

Juice the cantaloupe and then mix with the ice, sweetener, and cinnamon

History

The cantaloupe is named after the Italian village of Cantalup, the birthplace of the first cultivation of this luscious fruit. It is also know as a “rock melon” in various parts of the world, presumably due to its outward appearance. The origins of the cantaloupe are thought to be India, Africa, or ancient Persia.

Nutrition

Cantaloupe gets an A for Awesome when it comes to nutritional density. And it also gets an A for Vitamin A due to the cantaloupes beta-carotene content, which can be used as beta-carotene or converted to Vitamin A in the body. One cup of cantaloupe provides over 100% of the daily value for Vitamin A, a vitamin that, along with beta-carotene, is vital for healthy vision. It is said that cantaloupe is necessary for healthy eyes and  for the prevention cataracts. That same 1 cup serving is happily only 56 calories.

Cantaloupe is also a fantastic source for Vitamin C which powers up our immune system. Vitamin C is capital at rousing our white cells to fight infection and directly eliminates many bacteria and viruses. Vitamin C’s other super power is to revitalize Vitamin E after it has been forced into dormancy by free radicals. A one cup serving of cantaloupe contains over 110% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin C.

Cantaloupe also offers potassium, vitamin B6, dietary fiber, folate, and niacin (Vitamin B3). This combination provides for blood sugar stability through quality carbohydrates combined with fiber.

Choosing a Cantaloupe

Tap the melon with your hand, and if you hear a hollow sound, keep checking that ‘lope. If the melon feels heavy and does not have any bruises or soft spots, then you’re in good shape. The rinds color underneath the netting should be yellow or cream.

Determining Ripeness

If a cantaloupe is firm, leave it at room temperature from one to several days as needed. The texture of the skin will soften yet not indent. The flesh of the fruit will become softer and juicier if the cantaloupe is allowed to ripen naturally.

Preparation and Storage

Bacteria can grow on the surface of a cantaloupe (and most melons for that matter), so wash the outside of the fruit before cutting into it for juicing or eating. Cut the cantaloupe in half and scoop out the seeds and netting. It is best to juice without the rind because the rind can clog up the juicer and doesn’t add any good flavor to the juice. Peel only the amount of cantaloupe you’ll be using and then cover the rest with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. The nutrients in cantaloupe stay active and close to 100% for up to six days as long as it is chilled.

That’s right, although the wheatgrass craze is a bit past its apex, it’s clear that its popularity is more than just a passing fad.  Somehow, despite the fact that obesity is on the rise, the country is getting more interested in health.  Now I could do an entire article on what I believe to be behind this dichotomy but for now trust me, they aren’t related.  Cows are fat for other reasons.

So once again this will be basic stuff for a great many regulars in this community but it’s important to keep pulling in those who are just getting into this stuff.  And because the whole Juicy Josh community is relatively new, I think the basics need to be laid out.

Some health enthusiasts believe wheatgrass to be the pinnacle of healthy living, going so far as to claim that 1 pound of wheatgrass is the nutritional equivalent of 25 pounds of choice vegetables.  I wouldn’t go that far.  But there’s solid evidence that wheatgrass is good for everything from fighting cancer (for a great documentary watch Crazy Sexy Cancer on TLC tonight, 8/30/07 at midnight) to preventing tooth decay.  It is enormously rich in beta-carotene, the vitamins A, B, C, D, K, and E as well as many amino acids, such as lysine, tryptophane, and phenylalanine.  But most importantly wheatgrass is one of the highest sources of chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll strongly resembles the molecular structure of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein of red blood cells and this is probably the reason it is so beneficial.  Essentially it helps in clearing drug deposits from the blood, it counteracts and purifies toxins, removes heavy metals stored in our tissue, and increases the enzyme level in our cells.  All this amounts to the rejuvenation and preservation of our vital system.

Not to mention it gives you quite an energy kick.  Almost makes me want to MOO…

Be sure to check out our extensive selection of wheatgrass juicers!

Be Well,

JuicyJosh

That’s David Carradine…  right?  Of course I never saw Cain with a cold so maybe he juiced carrots too; although with all that wondering around, you’d wonder where?

Anyway, what we’re talking about here is beta-carotene.  What is it?  Glad you asked.  Beta-Carotene is one of over 600 Carotenoids that are responsible for the beautiful variety of colors found in our produce.  Rich orange and dark green fruits and vegetables like carrots, cantaloupe, sweet potato and pumpkin are particularly rich in beta-carotene.  This vital nutrient is converted within the body to Vitamin A which has been shown to be good for helping your body’s resistance to things like stress, colds and infections.  As well, a lack of Vitamin A has been shown to be linked to a higher incidence of cancer, particularly those having to deal with the lungs. One of the reasons is that deficiencies of this important vitamin can hinder your body tissue’s natural ability to heal itself. Beta carotene is also a potent antioxidant—a natural substances that prevents cell damage from excess oxygen. Antioxidants also help protect the body against cancer and strengthen the immune system.   In addition, healthy vision, bones and skin are all aided by a healthy daily serving of beta-carotene.  The problem is that you’ve got to eat a heck of a lot of carrots to get the benefit.  What do you do you ask?  I think you know the answer.  If I said anything other than juice ‘em I couldn’t keep my alias.

Be well,

Juicy Josh

877MyJuicer.com

Whats the recommended product to benefit from this article? None other than the Omega 8005 Juicer

That cantankerous ol’ sea captain had some plain good sense. Don’t worry. Eating a large dose of spinach daily won’t give you absurdly disproportionate forearms. What it will do is give you a megadose of important nutrients including beta carotene, a potent antioxidant, and vitamin K, which helps to maintain strong bones as well as vitamin C, calcium, folate and lutein. It’s not just spinach mind you, it’s all your leafy greens. Spinach, wheatgrass, chard, kale, beet greens, arugula and broccoli rabe are all excellent sources of essential vitamins and nutrients. Just half a cup of cooked kale provides four times your recommended daily dose for vitamin K. Steam them, juice them or eat them fresh you can’t afford to leave this stuff out of your diet.  Use the Healthy Juicer Electric for best results – and its CHEAP!  There are a bunch of other wheatgrass juicer choices too.

Now I know we were all a little shaken last year when the E coli bacteria was found in bagged spinach but there are many ways to protect yourself. For instance, cooking greens at 160 degrees for just 15 seconds will kill any and all E coli that might be there. You can also purchase a fruit and vegetable sanitizer like the Cuisine Clean which removes harmful pesticides and kills E-coli, salmonella, listeria giardia and cryptosporidium in addition to increasing the shelf life of your produce.

The truth is that everyone should consider leafy greens essential. They strengthen blood and immune systems, prevent cancer and fight depression naturally. The fiber in raw greens will keep your digestive tract moving, and they increase mental clarity and sustain energy. How else are you going to ward off a Bluto from your Olive Oil (extra virgin please ;o)…)?

Be well,

Juicy Josh

877MyJuicer.com