Green juice

When it comes to making green juices, I'd like to keep it simple. When I first started making green juices, the juices I made had 4-5 ingredients in them, with all the different types of vegetables, fruits and herbs . But now, the ingredients are less. Just celery and green apples. That's the most basic ingredients in my green juice.

I LOVE celery. I love them cooked and I even love them raw.  Celery are low in calories....there are only about 10 calories in each stalk. This will help a lot for weight watchers. It's also a stress reliever because the minerals in celery such as magnesium and the essential oils soothes the nervous system and helps us sleep better especially if we were to take them in the evenings.

Celery also regulates the alkaline in our body and protects our body from acidity. This is good as we need to keep those two in balance. It reduces inflammation too. So if someone was suffering from asthma,  joint pains, lung infections or acne....taking celery will bring much relief.

The high water content in celery will aid in digestion. The insoluble fiber makes it easy for eliminating stools. SO if there is a constipation issue, taking celery is the way to GO! haha! This fact might be a shock to some. Celery contains good salts.....it contains sodium, but not the same as table salt. It's natural, organic and essential for our health. It is also known to combat cancer, lowers the blood pressure and many more.

As for green apples.....hmmm, what are the benefits of taking them? Well, for starters, they have more health benefits compared to the red one! Oh yeah! The green ones are high in fiber and help keep the digestive track clean and healthy. Thus reduces the possibility to get colon cancer.

It gives our stomach the sense of satisfaction after eating them, which means we would feel full and not having the need to eat more. It also does not have any bad cholesterol in it. And since it has a very high fiber content, inevitably these high fibers can help reduce the cholesterol that are already present in our body. It reduces liver problems and prevents gout too. It contains antioxidants thus prevents cancer and DNA damage. These green apples also controls our appetite and gives us a lot of energy too. It contains carbohydrates which are good for athletes or people who are always on the move.

Besides from all the great benefits of the celery and apple, I just LOVE the taste of the two of them when combined. The juice has a sweet and sour taste to it and it's refreshing too. I would juice the whole celery stalk each time and would add about 4 green apples to juice along with it and it always turns out tasting amazing. It's definitely my all time favourite juice to make :).

Green smoothie

It's been almost 6 weeks now since I started making smoothies. When I first started making them, I made sure that green leaves were part of the ingredients in the recipe. This is because green leaves have the chlorophyll in them and they are alkaline. It is very good to alkalize our acidic body with green leaves.. I pretty much experimented a lot with the ingredients in the beginning. I didn't know what would taste nice together but I had some things in mind that I would like to have in my green smoothies.

I see a lot of people on the net using either plain water, coconut water, almond milk, or cow's milk as the base of the smoothie. It is important to choose the right kind of liquid for your green smoothies. You have to know what works for you. As for me, I would prefer to just use plain water for my green smoothies. I just can't imagine what my green smoothies would taste like with any type of milk. I don't DARE to try! haha!

BUT! I do however love to use powdered goat's milk in my other smoothie recipe. Especially in my chocolate banana smoothie! It tastes so delicious!! It's like drinking a chocolate milkshake! I'll share how I make it in my next post :).

The reason why I use goat's milk is because I'm allergic to dairy products. So for the base of any of my smoothies, it's either plain water, coconut water or goat's milk for me. It would be nice to try using green tea as the base as well.

As for the greens, I prefer to use Romaine lettuce compared to spinach or any other type of greens. This is because Romaine lettuce is suitable to be taken raw. I learned that spinach and certain other types of greens are best taken when lightly steamed or cooked because they might interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients in our body if taken raw. I see a lot of people on the net using spinach or kale for their green smoothies. I wonder if it will have a bad effect on their body in the long term. I rather not take the risk. So I'll just stick with Romaine lettuce. Besides, Romaine lettuce does not have a bitter taste. You'll never even taste it in your smoothies because the taste is so mild and it's easily hidden by the fruits that you add in your smoothie. You can check out the video below about the types of vegetables that you shouldn't be eating raw.

The other ingredients that I love to add in any of my green smoothies to make them taste delicious are as follows:

1. Banana / Frozen banana (very important ingredient to add in any green smoothies).
2. Honey (if you want to sweeten your green smoothies).
3. Any type of berries (I've used strawberries before).
4. Mango juice / Frozen mango.
5. Pineapple juice.
6. Kiwi.
7. Green grapes.
8. Coconut water and it's soft flesh.
9. Lemon (alkalizing)

So those are the things that you can add in your green smoothies. Choose whichever you like but make sure to at least add one banana in it as it will make your green smoothies tastes yummier. As for portions, it depends on how much you want each ingredients in the smoothie. For me, I always put Romaine lettuce the most. 70% leafy greens and 30% fruits.

One more thing I like to add to my green smoothies is this liquid chlorophyll. It is a pure extract of the mulberry leaves. I'm growing a few mulberry trees now in my garden. Hopefully someday I no longer need to buy this liquid chlorophyll and get my own liquid chlorophyll by juicing the mulberry leaves. This liquid chlorophyll has a very dark green colour. But when I pour it in my green smoothies, I don't taste it at all. Because it has no strong taste of chlorophyll. Some prefer to just add it in plain water and drink it straight in the morning, just like that. But I prefer it in my smoothies :).

There are so many benefits of chlorophyll to our body. It helps to rebuild and replenish our red blood cells, boosting our energy and increasing our well being almost instantly. Apart from it being highly alkaline, it is also anti-carcinogenic. Liquid chlorophyll has strong antioxidant and is anti inflammatory too.  It also has the ability to bind and remove toxic heavy metals such as mercury. In recent research, chlorophyll has shown to be effective in fighting candida. Chlorophyll also has a double action remedy for bad breath. It eliminates odor in the mouth and throat, but more importantly it promotes and healthy digestive tract (which is the primary reason for bad breath).

If you want to really detox your body and not use any fruits at all in your smoothies, you can try making green smoothies that only has vegetables and herbs in it. I've tried it before but I had to add one green apple to it as I couldn't take it 100% vegetables. It is important for it to taste nice otherwise I won't be able to drink it at all. But if you are able to take 100% vegetables, then that's great! I have yet to be able to do that. Haha!

You can try blending the ingredients below:

1. Romaine lettuce.

2. Japanese cucumber.

3. Green apple.

4. Parsley or cilantro.

5. Honey.
6. Plain water or coconut water.

The end of food cravings

For as long as I remember, I have always been a big eater. I'm quite famous for that in my family (sad to say). Since small, I had been the one who always seems to be hungry all the time. I had no idea why. I was never obese back then because I was always active as a child. I'm not obese now either. But I have big bones. And I am tall. Therefore, I can't afford to be obese because if I was, then I'll look like a GIANT.

Having said that, I am however overweight now. Not fat, just overweight. HAHAHAHA!! (In denial). Anyways, I have always tried to lose the fat and I have always tried to lead a healthy lifestyle over the years. But it has always been tough doing so. I was always in and out of it. I had problems staying in for a long period of time due to my constant cravings for fattening foods. If only I had cravings for healthy types of food. Like for instance having cravings for CELERY....bwahahahahahah!!! Then I'll never have problems with my weight. I WISH!!

The thing is, I never thought I could EVER stop the cravings....EVER!!! Until now. It feels weird not having cravings at all. Seriously. It is as if, my body is satisfied with what I've been feeding it with and therefore, it's not itching for anything else. This is NEW for me. I just couldn't figure out as to why this is happening to me. Until one day I saw a video over on YouTube and there was this girl talking about how taking smoothies has curbed all her food cravings and then it HIT me! Wow! Smoothies stopped her from craving all the sweet stuff and all the food that she had trouble staying away from. That sounded just like me!

So all this time it was the clean eating.....the juices....the smoothies.....but I believe it is more because of the smoothies. This is because, the smoothies had more ingredients in it that kept me full for longer period of time compared to the juices. I really noticed how much taking smoothies has affected me now compared to when I was only taking juices. I was taking juices for a few months but I still had the cravings and it was really bad. 

I'm glad now I can walk in the supermarket and not feel any fear whenever I see the chocolate aisle or feel any itch to buy cream puffs at the bread aisle. So this really helps when I am trying to develop a clean and healthy lifestyle. Because I can't be getting well if I can't control my cravings. It will be a very difficult process to try to be healthy for a few hours and then binge for the rest of the day. Imagine doing all the exercise and not getting any results because of the binging. It just won't work. 

I have a lot of issues to deal with when it comes to health because honestly for me it's not just about losing the weight. It's about feeling good about myself, feeling healthy as I have always been feeling so sick for so many years. It's about controlling my allergies too. God knows how much I have suffered because of the allergies. I almost gave up on it. I just didn't know how else to stop it. 

I've met so many people here who have suffered from allergies just like me. Some even suffered worse than me and have completely given up hope. These people just wanted to die. I know how they feel. I know how much it hurts. I've been there. And I don't blame them for feeling the way they do. It's really tough. They have been feeding on the wrong food all their lives. Food that harms them.....not food that heals. Just like me, they didn't know. No one educated them on it and they didn't know where to seek help. Doctors don't know everything! I myself took so many years to finally find a solution that worked for me. Each person heals differently. It's so subjective. I hope I can help them heal some how. But they need to believe. Without the believe, the healing journey can never begin.

I am just grateful for all the knowledge that I have now about health and how it has affected me and my health in general. Even though I have much to learn about it. I am learning everyday. At least now I have one less problem to deal with when trying to be healthy again. And that means a LOT to me.

Juicing vs Blending

To juice or to blend? Juicing basically means that juice from the fruits or vegetables is separated from the pulp when using a juicer, and blending means that neither the juice or the pulp is separated or removed from the blender. Everything stays in. So which one will I be getting? That was what kept circling in my mind when I first started thinking about how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet by drinking them. I'm not saying that I shouldn't be eating my fruits and vegetables anymore and turn to drinking them instead but I'm just saying that by juicing or blending them, I'll get maximum absorption of nutrients in my body. Chewing fruits and vegies takes too long to process and basically it means I'll eat them less because I'll get tired of chewing so much of them in a day. I'm very sure that I can eat more vegetables and fruits in a day by drinking them.

 

SO!! It was either to make juices or to make smoothies. I have never blended my fruits and vegetables together before. So I couldn't imagine how I would take it. But I have taken fruit juices before at restaurants and they tasted really good. But would I be able to swallow a smoothie it as easy as I could a juice? So out of fear of not being able to swallow blended fruits and vegetables, I opted to get myself a slow juicer first. Yes, a slow juicer just like the photo you see above. But that was the second one I got after I bought the manual slow juicer like the photo you can see in my previous post. An electric slow juicer is so much more convenient and saves me a lot of time. They are very expensive but SO WORTH IT!!!!

Why a slow juicer and not a centrifugal juicer? Well, I decided to get a slow juicer because after doing much research on the net, I found out that the best juice you'll ever get is by juicing with a slow juicer. This is because a slow juicer can make cold-pressed juices which means it does not expose the juice to heat and oxygen in the process, both of which degrades nutrients in the juice. That's why they call it "cold" pressed juices....because no "heat" is involved. I've tasted juices made from centrifugal juicers before and boy oh boy there is a HUGE difference between the two. Cold-pressed juices are so much more tastier. They don't oxidize as fast as juices made from centrifugal juicers too. So you can keep the juice in your fridge for more than 24 hours and they will still taste great the next day. 

The only thing that bothers me about slow juicers is that, it is not as flexible as a blender. You won't be able to juice certain fruits and vegetables with a slow juicer. For instance.....like bananas, kiwis and other soft flesh fruits and vegetables. If they are too soft, then it's difficult to get juice out of them. Certain herbs like parsley, cilantro would be a waste to juice as they are small and don't have much juice in them. They will just end up coming out from the juicer looking like mashed fruits and vegetables. So, it will be a waste to juice them. That's when a blender comes in handy for these types of fruits and vegetables.

After much research, by Googling, YouTubing, Instagraming etc......I found out about personal blenders. A personal blender is just like the one you see in the above photo. Of course the first thing that I wanted to buy was a high powered blender like Vitamix. I've heard a lot about Vitamix. But the thing is.....it's too BIG! I kept thinking about the space I have at home and where am I going to put it. I knew that it would be wiser to just get me a personal blender for the time being just in case I didn't like how a smoothie would taste. In case I didn't want to continue making smoothies, at least I won't feel so bad, unlike if I were to spend a lot of money on a blender like the Vitamix. Yes, my friends, Vitamix is so much more expensive compared to a personal blender. Booohoooohooooo!!

BUT!!! No more tears as now that I have tried the personal blender, I am super happy about it. Believe it or not, I have to say that it is the most used electrical appliance that I have in my kitchen! I use it everyday. Worth every cent I spent on it. Before I bought this personal blender, I made sure that it is going to work if not as good as the Vitamix, at least let be good enough to blend all the fruits and vegetables to teeny tiny pieces and end up looking so smooth and liquid, so much so that I won't have trouble drinking it. THAT I MADE SURE! Because I'm not going to spend money on something that won't do a good job in making smoothies. 

The best thing about a personal blender is that it's something that you can use to blend anything you want and go off anywhere with it after the job is done. You can take it to work, to the gym or anywhere you fancy. Blend everything inside the tumbler and drink straight from it. No need to transfer your smoothie to a mug or plastic container like you would need to do if you use a normal blender. Since it's small in size, cleaning is a breeze. So convenient.

Another reason for me to like blending more is because I don't wastes anything from it. No pulp is removed from fruits and vegetables, therefore I get more fiber in my diet. I feel fuller every time I take a smoothie. I feel full for hours compared to drinking a juice. Another plus side is that I get to add other ingredients to it like milk, protein powders, nuts, dried fruits and so much more to a blender. You can never do that with a juicer. So I'll get to make more interesting drinks with a blender. It's like making a whole meal from it. If I didn't have the time to cook, then making a smoothie solves the problem.

But having said that, I must say that I do love them both. Both have their own benefits. Juicing removes all the insoluble fiber from fruits and vegetables (meaning the pulp). Although fiber is good for you, because it keeps your digestive track healthy and slows down the absorption of sugar but it also slows down the absorption of nutrients and some nutrients stays in the fiber. If I juice, it means that I extract 70% of the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables and the juice gets absorbed into my body 100% and quickly too. The nutrients get in your body fast, easy digestion but doesn't keep you full that long.

Blending fruits and vegetables means that you get both insoluble and soluble fibers in your diet. Slow release of nutrients and keeps you full longer. So basically, it's all up to me. Do what suits me for that particular time. Or do according to what I have available at hand. Some times, I don't have enough fruits or vegetables for juicing but I can use them for making smoothies instead by combining them with other ingredients. So it's all good no matter what. What's important is that I don't stop making them. Don't ever quit. :)

 

Time for a U-turn

A manual juicer? Well, that is just part of the journey to a healthier me which started when I learned about how to get healthy by getting more fruits and vegetables in my diet. I saw a lot of videos on YouTube on how other people managed to heal themselves by eating a lot of raw food. Most of them are doing it all the way. One hundred percent on raw food and of course that means they are also 100% vegan. But in my opinion, by incorporating at least 50% of your diet with fruits and vegetables is actually more balanced. I can't imagine myself not eating any fish at all. I love fish and fish is good for me! Haha! I can never be 100% vegan.

Actually, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables is not something new for me. It's not like I've never heard of this before. In fact, way back in the year 2000, I already tried it and yes, it worked! I guarantee it! Except, way back then, I had limited knowledge on how to apply it or how to make it more interesting for me to stay on it forever. I only managed to stay on the diet for about 4-6 months and then I went back to my usual bad eating habits and got sick again.

I learned about it from a book my sister gave me called Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management. It was a book written by Dr. Jorgen Bernard Jensen. From that book, I learned a lot about how our bowel works, how a dirty bowel can affect our health and how important it is to keep it clean. I also learned about what are the type of food we should be eating to help with healing our diseases. If only we be kind to our body and help it by eating the right kind of food, then we would be in less trouble.

There is also another thing I found out. Each of us, should be eating according to our blood type. Seriously, I swear by this. No matter how much I try to deny it, I can't because of how true it is. There is a book written about it by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, called Eat Right For Your Type. I don't own the book yet but I have read a lot about it via online at his website. So from there, I was able to find out what are the type of foods that would be highly beneficial or neutral or harmful for me. 

So after finding out what are the type of foods that would benefit me, I was able to make a u-turn and go to a path that would help me heal. But I have to say that even with all the information, I did have a difficult time making that u-turn. Because it would mean that I would have to permanently leave behind all the food that I enjoyed eating all these years. Even though they made me sick. I was a little demotivated at first because I felt that I was in this alone. I had no one to go through this journey with. It would be nice to have someone going through it together with you. But, my feelings changed after that thanks to the community I found online who shared the same issues as I did and are going through the same diet as I am. It was wonderful as they totally understood how tough it is to go through what we go through everyday and we support each other. So I am totally OK with it now and I can finally see how I can continue doing it forever. Making it my way of life so to speak.

Changing my diet alone is not enough. I also need to exercise. But I have limited ability to do so plus limited time. However I have found a solution for myself and it works for me. So everyday I do my best to cycle, or do simple workouts at home which I've learned from various YouTube channels. There are so many types of work outs for people who are ill and are not able to do heavy work outs. The important thing is to find out what works the best for you. I was really surprised to find out that there are so many types of work outs for ill people. So basically, I have no excuse for not working out! It's a must when making this u-turn.

So, the point is......food can heal you....it can also kill you. It can make you happy....it can also make you sad. Make the right choice. For you and your family. Be active, be positive, be sociable, be humble, be kind to yourself and others. Be more giving. Stay away from people who upsets you, forgive them and move on. If we don't tackle our emotional issues, then we are bound to go back feeling sick again. It does affect our health. No matter how much good food we eat, or how much we exercise, but if we don't settle with our emotional issues, we are doomed.

A new chapter

Hello again.....

Wow....has it been that long? As I stared at my personal blog I began to wonder what kept me away from it for so long. How I missed writing here and sharing my thoughts. It has been over a year since I blogged here. I can't believe I left this blog for more than a year! The whole year of 2014 I was missing in action. Oh my poor blog! I couldn't stand looking at the old layout design of the blog and decided to give it a new look. Now at least every time I log in here, the design will give me that instant mood to jot down some of my thoughts.

I would have to say that last year was one of the crazy busiest year I had ever had. One that effected my health as well. So much so that I had to do another detox to keep me going. A lot has changed in my life since last year. Health wise, career wise etc. I made a lot of changes. When things got from bad to worse for me and I just couldn't take it anymore, that's when I put my foot down and gave me a tight slap on the face then focused on how to improve my health once and for all. It's always when things get extremely bad that I would make a change. I was never really good at staying disciplined in any of my health regime. It was always a temporary thing. I would get excited about it for a few weeks and then bamm!!! I would go off to my unhealthy habits again. The urge to eat whatever I fancy got the best of me.

It is tough living in a society that refuse to accept my health issues as well, as they keep telling me how to handle my health differently. But hey!! I'm not going to go there again and start blaming others for my problems. They don't know me well enough to tell me how I should live my life. It's my life....my health....I decide how I want to make myself happy and healthy. And I'm glad I was really focused on my decision last November and stuck with it till now.

I'm also taking it easy as well with work. I realised that if I don't do that, it would be difficult for me to heal. I need to take it easy on myself. Don't over stress myself. Just don't over do it. There is always time for work and play. Not just work work work.  

I want to spread the word....share my journey to good health with everyone. Who knows, somehow I get to help others who have the same issues as I do. I get to where I am today because someone cared enough to share the knowledge with me. Now it's my turn to do the same. Gosh I have so much to share with what I've learned the past few months. I will take some time off from work to write here whenever I can. It's also good for me to write it down so that I have a place where I can refer back to if ever I forget. So it's not just about sharing.....it is also a reminder for me....or a place of reference.

Make a difference in someone's life....and you'll see how it will affect yours too. And what better time to do it then in the month of Ramadhan. The time of giving. The time of sharing. :)