Introduction
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is your best bet for preventing every chronic disease.
The evidence in support of this recommendation is so strong it has been endorsed by US and UK government health agencies and by virtually every major medical organisation, including the American Cancer Society
In this blog, I share my natural red juice recipe and how the colours of your fruits and vegetables will energise you and keep your body healthy as you age.
Energy giving
This is my “energy-giving juice”. It comes from a selection of root vegetables and an apple.
There are about 350 calories in it. Drink a small glass of it whenever you need a little boost or crave something sweet.
I call it my red juice, for obvious reasons, but without the beetroot, it would be orange in colour.
What I’m trying to do is consume as many of the colours of the rainbow each and every day.
By eating a rainbow of deeply coloured fruits and vegetables, it’s a great way of ensuring you are getting the range of nutrients you need.
Recipe
Wash thoroughly and juice the following:
- 2 carrots
- 1 beetroot
- half a sweet potato
- a lemon or a lime
- a chunk of ginger (size to your liking) and
- an apple if you want extra sweetness.
Drink in small amounts as you need to. It will keep for a day in the fridge.
Vitamin and mineral content
The mineral analysis on this drink isn’t particularly high, partly because there are no green vegetables in it. The vitamin values, however, were much better. For example, this juice will provide you with well over the vitamin A you need for a day. Also, least 50 % of vitamin C, 70% of B6, 50% of folate, 50% of B5, 25% of manganese.
Rainbow coloured whole foods
Here are a few examples of foods in each colour category:
Red – Beetroot, tomatoes, red pepper, strawberries, raspberries, red currents, cherries, red grapefruit, watermelon.
Yellow – Yellow pepper, lemons, banana, pears, melons, apples, yellow grapefruit.
nOrange – Papaya, mango, orange pepper, carrots, Sharon Fruit, pumpkin, squash, oranges, apricots, sweet potato, yams. Green – All green veggies & leaves, kiwi, avocado, limes…the list is endless.
Blue/Black – Blackberries, blue berries, purple cabbage, plums, aubergines, red cabbage.
Phytochemicals
The substances which protect us against disease are found in these fruits and vegetables, are phytochemicals. They include pigments such as carotenes, chlorophyll and flavonoids. If you consume these foods raw, you will preserve the enzymes which help digestion and absorption), that’s one reason why people have taken to juicing.
Carotenes and flavonoids act as anti-oxidants and enhance our immune systems and have anti-tumor effects. Limonoids enhance detoxification and block carcinogens. Chlorophyll stimulates haemoglobin and red blood cell production.
The pigment betacyanin in beetroots gives it its vibrant colour and is a powerful anti-cancer fighting agent. In a study of patients with stomach cancer, beet juice was found to be a potent inhibitor of the formation of nitrosamines (cancer-causing compounds ingested as nitrates when we eat smoked or cured meats (look on the labels of processed meats, they all have nitrates and nitrites added as preservatives). Beetroot also blocks cell mutations caused by theses nitrates. Beetroot’s antioxidant properties helps to increase the number of white blood cells responsible for detecting and eliminating abnormal cells.
Carrots provide the highest source of pro-vitamin A carotenes. Two carrots provide roughly four times the RDA of Vitamin A. They also provide excellent levels of Vitamin K, biotin, Vitamin C, B6, B1 and potassium. They are high in anti-oxidants. They contain beta-carotene which we all know helps our night vision and similarly provide protection against macular degeneration and the development of senile cataracts.
Sweet potato’s contain a unique storage protein with very high anti-oxidant properties. Generally, the darker the flesh, the more caroteines they contain. The help to stabilise blood sugars and improve the body’s response to insulin and and are hence called “anti-diabetic”. They are high in Vitamin C, Vit A, B6 manganese, copper. biotin, B5, B2 and fibre.
Healing from multiple sclerosis
Here is a link to a TED lecture presented by an American physician, Dr Terry Wahls, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
She deteriorated to the point of living in a wheelchair, but later recovered her health by eating, as recommended, a rainbow of coloured whole foods and a paleo diet.
Conclusion
If you want to have the best energy, eat a wide range of deeply coloured fruits and vegetables. If you need further advice or recipe ideas, join my email list.