Juicing For Optimal Brain Health

In our previous emails, you may have noticed that Procera Health highly recommends the Mediterranean Diet for optimal brain health. Unfortunately, many people don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables or simply don’t have the time to prepare a meal. You can always buy a prepared juice or smoothie at a local grocery store but these products are often filled with sugar or other ingredients that are not healthy - especially for your brain! Radical thought - have you ever considered replacing a meal with a smoothie or juice as way to get your daily intake of nutrients that your body needs?

Brain Health Study On Juicing
A study from Vanderbilt University found that drinking fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week can delay serious brain health changes, particularly among those in the high risk category. Many fruit and vegetable juices contain polyphenols, which is a chemical found in foods with antioxidants that are known to protect the brain.

While we’re all familiar with store-bought juices, doing your own juicing at home hasn’t always been as popular. These days, however, the trend has started steadily gaining traction, as health experts it can help you lose a few unwanted pounds, increase energy and overcome serious health issues. Some people decide to go on a juice fast while others work it into their diet as a replacement for a meal or simply a drink while they are eating.

What Is A Juice Cleanse?
Typically, a juice cleanse is a type of detox diet that involves drinking juices made from fruits and vegetables for a specific window of time. In some cases, this can be as simple as sipping on a glass of celery juice each morning. In other instances, it may involve nixing all other foods from your diet and consuming only juice for a short period. Two primary options for juicing:
• Purchasing juices from a local supermarket and following a pre-made plan from companies such as Suja Juice Cleanse for a specific period of time.
• Do your own raw juice cleanse at home by using a juicer and purchasing a variety of fruits and vegetables. This offers a bit more flexibility and allows you to select your own ingredients targeted to your specific needs by doing a brain or liver cleanse.

6 Benefits of Juicing
1. Rest For Certain Organs – during a juice cleanse, your liver is given a much-needed break to repair itself because usually it’s working hard to filter toxins out of the foods we eat. Your liver uses energy to function properly, and when it’s overworked, it can make you feel lethargic and affect your sleep.
2. Mental Clarity – this is no question that an unhealthy diet can make your body feel sluggish and cause “brain fog”. Juicing not only boosts your physical energy, but it can improve your mental clarity too. When your digestive system goes from an overworked state to a lighter, healthier state, your “brain fog” will lift, leaving you with a greater sense of focus and increased mental sharpness.
3. Provides a Burst of Micronutrients - how many of us actually eat the seven servings of fruit — and especially vegetables — daily that are recommended to promote better health and optimize brain health? While it can be difficult to figure out how to sneak in a few extra veggies with each meal or snack, juicing makes it much easier. Practically any fruit or vegetable can be juiced, allowing you to get in a heap of nutrients and vitamins you probably would otherwise miss out on.
4. Enhances Nutrient Absorption - drinking a juice is like taking a shot of instant nutrition goodness. Because all the insoluble fiber has been removed through the juicing process, digestion becomes a lot easier on the body. Drinking juice enables the body to better absorb the vitamins, minerals and enzymes that juice has to offer.
5. Weight Loss - If you’re planning on going on a juice cleanse for weight loss, be careful - you might find yourself feeling hungry a lot more often. Juices also generally have little to no protein but with a little self discipline, you can eliminate things in your diet that cause you to gain weight such as scones, muffins, chips or sugary drinks.
6. Address Specific Health Challenges – one of the great things about juicing is you can select ingredients that target a particular health issue. For example, maybe you need to boost your blood flow, detoxify from heavy metals, beat brain fog or improve your digestion. Juicing could be part of the solution.

Juicing vs. Smoothies
Quite often, people confuse juices with smoothies, and vice versa. To clarify, smoothies are drinks made by blending whole foods, including fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts and liquids like milk or coconut water. Though the food is blended, you still wind up consuming it in its entirety. So while that strawberry or spinach leaf might look strange after being blended, you’re still eating the entire thing. When you juice, all of the fiber is removed from fruits or vegetables. What’s left are all the micronutrients and sugar in a liquid form; the rest is discarded.

Recipes
Here are a few ways to ensure you make the most out of your juices. Go heavy on the veggies and light on the fruit. Increase your vegetable content and keep that excess sugar down by sticking to a 4:1 vegetable-to-fruit ratio. Trying to detox? Start first by removing processed foods, alcohol and added sugar from your diet. Then add in a glass of juice — remember, mostly veggies.

“Get The Blood Flowing” Juice
• 1½ cm fresh ginger
• 3 beets
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• Place the ingredients in your juicer and serve chilled

Healing Celery Juice
• 1 bunch of celery
• Rinse the celery and run it through a juicer. Drink immediately for best results. Alternatively, you can chop the celery and blend it in a high-speed blender until smooth. Don’t add water or ice for the greatest healing benefits, use only celery.

Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie Recipe
• 2 bananas
• 2 cups wild blueberries
• 1 cup cilantro
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp barley grass juice powder
• 1 tsp spirulina
• 1 small handful of Atlantic dulse
• Optional: water to blend

Brain Fog Lifter Smoothie
• 3 celery stalks with leaves
• 3 green apples, cored
• 5 medium Swiss chard leaves
• 1 cup broccoli ( I used stems & leaves)
• 1 cup cabbage
• Loose handful of basil
• In a high speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. If a thinner consistency is desired, add up to 1 cup of water

Healthy Fats Brain Boosting Smoothie
• ½ avocado
• ½ banana
• ½ cup blueberries
• 6 walnuts
• 1 scoop vanilla flavored collagen protein powder
• ½ cup water
• Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth texture is reached