Healthy Fastfood or The American Diet? I could not resist starting with this description of "The American diet":
" The American Diet - composed mainly of animal products, cooked and highly processed materials (commonly referred to as foods)-- processed with, grown on or treated with extreme amounts of: chemicals (including many embalming nitrates), anti-biotics, hormones, paint, pesticides, genetically modified crops, etc., kill more people than the wars and accidents combined".
Exaggerated? No, I believe this to be the truth, and not only in USA but in most "wealthy" parts of the world. Healthy fastfood? Sounds a bit strange? Fastfood is usually not connected to good health, rather the opposite.
In today's society it's almost impossible not to experience some form of stress, pressure or lack of time. This is why fast food has become so popular on behalf of our health. We all know the importance of eating raw vegetables; it's critical to good health. The problem is that we simply don't find time to make healthy meals or take the time to eat "the five a day" or rather we don't give it 1st priority. Personally I think five a day are too little. What if you could eat 10 or 15 a day? It would have amazing benefits to your overall health. With the optimal healthy fastfood it should be no problem. The fastfood I'm referring to here is the optimal healthy fastfood and the answer to vibrant health, clear skin, a slim body, longevity and energy. Sounds too good to be true! Well, it's not.
Your optimal healthy fastfood is:
filled with nutrients,
gives you a lot of energy,
easy and fast to make,
don't produce a lot of dishes,
easy to vary,
looks and tastes good,
is fun to make.
So what is the optimal healthy fastfood? It is simply JUICING RAW VEGETABLES. Raw vegetable juice has healing effects on your body and can add vitality and years to your life.
The main benefits of this healthy fastfood?
The average western diet today is acid-producing and most people have an "over acidic body". The human body is slightly alkaline and a diet composed of alkalizing foods is necessary to keep this balance (pH balance). The ideal diet should be 80% alkaline and 20% acidic. As most vegetables are alkaline it is a great way to get the body into the normal pH balance which is crucial for your health.
Juicing raw vegetables keeps the food alive. Every life process depends on enzymes. Fresh, raw foods as vegetables and fruits contain the highest level of enzymes. Our body is "alive" made of living cells, which require living food in order to be properly nourished and function well.
Juicing allows you to consume an optimal amount of vegetables fast and effectively. Many people find eating raw vegetables difficult, but it can be easily accomplished with a glass of vegetable juice. Eating raw vegetables is time consuming. Compare eating a big portion of raw vegetables to drinking one glass of juice. Remember you need to chew raw vegetables thoroughly or the body will not be able to absorb all the nutrients. Children are often not very happy about eating raw vegetables. Raw vegetable juice may be a good way to get some nutrition's into them as well.
Juicing is a great way to help you absorb all the nutrients from the raw vegetables. Juiced vegetables are sort of "pre-digested" and it's easier for the body to absorb the nutrients. Many of us have problems with the digestion as a result of years with bad eating habits and wrong diets. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables.
Raw vegetable juice is a great way to remove body toxins.
You can add a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. Many people eat the same vegetable salads every day. But with juicing, you can juice a wide variety of vegetables that you may not normally enjoy eating whole. You can make different healthy fastfood juices every day combining different vegetables.
Never more throw away vegetables because they rotten before you find time to eat them, now you can make healthy fastfood out of them.
Raw juiced vegetables are the optimal healthy fastfood!
What about fruits? Orange, apple, pineapple and other fruit juices are what we normally associate with juicing. I wrote another article some time back "Is juice Healthy?" Of course fruits are healthy fastfood as well. But juicing fruits has one disadvantage over vegetable juicing; it tends to increase insulin levels when consumed because of the high concentration of fruit sugars. This may result in high blood pressure, overweight and diabetes. I suggest that you limit your fruit juice to one or max two glasses a day. Your body needs fiber so it's a good idea to eat your fruits and drink your vegetables. Put on your mind that some vegetables, like carrots and beets are also high in sugar so you should limit the use of them as well.
Raw vegetables are healthy fastfood but it is not a complete meal! The benefits of juicing raw vegetables are indisputable, it is the optimal health fastfood, but it is important to remember that it is not a complete diet or meal. It has very little protein and virtually no fat or fiber. Raw vegetable juice should be used in addition to your regular meals, not in place of it. You should continue to eat some of your vegetables raw or slightly warmed. Raw vegetables are not only the optimal healthy fastfood but also great used in fasting or detoxification programs. You can find a lot of good information on the Internet if you want to dig deeper into that subject. You should never start any fasting without counseling with a nutritionist or health professional.
Healthy fastfood IS organic! It's obvious that you choose organic whenever possible. "Why organic?" Organic foods are free of additives, artificial preservatives and colors. Organic foods are free of pesticides, synthetic growth and breeding hormones and are the best for both you and for Mother Nature. If your vegetables and fruits are organic you don't need to peel it, just wash them and cut them enough to get them into the juicer. Often important nutrients are found in the shell or just inside the fruit/vegetable and we don't want to waste them. I have problems to call non-organic raw vegetables healthy fastfood.
A few juicing-tips to start with:
Drink your vegetable juice right away, or store it very carefully.
Store it as short time as possible in the refrigerator, use glass or stainless steel containers.
Remove the air from the container by "overfilling" it to get the air out.
Use lemons in your juice as the citric acid helps preserve the juice.
To make the use sweeter, use carrot or apple or add a little Stevie.
Lemons, Limes, cranberries and fresh ginger are ways to make your juice taste better.
Keep your juicer on the kitchen counter easily available - you are going to use it at least once a day. If you don't find place for it, throw out your microwave own, it has nothing to do in a kitchen, unless you like to eat destroyed and dead food.
What kind of juicer are best? I recommend a simple juicer that is easy to clean. If it is too complicated and takes too long to clean you will not use it - that is my experience. I have two juicers, the first one is "the best" but I found it took too long time to clean it. I bought another that is much easier to clean and I use this all the time. I use less than 10 minutes to wash and cut the vegetables and make two glasses of juice. Included in this time is also cleaning up and making the juicer ready for next time.
Change your life, start juicing vegetables and you may actually save your life! Live and feel the results. I simply love my juicer - it is my way to optimal health.
