Kay Blackburn

So this new plant-based (trying to kill cancer naturally) lifestyle has been quite interesting and the exciting thing is that I am constantly learning. It’s as if I simply can’t get enough information about nutrition, plant-based diets, vegan recipes, juicing etc.  These past few weeks I have been consumed with my new “job”… but all the while trying to keep up with my day job of taking care of my family.

When I first started juicing back in November, I was all gung ho after reading various books on healing cancer via natural means. Consistently I learned that juicing was part of the “protocol”.  I was already making a green smoothie every morning with cucumbers, celery, spinach, kale, broccoli, and pears into my Blendtec blender… so why juice? Don’t you lose all the good fiber when you juice?

Well yes, you do, but for someone like myself who is fighting cancer, getting as many nutrients into my little cells to boost my immune system is critically important. The green smoothie is great, but one thing I realized on my own is that it took me all day to finish one blender full of green smoothie… and sometimes even longer. I would feel great starting my day with blending up all these greats veggies, drink as much as would fit in a large cup and then I was full. I would open my fridge in the afternoon with my blender half full of goodness waiting for me to pour another cupful, but then inevitably that just wasn’t what I wanted to satiate my hunger… I would want real food.  So there would be days that my green smoothie, which I made in the morning with great enthusiasm, would sit til late in the day waving at me every time I opened my refrigerator. Many days it would sadly be passed over for other more appealing options. This didn’t happen everyday, but enough days for me to realize that I actually wasn’t getting in as many veggies as I had intended.

So I started juicing.

While I did feel guilty dumping all the fiber into the trash, I am sure that juicing is THE way to get more servings of phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals into my body.  I am fighting a disease, so I need more (as does anyone else in my situation) than the recommended 5-6 servings a day.

I started off with a Champion Juicer model G6-PG710 which received good ratings and was recommended in a book I read, but I was soon disappointed as I realized that the machine would get “gunked up” with the vegetable fiber during juicing and then the juice would come out all foamy which I didn’t like at all.  I would have to take it apart, wash all the parts and put it back together a few times during the process which was a real pain.  Not only that, the model I purchased used a high spinning extractor which created heat… this process isn’t as good as the masticating models (which I got later) that use a slow pressing process which extracts the juice in a way that preserves the quality of the juice making it last a little longer.

The Champion machine produced juice that only lasted 1-2 days and a big mess along with it.  A couple months later, I received the Omega NC800 5th generation (thank you Mama B and Papa B) which was like the Ferrari compared to the Cadillac. All the parts go into the dishwasher, it’s easy to put together and take apart, and the best thing is that it can juice a boatload without having to clean it midway through.  Because of the slower juice process,  the juice stays good for 2-3 days.  This is a big deal when you are trying to have juice on hand for a few days.

It’s like my new best friend!

Selecting the right juicer was key, but getting a process down is still something I am trying to master.  I used to put training manuals together for sales teams in my past and I am still on the hunt for the most efficient way to do this.

Because juicing is SO MUCH WORK!!!

Between shopping for the organic produce, washing it all, chopping it, juicing, and clean up, it’s easily 4-6 hours a week. I now understand why the fresh juices sold in juice bars, restaurants, and grocery stores is so crazy expensive.

I was absolutely delighted when I reconnected with my old friend Ryan last week who actually works for a juice company called Evolution Fresh (a Starbucks company) I had avoided juices sold in plastic bottles (thinking that plastic is bad), but in fact the reason for the plastic bottles they use is to put the juice under high pressure for freshness. And they are farm to bottle in 6 days which did make me wonder… how old is the produce I am buying?

This bottle I purchased at Sprouts for $7.99 on sale yesterday, 32oz of organic green juice. So easy…

I decided to do an experiment…

How much would this amount of produce (think pro-duce) produce in juice? Ha ha, say that three times fast!!

One bunch of Kale, one bunch of parsley, one bunch of celery, one bunch of Romaine, 2 cucumbers, and three limes (I added 2 more after I took this picture)… all organic of course… it cost about $8.

It yielded three 16oz bottles plus about 6oz. … 54oz in total and after all the settling, looked to be a little more concentrated. So if I were to guess it was probably about 3x the amount in the 32oz bottle.

Hmmm…

So I am saving ~$13 but spending roughly 5 hours a week… on juicing. I know this isn’t exactly a perfect math problem, but I am finding that spending the money on pre-bottled juice (quality organic juice) is actually really worth it.

So I may stick to my beet, carrot, celery blend to make on my own, but the green juice I think I will definitely be supplementing from the pros.My busy life is busy enough with  finding ways to get more veggies into my family (i.e. making kale chips and experimenting with other juice blends) which is my real day job anyway and I don’t plan on quitting that anytime soon.

Bottom line… drink and eat more greens however you have to do it and sometimes it’s worth the money to save you time.

I feel fantastic today and I know it’s because God has given me the opportunity to live and share this journey with you. Nutrition is the answer and prevention is so important. I pray all who read this won’t wait to start making some positive changes.

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. “

3 John 1:2

Onward and Upward!

Kay