• Running the Right Way - PhillyFIT Magazine

NutritionallyFITJuice Your Wayto Better Health!By Marty McLoughlinhandle things like seeds and nuts easily. Some emulsifiers spinso fast that they also make hot soups, depending on the speedand length of time left to blend.People are currently being bombarded by supplementcompanies, celebrities, talk show doctors and ‘newuniversity studies’ all claiming to make you healthierby swallowing a pill, mixing water and powder, puttingdrops under the tongue or drinking a ready-to-go concoction.What are the main marketing strategies of these so calledmedicine men and companies? The products are supposed tosave time, easy to ingest if you are on-the-go, and reported tohave better and higher concentrations of ingredients needed toproduce fast results. Meanwhile the sales representatives arewinning vacations and cars and the parent companies are buildingtheir own football stadiums with the profits.What ever happened to eating regular food to promote one’shealth? If you want to ingest raspberry ketones, why not justeat raspberries? The argument of the companies endorsing theproducts is that you can’t eat enough of the whole food to getthe benefit provided by their concentrated supplement. Well,perhaps we were not meant to rely on one product for its isolatednutrients. If you are in pursuit of a healthier body, moreenergy, a stronger immune system, less inflammation and cancerprevention, then it is time to pass on the “trust me, it’s inthere promise” and to invest in a juicer or emulsifier. “What isthe difference,” you ask? The answer is quite simple.- A juicer extracts the liquid from the pulp, usually by centrifugalforce and sends it to a collection container. The pulp can beused as compost in your garden or as additives in soups.- An emulsifier works like most blenders. They blend the pulpalmost completely to a liquid, keeping all the fiber intact. TheyThere are pros and cons to both machines. Some people arevery sensitive to fiber as it can irritate the stomach and digestivetract, making juicing a more appropriate choice. However, diabeticsmay get too high of a blood sugar from juicing too manyfruits, not having the fiber to slow down absorption.Juicing will reduce food cravings and increase the amount ofvitamins and minerals in the basic diet. It is also widely knownthat most Americans do not consume the twenty-five to fortygrams of fiber the FDA recommends daily. The benefits offiber are numerous. Fiber promotes intestinal health, motility,and satiety and lowers the risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure,strokes, obesity and certain cancers. It also slows the rateof digestion, which helps to maintain a better, more stable bloodsugar (promoting body fat consumption as fuel) and reduces therisk of type 2 diabetes. Fiber also helps to lower LDL (bad cholesterol)levels and always makes you feel full.We all know the name of the most famous “juicer” of all time,(no not Arnold) Jack LaLanne. The godfather of fitness, as wellas an exercise and nutritional expert, promoted his machinesand juicing for years. Living to a super healthy ninety-six yearsyoung, one must ask, “How much did juicing and emulsifyinghave to do with it?” I had the honor of meeting Jack in 2006.While visiting the Arnold Fitness Expo in Columbus, Ohio, Ishowed up early to a public speaking event where he was thekeynote speaker and I asked the doormen if I could get a picture.Long story short, they let me in and I had the unbelievableopportunity to sit around a table and talk with Jack and his wifein an empty room with no interruption. No, he did not promotehis juicer. His first words to me were, “If you were a prettygirl, I’d be getting your phone number right now.” He wasninety-one and so full of life. He had the youngest and bluesteyes that I have ever seen to this day. That was when I knew itwas time for a change in my diet; the conversation was lifechanging.10 I PhillyFITMay/June I 267-767-4205 I www.phillyfit.com