What is it? Foods from Mother Nature. Simple as this: eat raw, whole food fruits and vegetables and you'll likely have clean arteries, low blood pressure (relative to the common 'high'), clearer thinking, regular bowel habits, well-functioning organs - liver, pancreas, spleen; shiny skin and hair, good vision, sensitive taste buds... just an overall near-perfect balance of health. Because we believe in the importance of fruits and vegetables as the single most influential food group on the body's health, we recommend Juice Plus+® as a supplement to get more whole food nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables. While a supplement can help, the real power comes from eating the ripened, raw (uncooked) whole food. Ther term most people understand, or at least are familiar with, is 'antioxidants' when it comes to the compound(s) that take on the job of dealing with free radicals in the body. And free radicals are just a normal part of the chemistry that takes place in the body, but can get an edge if the body gets unhealthy foods, pollutants, or other noxious stimuli. Here's more --
What are antioxidants? According to wikipedia, they are: “ a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves.’
What?
Basically antioxidants are molecules that stop or hinder the aging, or the "break down" process in your body. Whether it’s your skin or the insides of your cells, it’s a good thing. So what natural source can you get antioxidant rich foods from?
Here are the top ten foods with the highest rating on the ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) scale. This is what is used to determine antioxidant capacity contained in a food:
NingXia Red ® (4,214 units)
Vitamin E oil (3,309 units)
Pomegranates (3,037 units)
Blueberries (2,400 units)
Kale (1,770 units)
XanGo juice (1,644 units)
Tahitian Noni (1,506 units)
Strawberries (1,540 units)
Spinach (1,260 units)
Raspberries (1,220 units)Incorporating these foods into your diet will result in destroying the molecules that cause damage to healthy cells. This can cut down on your incidence of disease and cancers, as well as help you stay younger for longer. Eat to your health! (Source)
Comments: One interesting notation: Juice Plus+® contains strawberries (along with 6 other fruits); spinach and kale (along with 6 other vegetables) - in the Fruit and Vegetable Blends, respectively, while the Vineyard Blend contains blueberries along with 8 other different types of grapes and berries. Yet the important thing here is that if you can get any of these foods into your diet on a daily basis - preferrably 3 or more - then you'll have a nice supply of antioxidants taking care of your health on a constant basis, as opposed to eating good foods like these once or twice a week.
Now there are some people who suggest creating a blended drink with whole foods, in order to get good nutrition. The reason you may want to consider this, is that many people find it hard to eat RAW whole food fruits and vegetables. So many people have burned out their taste buds from too many soft drinks and processed foods (and those with lots of sugar), that eating raw fruits and vegetables can 'feel' too bland and even dry in the mounth, thereby making it difficult to swallow. So the way around this initially is to mix your fruits and/or vegetables in a blender. There are some products that you can use to either 'juice' your foods OR blend them as you would with a Vita Mix.
Whipping whole foods into a liquid frenzy for a more delightful ingestion is an amazing way to get complete, raw nutrition with vitamins and active enzymes. What better way to do it than with a whole foods blender? The best option of this blender is the fact that it can blend whole foods at the drop of a hat; greens such as swiss chard, kale and spinach whirl into a chopped up rainbow, even if they’re frozen. It's a great way to get your antioxidants in, and it’s easy. Whole apples, celery, pineapple, just about anything you could imagine in the fruit/vegetable category can be blended, unlike an ordinary kitchen blender.
So now you have the option of juicing or using the suggested Vita Mix blender. Keep in mind that the blender option will keep the pulp which is the fiber part of the food and is healthy for the digestive system. So get started with adding more antioxidants to your diet today!
The Health & Wellness Institute
Take Juice Plus+® to get whole food nutrients from 8 different vegetables and 7 different fruits added to your diet.
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