Day 43:

Juice: Orange Morning

Orange Morning:
2 Grapefruits
3 Carrots
1/2 Inch of Ginger Root

This is a great juice for cold and flu season. I actually has a friend who swears by this juice as a preventative to getting a cold and she has not had one this flu season, so maybe there is something to this, I donno. But, she also adds turmeric to this mixture - maybe you want to consider that too.

Curcuma longa

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a perennial plant and member of the Zingiberaceae family, the ginger family. Native to Southern Asia, turmeric is, in fact, the root of the Curcuma longa plant. Turmeric actually looks a lot like ginger, but more orange in color.

For thousands of years, turmeric has been used to treat a variety of ills, but more recently studies has shown that consuming turmeric can help fight infections, reduce inflammations, helps digestive problems, and fight some cancers. It is a good source of iron and manganese and a phytonutrient pigment called called curcumin. According to World Healthiest foods:

"Curcumin is thought to be the primary pharmacological agent in turmeric. In numerous studies, curcumin's anti-inflammatory effects have been shown to be comparable to the potent drugs hydrocortisone and phenylbutazone as well as over-the-counter anti-inflammatory agents such as Motrin."(Source)

And the benefit to using turmeric instead of all those drugs is - it doesn't have all the toxic chemicals drugs have, which means you'll have less junk in your body.

Day 43:

Juice: Peppery Grapefruit

Peppery Grapefruit:
2 Grapefruits
1/4 Red Cabbage

Red Cabbage, a vegetable I didn't used to eat often - or ever - until a few years ago. I used to avoid most leafy vegetables or salad basics. I just didn't like them, which is what made Juicing such a great idea. But, Red Cabbage has grown on me, which is great because it is really good for you.

When is comes to vegetables, green is good, but purple is even better, and this stand true for cabbage.

Red or Green, cabbage is a Cruciferous (also called Cruciferae) vegetable along with cauliflower, kale, cress, bok choy, broccoli and a few other green leaf vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables have long been touted as being healthy and important additions to one's diet. In fact, most sources recommend a minimum of 3-4 servings of cruciferous vegetables a week. WebMD actually names this veggies: "The Super-Veggies" because of all of the nutrient goodness locked inside.

 "...they all contain phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals, and fiber that are important to your health (although some have more than others)...One of the big reasons to eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables is that they may help to lower your risk of getting cancer." (WebMD)

Red Cabbage (Brassica oleracea), sometimes known as purple cabbage, is darker in color than it's green counterparts, because it has a higher "concentration of anthocyanin polyphenols, which contribute to red cabbage containing significantly more protective phytonutrients than green cabbage." (www.whfoods.com) Anthocyanin Polyphenols are pigment compounds found in many plants that lend them their characteristic colors and have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and potentially protective properties.

Emotional Lifestyle: 

Couldn't resist.

All of this videos are so weird and hilarious, but I especially liked this one. The guy coming out of the window, the sleeping bag, the girl attached to the guys back in the back left hand corner...so many ridiculous things happening here.

Day 42:

Juice: Grapefruit Tonic

Grapefruit Tonic:
3 Grapefurits
1 Teaspoon of Spirulina

I didn't really like this juice, it was too tart with only grapefruits. But Spirulina is a nice addition to any juice because it it full of good things: vitamins, minerals, carotenoids (More About Carotenoids), antioxidants and a healthy dose protein. I talked in depth about Spirulina WAY BACK in Entry 3, so feel free to check there for some more information.

Fasting Problems:

So, the rest of today's entry is actually more personal. It it about my 30 Day Juice Fast. This is something I started on February 25th  and I ran into some issues that proved very interesting.

For starters I decreased my coffee intake a week or so before the first day of the fast, to make my withdrawal symptoms a little easier to deal with. This was especially hard for me since I am a bonafide coffee addict - like 3-4cups a day, kinda gal. So, removing it was a big deal, but I had done it before for a week while on my first juice fast. It had been awful, but I made it.

I began my fast on Feb. 25th and the first day was fine. Everything felt normal, but my body was still dealing with food and caffeine from the day before.

Day two, however, I began to notice some gastric distress (mainly a lot of burbling and I was uncomfortable) during and after consuming a juice. I felt very bloated. Thinking this was just my body clearing out junk I continued.

Day three, I found the gastric distress increase, significantly. I couldn't even make it through an entire juice, it was too uncomfortable. I felt nauseous just looking at juice. Yuck!

So being a strong proponent of "listening to your body", I contacted my holistic practitioner in Vermont and laid out my problem. She said it sounded like a stomach lining issue. She informed me that coffee is very acidic and can severely damage the stomach lining - especially, when drunk in the amounts I was consuming - and that now without coffee, my stomach is probably trying to heal, but the juice might be too acidic as well or just too much nutrients for it to process easily.
Information on Stomach Lining: What do I need to know about my stomach lining?

My Practitioner asked me to reintroduce, just raw foods into my diet along with juice, to see if the fiber in the food would slow down the absorption rate. I consumed raw greens, vegetables and fruit, before drinking juice for a day to no avail. I was still quite uncomfortable and my stomach was very vocal.

My Practitioner, then asked me to try refined carbohydrates, which are easier for your body to process since they are processed and comprised of less sugars than complex carbohydrates. She recommended white bread, pita, crackers, etc... If these were hard to process, I was to put myself on a liquid diet, broths and water only.

The carbohydrates were fine. No pain or discomfort. Yay!

Next, she sugguested herbal tea - like ginger and peppermint, which warm the stomach - and yogurt (if I felt like it). Yogurt has acidophilus also known as intestinal fauna & flora or probiotics. Acidophilus is a term "used to describe a number of bacteria that help in human digestion... In addition to basic digestive assistance, it is thought to help bolster the immune system as a whole. It is also thought to provide some relief from intestinal problems." (Source)

I introduced yogurt the next day and it went well. I also had a pear, which went okay - a little grumbling.

Slowly, over the weekend I reintroduced complex carbs (rice, potatoes), fruits and eventually, raw vegetables, but to be honest, I was very far from craving or enjoying the vegetables. It was not appealing to me in any major way just yet, so I stuck to a lot of yogurt and carbs and some fruit.

After a few days of that, I craved greens and began to eat a much more normal - pre-juice fast diet. But, even now, I have a slight aversion to juice. I really don't want to drink any right now and my Practitioner suggested I wait until I feel that I want some. She also strongly cautioned me against coffee and said if I was going to return to it (which I am) that I keep the intake level low and give my body a break every now and again.

I have been off coffee now for three and a half weeks. My goal is a month, then I plan to really try to stick to one cup a day.

This was a very interesting learning experience for me, which highlighted, not just the dangers of excess amounts of anything and the importance of listening to your body, but also to seek out a well trained holistic nutritionist or practitioner, who can help you through any issues that might arise while fasting.

Comments? Questions?

Day 41: 

Juice: Pale Faced

Pale Faced:
2 Grapefruits
1 Apple
1/2 Fennel Blub
1 Small Bunch of Fresh Mint

This juice was incredibly interesting. Each element had a very strong and distinct flavor and blending it all together created a surprisingly nice flavor. Fennel is in season right now folks, so whenever you can incorporate it into you juices. It is jam-packed with phytonutrients. See Entry 30 for more about Fennel.

Lately I have been researching cravings - food cravings to be specific, not just normal hunger cravings.

Wait, what's the difference you ask?

Well, a hunger craving is a general craving for food. The generic tummy grumble and the body asking for sustenance to fuel itself. Food cravings are those pesky, very specific, almost insatiable cravings for a particular kind of food, regardless of whether you are hungry or not.

I was researching if food cravings could be linked to nutritional deficiencies and was surprised to find a huge amount of variance on the subject. A lot of research has gone into Carbohydrate and Sugar cravings and how they can be triggered by mineral deficiencies and blood sugar control. Mainly these studies were done while researching for diabetes. One study sites "Five minerals (and their co-factors) are critical for adequate blood sugar control: chromium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and vanadium."(Source) The study talks about each of these minerals specifically and discusses how cravings (mainly sugar and chocolate) relate to each mineral. I found the study's summary very interesting:

"The average American diet is already deficient in these minerals but in frequent dieter even more so...Because it is likely that mineral deficiencies are widespread, particularly in the dieting population, it is important that some assessment of mineral status be made. Correcting mineral deficiencies can go a long way toward helping the frustrated dieter control her impulses to eat something sweet, something fatty, or something devoid of nutrition in an attempt to satisfy an inner compulsion" (Source)

Great information, right? But where to start?

Well, I found this amazing chart on Natropath website:  http://www.naturopathyworks.com
Check it out for more information on how to target specific cravings.

I also found a lot of studies supporting the idea that food cravings are purely psychological.  One study sites mental imagery as the key to food cravings. Mental Imagery is when people crave a specific food, they have vivid images of that food. The study suggests that while one is imagining a food one is distracted and has a hard time mentally processing. But the study itself does not limit this specifically to food: 

"Mental imagery (imagining food or anything else) takes up cognitive resources, or brain power. Studies have shown that when subjects are imagining something, they have a hard time completing various cognitive tasks." (Source)

The study goes on to explain that subjects, while craving food, were asked to vividly imagine "common sights (for example, they were asked to imagine the appearance of a rainbow) or smells (they were asked to imagine the smell of eucalyptus)" and this decreased there food cravings.

However, it does not explain if thinking to other "common sights" as well as the food craving improved productivity. (Source)This study seemed to merely outlines how food cravings can be disruptive mentally, but does not clearly explain the origins of food cravings.

Another psychological study suggest that "food cravings involve a complex mix of social, cultural and psychological factors, heavily influenced by environmental cues," due to the simple fact that "few people crave vitamin-rich green leafy vegetables and many other foods contain more phenylalanine than chocolate—including salami and cheddar cheese." (Source)

• phenylalanine - an essential amino acid (a building block for proteins in the body), meaning the body needs it for health but cannot make it. You have to get it from food. (Source)

I can see that. It makes sense that sometimes cravings can be linked to stress and emotional issues.  Perhaps I am biased, since I was raised in a holistic/natropathic environment, but my question is: Stress actually produces chemical reactions in your body. You produce body adrenaline, right? So, how is a craving not linked to a chemical reaction in your body?

Also, a study was done in 2011 of "98 female students at the University of Pennsylvania [it] found that those who reported the most cycle-related cravings also had a history of dieting, eating disorders and high body mass indexes" (Source) which works in tandem with what our earlier study which found that "mineral deficiencies are widespread, particularly in the dieting population".

But, the biggest outpoint in most of the psychological studies on food cravings is that most of the researchers agree that Pica - the persistent craving and compulsive eating of nonfood substances - such as pagophagia (the practice of consuming ice) and geophagia (literally, earth-eating), amylophagia (eating starch) are associated with iron deficiency.

"...some studies have shown that pica cravings in individuals with iron deficiency stop once iron supplements are given to correct the deficiency. low blood levels of iron commonly occur in pregnant women and those with poor nutrition, two populations at higher risk for pica." (Source)

I'm still not quite sure what to make of all this - I don't think most researches do either - but I willing to accept it is a little bit of both. A little bit physiological and a little bit psychological.

What do you think?

Other Sources:

•  A Cognitive Experimental Approach to Understanding and Reducing Food Cravings
• Eva Kemps, School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100 

•  Are food cravings the body's way of telling us that we are lacking certain nutrients?
• Peter Pressman of the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, Calif. and Roger Clemens of the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy 

• How to Fend Off a Food Craving
• By Melinda Beck, The Wall Street Journal