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 33:

Juice: Grapefruit Sweet

Grapefruit Sweet:
2 Grapefruits
2 Tangerines

Delicious! I used Honey Tangerines which are very sweet and it was great! It was a nice morning treat.









Now, we have been doing a lot of citrus fruits lately, I thought I'd reiterate how to use them with a juicer.

For oranges, tangerines, clementines - citrus with loose or thin peels - I peel the fruit by hand then chuck it into the juicer. The rinds don't have a lot of nutrition value in these fruits, but they do have a lot of bitter flavor, which I don't really want in my juice. You can see this in my picture of the juice ingredients. The tangerine is peeled by hand.

For thicker citrus rinds, mainly the grapefruit, it can be easier to cut away the rind. This is also shown in the picture above. However, when I do this I try to keep most of the pith - the white stuff in between the peel and the rind - because it has a lot of food value. It also makes your juice creamier, more like a smoothy or as my sister puts it "a natural creamsicle".

As for Lemons and Limes - when washed and organic - I put rind and fruit in the juicer. The rinds of both have intense flavor - there is a reason they are always being 'zested' in recipes - so, I like to utilize that.

Note: All of these rinds can be juiced. It just changes the bitterness of the juice. This is only how I like to do it. Also, be sure to buy organic if you plan to juice the rinds. Nobody needs to ingest any unnecessary more chemicals.

Emotional Lifestyle: 

Motivation.
(noun)  
- the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way.

As of late, I have been lacking this. I have been busy. Scheduled within an inch of my life. I have deep purple bags chiseled permanently beneath my eyes.  And though all of it is good, all of it is stuff I've want/ need to do. It has been feeling a little blah. "Post-holiday's depression" is what I read on a new article and I suppose that's it, but I am sick of it. 

So, yesterday - while getting ready for work - I made myself a new Pandora station (Abbie's Wake Up) and I added old school artists and songs. Things to bring up other times/ fun memories, so that I could think about something else besides what I had to do that day. Wow! It worked. It may me nostalgic and now I am on a kick of childhood songs and artist. 

Am I old? Is this a sign that you're getting old? Well, if so, it's kinda fun!

Yesterday was Bryan Adams -thanks to Pandora - I was seven again. Lounging across my parents tattered, well worn and well loved couch, watching Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and loving every minute. The little, natural born movie geek in me noticing that the guy who plays The Artful Dodger in the 1968 Oliver! plays one of Robin Hood's merry men. (No imdb.com then so, I have to watch Oliver! after, just to be sure). 

Today has mainly been Mary Chapin Carpenter. It came on this morning and suddenly there I was: Nine or ten crammed into my dad's pick-up (with three other kids, mind) riding home after skiing all day with our school. We always stopped at this little bakery (which is still there) at the bottom of Okemo Mountain called Sweet Surrender. It was our desert before dinner day. I would get a coffee roll and a carton of Tropicana. My parents never bought juice (I think it was too expensive with five kids) so it was as much a treat as the coffee roll. 

I feel ready to take on the day:

 

Day 11: 

Juice: Citrus Apples 

Citrus Apples:

3 Apples
2 Tangerines
1/2 Lime

Yum-zo
Tangerines - let's talk turkey. So, Tangerines are apart of the citrus family, closely related to oranges, but smaller and generally sweeter. The peak time for tangerines is now - October to April. Get 'em while they're hot folks.

Tangerines carry a huge amount of Vitamin C, much like their relatives Oranges (Check Out Day 9 For More About Oranges). But, I didn't cover it all it seems. Apparently, biomedical researchers interest in citrus fruits has been growing since the mid-2000's due to citrus flavonoids.

What the heck is a  flavonoid?
Well, I talked about them briefly in one of my other entries, but they've been getting a lot of press lately, so I'll give them a little more too. Flavonoids are compounds found in fruits and vegetable and actually some beverages (certain hops carry a surprising amount of flavonoids). Flavonoids have a variety of beneficial biochemical and antioxidant effects. They are also referred to collectively as Vitamin P. (For More On Classifications Of Flavonoids).

Now, when you look up these biochemical or phytochemical compounds you'll either find a very, very vague description or a very, very, scientific description.

Vague: 

"Flavonoids are plant-based compounds with powerful antioxidant properties, which means they reduce inflammation, promote healthy arteries, and help fight aging by preventing -- and repairing -- cellular damage"(Source)
*Quick, easy, and gets the job done, without explaining why.

Scientific:

"Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds that are ubiquitous in nature and are categorized, according to chemical structure, into flavonols, flavones, flavanones, isoflavones, catechins, anthocyanidins and chalcones. Over 4,000 flavonoids have been identified, many of which occur in fruits, vegetables and beverages (tea, coffee, beer, wine and fruit drinks). The flavonoids have aroused considerable interest recently because of their potential beneficial effects on human health-they have been reported to have antiviral, anti-allergic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antioxidant activities. Antioxidants are compounds that protect cells against the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species, such as singlet oxygen, superoxide, peroxyl radicals, hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. An imbalance between antioxidants and reactive oxygen species results in oxidative stress, leading to cellular damage." (Source) 
*WTF, mate?

SO, from what I can gather based on these two sources and these to papers released by the USDA on flavonoids (USDA Data on Flavonoids; USDA Data on Citrus Flavonoids) is that flavonoids are used by your body to help fight protect cells against damage and decay from external toxins and the radical components floating around internally. This is excellent, especially when you live in a city like New York and are exposed lots of junk everyday. 

Emotional Lifestyle:

I don't understand how people can watch commercials for over the counter or prescription drugs and take them seriously. Maybe it's just because I was raised without television and with a healthy distrusts in pharmaceutical wonder drugs...I don't know....but drug, vitamin, and over the counter med. commercials all get the same judgmental skepticism I use while watching shampoo commercials. I mean at the end of the day they're all going to do something, whether it is the desired result of luscious, luminous curls or a horrible adverse reaction leading to sever itchiness all over your body - something will probably happen. So, when a commercial is on, I like to listen - really listen - to what they are saying and figure out the gaps. 

One of my favorites is the 5-Hour Energy Commercial that was on around the Olympics (mainly I saw it on Comedy Central shows online, since I don't have TV). It is ridiculous. 

I love it. 

73% of the 'over 3,000' doctors said they would recommend "a low calorie energy supplement to their healthy patients, who use energy supplements." Then a little grey box with tiny white writing appears at the bottom of the screen: "56% would specifically recommend 5-Hour Energy for their healthy patients, who use energy supplements." 

Okay, so not 73% said 5-Hour Energy specifically...whatever 56% is a strong amount. They could have gone with "over half" instead of 73%, but obviously the higher number is a corporate preference. 
It also repeats 73% like it is an astounding figure. Guess what 5-Hour Energy, in school 73% is a C and sometimes even a C-, so I wouldn't keep repeating that. 
But the commercial goodness goes on...

It then says: "5-Hour Energy has 4 Calories and is used over 9 million times a week..."

9 million times a week! Wow! Clearly everybody's doing it guys, so why aren't you. Some nice school yard peer pressure for ya'll, but I also love that it says that figure as if all of the people already using 5-Hour energy (9 million times a day) are the same "healthy patients" that doctors would recommend it to...sure, we'll go with that. 

I saw a new one on TV the other day, while babysitting. 
I couldn't find the video online, but...it was for Woman's 1-A-Day multi-vitamins. Firstly, she was ballroom dancing in the commercial, obviously, because what else does the average woman do. Secondly, it says Woman's 1-A-Day's promotes "cell heath" - the woman twirls into the arms of her male dance partner - then the commercial says "research has shown that cell health is important to daily life".............................................................................................................................
....Wait really? You mean to tell me researchers have discovered that cells - the fundamental building blocks of our bodies - should be healthy to help us with the daily function of our bodies! Go figure!

Seriously, everyone should be more discerning when it comes to commercials, especially when dealing with your health. If everyone researched food, medication and doctors like they researched a car before buying it...maybe everyone would be a little healthier. 

Just food for thought.