Benefits of Juicing strawberries

Juicing is an easy way to provide your self with a high level of quality nutrition. Here I will talk about the properties of juicing that makes it so potent, and the health benefits that it can provide. It is a practice taken up by many people who are health conscious, who claim how great it is.

So what is it about juicing we all rave about?

Well, there are 3 main reasons why juicing is so beneficial:

The juice requires hardly any digestion, so all its nutritional goodness gets rapidly into your system. When you juice, you use more fruits and vegetables than you could actually eat. As a result, you are drinking a densely packed amount of vitamins, minerals and other plant-based nutrients.

Liver detoxification

Below are some of the many health benefits of juicing srawberries:

1*Improving the cardiovascular system and heart health:

Both antioxidant vitamins C and E prevent the damaging effect of free radicals on artery walls, they prevent blood from sticking and clotting as well as keeping the blood non-toxic. Good to great levels of vitamin C can be found in most vegetables and fruits. For vitamin E you can use strawberries, blackberries, kiwi, asparagus and spinach in your juicer recipes. Potassium and magnesium are essential for proper heart function and a regular heart beat. Blackberries and strawberries are a good source for both these minerals.

2*Additionally, as we know, being overweight plays a fundamental role in developing heart disease, so its good to take some common sense and a realistic approach on how to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.

3*Detoxifying the liver – this is fundamental for good health:

The liver has 100’s of important functions. One of its main functions is to clean the blood and remove toxins and metabolic waste. With the amount of toxins we are dealing with everyday in modern life we need to be real diligent in helping to keep it “clean” so it can keep us clean!

Certain nutrients are needed for liver cleansing. Antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and N-acetyl cysteine are potent liver cleansers. In addition, B-vitamins riboflavin and niacin also aid liver cleansing. Cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower have been found to be great for the liver.

You can also add milk thistle supplements to your diet to help the liver detoxify.Alkalizing your system (vegetable juicer recipes only):All vegetables are alkalizing. Fruits on the other hand are not; they are mostly acidic in nature.

The benefits of making your body PH level more alkaline is a subject of its own, so here are just a few benefits;

1. Improved brain function
2. Improved heart function
3. Slowing down the aging process
4. Improved joint function – helping with arthritis
5. Less disease-prone body environment
6. Acidic environments breed diseases
7. Better digestion
8. Helping with healthy skin, hair, nails and eyes

The antioxidants vitamins C and E help to prevent skin damage from sun exposure, due to their free radical neutralizing abilities. Putting blackberries and blueberries together in your juicer recipes will provide you with a good source of vitamins C and E. A deficiency in riboflavin (vitamin B2) can cause cracked lips, hair loss, dermatitis, greasy looking skin and other skin problems. Putting kale, spinach, and asparagus in your juicer recipes will provide you with vitamin B2.

The most potent nutrient for healthy eyes is vitamin A, which is not found in plants. Its precursor, beta-carotene, is found in abundance in orange colored fruits and vegetables. Beta-carotene is turned into vitamin A by the body. This vitamin is essential for the retina to function properly and prevent night blindness. Both vitamins A and C reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. Carrot juice is a very good source for both of these vitamins.

Increased energy levels:

This one is pretty simple. Lots of juicing means lots more vitamins and minerals which are responsible for all sorts of necessary chemical reactions promoting health and vitality and therefore lots more energy. Enjoy juicer recipes every day!!

Rebuild blood cells: Yes that’s right!

This is made possible by the incredibly healthy chlorophyll, which would need an article of its own to give justice to its health benefits!

On a molecular level chlorophyll looks almost exactly like a component of the red blood cell hemin. More amazingly scientists have found that when you assimilate chlorophyll into the body, it makes the chemical shift and actually becomes hemin. Essentially, taking chlorophyll is almost like getting a blood transfusion!

Chlorophyll is also a pigment that gives plants their green color. So put the green stuff in your juicer recipes! The darker the green, the more chlorophyll it contains.

Improved immune system:

Drinking juicer recipes regularly is going to give you a wide variety and more than adequate amount of antioxidants which are essential for a healthy immune system. The antioxidants from fruits and vegetables include vitamins A, C, E, plus a wide range of plant chemicals called phytochemicals. Phytochemicals have amazing and varied health benefits, most notably anti-cancer properties.

Reasons to eat strawberries and Raspberries

Reasons to Eat Strawberries and Raspberries

Low Sugar and Low Glycaemic Load

Strawberries, followed by raspberries, are the best fruits to eat for those wanting to lose weight and have sustained energy levels. This is because they are low in calories and have the lowest glycaemic load of any fruit (the glycaemic load of a large punnet of strawberries is.

The glycaemic load of a food is a measure of how much a food raises a person’s blood sugar level, and how much it is likely to cause weight gain. Stable weight and stable energy are achieved by eating foods with a low glycaemic load.

It is a myth that bananas provide sustained energy. They are among the fruits with the highest glycaemic load. This means a person would have to eat 12 punnets of strawberries to have the same effect on your blood sugar as one banana.

Folate, the 21st Century Panacea

Described in the British Medical Journal as a ‘leading contender for panacea of the 21st century’, folate (a B vitamin) prevents pregnancy problems and miscarriages, relieves depression, improves memory and concentration, and lowers heart disease risk and homocysteine levels, now thought to the single greatest measure of a long and healthy life. There is 100 times more folate in a small punnet of strawberries than there is in one apple. 5 strawberries provide 125mcg of folic acid which is more than half of a day’s RDA.

Zinc

All berries contain high levels of Zinc, but raspberries have the highest of all fruits. Zinc is the nutrient that aids growth (of everything from hair to nails, babies to plants). As human sperm is packed with zinc, and because it’s the mineral that makes the male hormone testosterone, zinc is the nutrient most associated with sex. Infertility, loss of sex drive and impotence are attributable to a deficiency in zinc, so eating strawberries and raspberries is beneficial to a healthy sex life. Zinc helps give men harder erections and strengthens sperm.

Antioxidant Power

The big buzzword in health and nutrition is antioxidants. Put simply, the exhaust fumes of the body are called oxidants. When we breathe in car exhaust, cigarette smoke or polluted air, eat burnt or fried foods, and tan our skin we expose ourselves to oxidants. This ages us faster and increases the risk of many diseases, including cancer. The only reversal to this is exposure to antioxidants. Strawberries and raspberries are among the best all-round foods for anti-ageing antioxidants. Berries have a higher antioxidant content than any other fruit. 5 Strawberries contain more antioxidant power than 3 apples or 4 bananas.

Anti-cancer Nutrients

Strawberries and raspberries are top anti-cancer foods as they are exceptionally high in four known anti- cancer nutrients: anthocyanins, ellagic acid, isothiocyanates and quercitin. These nutrients are not found in any multi-vitamin pill.

Nitrosamine, a common cancer-producing chemical found in some meats is put out of action by strawberries.

In fact, research:

1. Has shown that strawberries are second only to garlic for their anti-cancer properties against nitrosamines.
2. According to research at the Indiana University School of Medicine in the US, ellegic acid in strawberries and raspberries protect healthy cells from developing into cancer cells Isothyiocyanates don’t just help prevent cancer, they reverse it by killing cancer cells. Strawberries and raspberries have been shown to inhibit cancer development in cervical.
3. Oesophageal
4. Oral cancer.

The Mayo Clinic in the US is currently conducting research into quercitin to help treat and prevent prostrate cancer, the fastest rising cancer now affecting 1 in 6 men at some point in their life. Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Nianzeng Xing has found quercitin blocks the androgen activity which in turn prevents or stops the growth of prostrate cancer cells.

Quercitin – the Antidote to Hayfever, Eczema and Asthma

Strawberries and raspberries are nature’s cure for hayfever, eczema and asthma.

The high quercitin content inhibits the release of histamine which helps mitigate conditions brought on by these types of allergin. Quercitin, along with other bioflavanoids in berries, also improves the health of capillaries and connective tissues which can help alleviate bruising, oedema, varicose veins, and fragile capillaries.

Vitamin C

Strawberries, closely followed by raspberries, contain the most vitamin C per calorie than any other fruit. British strawberries and raspberries are the only home-grown fruit containing significant amounts. There is more vitamin C in 5 strawberries than there is in an orange. A high dietary in-take of vitamin C halves the risk of cancer, prevents colds and infections, and promotes healthy, firm skin (collagen, the glue between skin cells, is made of vitamin C).

Strawberries fruit for healthy skin