Think RED!

Red Juices for Lymphatic System, Adrenals, Kidneys and Heart

The color red (and purple) is associated with the adrenal glands, the lymphatic system and the kidneys. Red foods also nourish the heart. When you think of red produce (tomatoes, berries, cherries, pomegranate, beets and cranberries), the nutrient that stands out is lycopene, which is a carotenoid that is a powerful antioxidant associated with reduced cancer risk,  especially prostate cancer. It is also associated with reduced risk of heart attacks. Many red fruits and vegetables are also rich in vitamin C, beta-carotene, folate, and flavonoids, which have been shown to reduce inflammation. Cranberries are a good source of tannins, which prevent bacteria from sticking to cells; hence they are important in fighting infections. They are the reason cranberry juice is a standard treatment for bladder infections.

I want to focus in on the lymphatic system in today’s newsletter because it’s a system we don’t think much about. Rarely does anyone in the medical field bring it up unless there’s a problem such as lymphoma. But lymphatic system health is something we should all be aware of and work to maintain.

The lymphatic system is a drainage system with a network of fluid, organs and vessels that removes cellular debris, proteins, foreign bodies, bacteria, viruses, toxins, and excess fluid from tissue spaces. Since it has no pump like the heart, the lymphatic system can become congested, especially with a sedentary lifestyle, because it is exercise that keeps it moving. It can get clogged up and you’ll never know it until something gets your attention with a huge wake-up call. A clogged lymphatic system can weaken your immune system and stress your other pathways of elimination. It can contribute to everything from cellulite to cancer. See my e-book The Cellulite Cure.

Symptoms that You May Have Lymphatic Congestion

• Rings are tight on your fingers
• Soreness and/or stiffness in the morning
• Tired/fatigued
• Bloating/water retention
• Skin itches
• Weight gain, especially around the mid-section
• Swollen glands
• Impaired immunity
• Brain fog
• Breast swelling or soreness with each cycle
• Dry skin
• Mild rash or acne
• Mild headaches
• Elevated histamine and irritation due to environmental allergens
• Occasional constipation, diarrhea and/or mucus in the stool

If you have any of these symptoms, or even if you don’t, I recommend a lymphatic system cleanse. (We don’t usually wait to change the oil in our car until we have symptoms.) In addition to red juices, which are very supportive of the lymphatic system, increase your water intake to a minimum of 8 glasses of purified water a day. Drink at least 3 glasses of veggie juice daily; make some of that red juice. Start your day with warm water and some lemon with a dash of cayenne pepper. Get the Lymph Rejuvenator or get the Internal Cleanse Kit with the free Colon Cleanse Kit. This has the Lymph Rejuvenator in the kit. I also recommend that you check out the Lymphasizer (Swing Machine). It is very effective at moving the lymph.

Today’s Juice Recipe

Red Sunrise

Drinking beet juice may help to lower blood pressure in a matter of hours. One study found that drinking one glass of beet juice lowered systolic blood pressure by an average of 4–5 points.

• 1 green apple
• 1/2 small beet with leaves
• 1 cucumber, peeled if not organic

Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube. Juice ingredients and stir. Serves 1.

From The Juice Lady’s Guide to Fasting

Sugar’s Bitter Truth

Sugar and Inflammation

For the last four decades, Americans have avoided fats and gorged on sugar. Sugar is a leading contributor to type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS, metabolic syndrome, and excessive weight gain.  It also increases the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis; actually nearly every disease has a link to sugar.

Sugar in the amount that the typical Americans eat (about 64 pounds a year) continually upsets our body chemistry and causes the inflammatory process that leads to disease. The less sugar you eat, the less inflammation, and the stronger your immune system, which defends us against infectious and degenerative diseases.

Excess sugar in the blood causes glycation, a process where a sugar molecule binds to a protein or a fat, and leads to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs are inflammatory; they are associated with type 2 diabetes, aging, and many diseases.

Don’t be fooled. Sugar is hidden in packaging in many different forms: high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, glucose, galactose, lactose.  When a manufacturer wants to sweeten up a certain brand of cereal, for example, it can either do this using 15 grams of sugar, or, 5 grams of malt syrup, 5 grams of invert sugar, and 5 grams of glucose. Some manufacturers seem to be choosing this divide and masquerade method, placing these ingredients lower down on their products’ lists, making the public believe that the amount of sugar in the product is smaller than it is.

It’s all still sugar:  Cane juice, dehydrated cane juice, cane juice solids, cane juice crystals, dextrin, maltodextrin, dextran, barley malt, beet sugar, caramel, buttered syrup, carob syrup, brown sugar, date sugar, malt syrup, diatastic malt (enzymes that breakdown starch into sugar), fruit juice concentrate, dehydrated fruit juice, fruit juice crystals, golden syrup, turbinado, sorghum syrup, molasses, refiner’s syrup, ethyl malitol, maple syrup, yellow rock sugar, and sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and mannitol.

Healthy Alternative Sweeteners

• Stevia (recommend Sweet Leaf Vanilla Creme)
• Coconut sugar and coconut nectar
• Small amounts of pure maple syrup
• Small amounts of local raw honey

Dairy Free Cream of Asparagus Soup & Kale Salad

Dairy Free Cream of Asparagus Soup & Kale Salad

Inflammation Shown By the CDC as a Major Cause if Illness and Disease

If you have suffered with ill health, I highly recommend that you follow the anti-inflammation diet.  Many people have been healed and lives changed by reducing inflammation in their body. The recipes that follow are from my new book The Juice Lady’s Anti-Inflammation Diet. As you follow this program, you should notice that your health greatly improves.  You will also lose weight if you need to.

Basic Raw Kale Salad With “Dairy Free” Cream of Asparagus Soup

Serves 4–6

Basic Raw Kale Salad
1 cup shredded carrot, or snap peas (when in season)
2 cups radishes, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
6 cups kale, chopped into bite-size pieces (2 bunches)
1-inch-piece of ginger, minced (optional)
Sea salt, to taste
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. With clean hands, massage the vegetables as if you are squeezing water out of them. Work the vegetables at least 15 times. After 10 minutes, work the vegetables another 15 times. Season to taste and enjoy many variations on this theme!

Fun Variations:
*Add sesame seeds and sesame oil at the end, or chopped cashews for crunch.
*Reduce sea salt to 1/2 teaspoon, and add 1 teaspoon umeboshi plum paste.
*Add golden raisins soaked in apple juice and pumpkin seeds for a kale “granola”

Shopping List
1 clove garlic
1-inch ginger
2 large bunches of kale (green
or red or lacinato)
1 lemon
1 large bunch radishes
1 cup snap peas or 3 carrots
Check the Pantry
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt

“Dairy Free”  Cream of Asparagus Soup
Serves 6
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 Tbsp. green curry paste (optional)
5 cups fresh asparagus, (or frozen) cut into 1-inch pieces (2 bunches)
4 cups rutabaga, one inch dice
4 cups vegetable stock, to cover
1/2 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
11/2 tsp. sea salt (or more to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1–2 cups coconut milk, or to taste (hemp or plain almond milk can be substituted)
Fresh water, as needed

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot set over medium heat and stir in the garlic, onion, and curry paste (this seasons the oil). Add in the cut asparagus and rutabaga. Add just enough stock to cover the vegetables—not too much, you can always thin the soup later if you need to. Add the chopped parsley. Season with sea salt and fresh pepper, to taste.

Bring the vegetables to a high simmer. Cover the pot, and reduce the heat to a medium simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or so, until the rutabaga are fork tender. Remove the pot from the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Return the pot to the stove and add in the coconut milk. Stir and heat through gently (don’t boil the pureed soup). Taste test and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh minced parsley or a spoonful of plain vegan yogurt or vegan sour cream.

Shopping List
2 bunches asparagus
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium yellow onion
1 bunch parsley
3 lb. rutabaga

Check the Pantry
Black peppercorns
Coconut milk
Extra-virgin olive oil
Green curry paste (optional)
Sea salt

From The Juice Lady’s Anti-Inflammation Diet

Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

1.  Eat Before The Party
Skipping breakfast and/or lunch isn’t a good weight-maintenance tactic. Not eating until the afternoon may lead to bingeing later on. Go to a party hungry, and you’ll probably eat a lot more than if you ate breakfast and lunch. Make sure to stick to a reasonably sized breakfast with plenty of protein, which will help tone down the urge to stuff yourself later on in the day.

2. Bring Your Own Dish
Bring a healthy side dish, appetizer, or dessert that you can count on. This way you’ll have a healthy alternative to fall back on and a safe bet if you have food allergies or intolerances.

3. Chew Your Food Slowly
Eating slowly may not be easy when appetizer options are endless and you want to try one of everything before they’re gone, but it pays off to chew well and eat slowly. The faster you eat, the less time your body has to register fullness . Slow down and savor each bite of food.

4.  Choose Protein versus Sweets and Cheese
Protein can help maintain a healthy weight because high-protein diets are associated with greater satiety.  As an added benefit, it’s important for healthy muscle growth . Make sure to serve up some turkey or meatballs, or prepare animal-free alternatives like quinoa, lentils, or beans.

5. Fill Up on Fiber
Snack on vegetables and other high-fiber items like beans, lentils, and split peas.  This can help keep you fuller, longer. Give the vegetable platter a second chance with a healthy and tasty dip such as hummus or guacamole.

6. Help Yourself to Healthy Fats
Cutting out butter and polyunsaturated oils can slash calories. Not all fats are bad fats though. Not only do we need fat in our diets to provide energy and absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, it also helps us feel full. Get healthy fats from avocados (hey there guacamole!), nuts, coconut oil, and olive oil (in baked goods, on veggies, or in homemade dressings) . Bonus tip: Combining fat with fiber—like dipping veggies in guacamole—has been shown to increase fat’s power to make you feel full.

9. Snack on Veggies
Munching on vegetables has long been recognized as a way to protect against obesity. Mix pureed veggies into baked goods and casseroles, sneak them into potato dishes., and pop in extra greens with your smoothie. Adding veggies increases fiber, which helps make us fuller .

10. Ditch the Sugar
Holiday cookies, cakes, and pies are wildly tempting, but it all adds up to a lot of sugar that can really pack on the pounds and increase the risk for cardiovascular disease,diabetes, and obesity. Stick to sugar that comes in its natural form —in fruits, veggies, and whole grains.  And try stevia for a healthy alternative sweeter.

Healthy Snack Recipes

Lemony Avocado With Endive Dippers

Mash ⅓ chopped avocado with 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt. Serve with endive leaves.

Coconut Popcorn

Toss 4 cups popped popcorn with 2-3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil and 1-2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast.

Celery Sticks With Hummus and Olives

Cut 3 ribs celery into sticks and top each one with some 3 Tbsp hummus (evenly divided) and 3 sliced kalamata olives.