Introduction
Juices should become daily supplementary diet not only for people with cancer but for everyone. Vegetable juice is my daily "medicine" which I take twice a day. I notice my health has improved ever since I started drinking vegetable juices everyday. Just as you need to take daily showers to cleanse your body externally, you too need to take daily showers (in the form of juices) to cleanse (ie detoxify) your body internally. You do not need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to sign up for a detoxification program. Fresh vegetable juice is good enough.
Why juice? Juicing helps you to absorb better all the natural vitamins, minerals & enzymes from the vegetables. These nutrients help your body to detoxify & build up the body's immunity against many diseases & illnesses, including cancer. Juicing also allows you to consume a wide variety of vegetables at one go without the need to chew & digest, especially when you are unable to eat proper meals due to loss of appetite, mouth ulcers, etc. or when you suffer from constipation caused by drugs & medication.
DON’T buy commercially juiced products as they contain preservatives & sugar which are detrimental to health. Invest in a good juicer to make your own fresh juices. A good juicer costs around S$200-S$350 & can last 5-10 years.
I start each morning with ABC juice. In the afternoon or evening, I will drink another glass of vegetable juice. Cancer patients undergoing treatment should try to take veg juices, if possible, because radiotherapy & chemotherapy are highly toxic and juices can help to purge these toxins out of the body.
ABC Juice
Ingredients : one red apple, one small beetroot, one carrot (if beetroot is too big, use part of it & keep the other part in an air-tight container in the fridge).Method : Remove skin (to get rid of pesticides), wash, cut into pieces & put into juicer. Drink the juice immediately. You may add water if you find the juice too sweet.
When to drink : first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, about one hour before breakfast.
Benefits : Reduce blood pressure & cholesterol; prevent cancer cells from developing & restrain cancer cells from growing; prevent cardiovascular diseases; prevent constipation; assist bowel movement; detoxify liver & body.
Additional notes : Beetroot can cause your stools to turn red. Thus, if you take ABC juice and your stools turn red, do not be alarmed. It is not necessarily blood in the stools.
Green Juices
Ingredients : You can use a variety of green vegetables. I usually juice 4-6 types of vegetables to make green juices. Examples of vegies you can use include asparagus, baby bitter gourd, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, green capsicum, mini cucumber, pumpkin, wheatgrass, etc. I will also add fruits such as green apple, guava & lemon. Please read Part 4 (fruits & vegetables) for a list of foods that have high phytochemical compounds.Method :
1. Remove skin (if any), wash, cut into pieces & put into blender or juicer.
2. Squeeze out lemon juice separately using a squeezer or a fork, then add it to the juiced or blended green juice (watch the video below to learn how to get the most juice out of lemons).
3. Drink the juice immediately. You may add water if you find the juice too sweet.
Note : Broccoli & cauliflower florets can contain germs and bugs. One method to eliminate these germs and bugs is to blanch the broccoli & cauliflower in some boiling salted water before juicing. Plunging vegetables into boiling salted water can help clean the vegetables of germs and bugs that cannot be removed by normal washing. Not all vegetables need to be blanched except those with tight florets such as broccoli & cauliflower (source : Juicing book website).
When to drink : any time of the day on an empty stomach, preferably 30min before meals. Cancer patients undergoing treatment can drink veg juice to detoxify & cleanse the body of toxins.
Benefits : cleanse & detoxify the liver; reduce body acidity (vegies & fruits are alkaline-forming food), assist bowel movement & prevent constipation. Lemon is the top alkaline-forming food so try to consume it everyday (using the method described above).
Caution : if you're new to green juices, go slow as the taste can be quite strong. Add in one green apple, guava, chinese pear, carrot or pumpkin to dilute the green taste.
Chinese Pear JuiceChinese (golden) pears are round, crunchy & sweet, and differ from the traditional bell-shaped European pears. The Chinese pear is known to have more medicinal values than the other pears. The Chinese pear juice is an effective remedy for coughs & sore throats.
I first heard of the medicinal value of the Chinese pear a few years ago during a routine consultation with my TCM physician. I happened to be down with an irritating dry cough & he recommended me to drink fresh Chinese pear juice. He advised me, “Don’t eat the pear, drink the juice, it’s more effective.” I took his advice. And he was right. After drinking just one glass of the juice, I was amazed that my dry cough was healed almost instantly! And now I’m sharing this secret recipe with you.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the best time to drink pear juice is in the morning when you want to help get rid of a cough or to relieve fever. Because of its soothing effect on the throat, the Chinese pear juice is very suitable for NPC patients & survivors who often suffer from dry mouth (xerostomia) & dry throat due to side-effects of radiation & chemo drugs. If you are a chilli lover like me, you will be happy to know that you will soon be able to take chilli again if you include this juice in your diet.
Ingredients : one Chinese pear
Method : remove skin (to get rid of pesticides), wash, cut into pieces & put into juicer. Drink the juice immediately. Pear juice is fairly concentrated & sweet but I normally don’t dilute it with water as I drink it as a “cough syrup” to allow the “medicine” to work on my throat.
When to drink : drink in the morning if you are down with a cough or fever or dry throat; drink when you feel a cold coming; drink during summer heat or hot weather to cool down & prevent sore throat; drink to help relieve the dryness in your mouth & throat (for NPC sufferers & survivors).
Benefits : regulate bowel movements & relieve constipation; relieve coughs & fever; soothe the throat & prevent throat problems; boost immunity system; relieve inflammation; help to clear phlegm & mucus; aid in digestion; good for people prone to allergic reactions.
Additional tips : boil two Chinese pears with some raw honey & drink it warm. It’s said to provide healing for the throat & vocal cord.
Where to find good Chinese pears in Singapore : fruits stalls & wet markets & some supermarkets. A good Chinese pear costs about S$1.20 or S$1.30. They are imported mostly from China & South Korea (the Korean ones are of better quality). Good pears have deep green or golden colour & are firm to the touch.
(watch out for more remedies ........ )
Eat rightly. Exercise daily. Rest adequately.
shuqin
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References
Cancer Facts
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerBasics/what-is-cancer
http://www.detox.net.au/articles/cancer-facts-vegetarian-recipes.htm
Chinese Pear
http://www.juicing-for-health.com/health-benefits-of-pear.html
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