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Wellness

Food, Health and Beauty, Wellness

The Vitamin Dilemma

VitaminsWe’re all trying to be healthy and extend our lives, which might be the reason why I ended up at the vitamin store. But actually, it was more because I have a friend, Joe, who is 85 years old but looks 60, jogs 9 miles a day and is in incredible shape—and also because my birthday is looming and I panic every time August rolls around.

One day, I asked, “Joe, what vitamins do you take?” The guy is a ball of energy, married to a much younger woman and just generally happy and healthy. So the other day, Joe sent me his list of nutrition advice and daily vitamins and supplements, which begins with a handful of toasted nuts (8-10) and a bite of Baker’s unsweetened 100 percent chocolate (1/4 square) first thing in the morning. So, armed with his list, I finally made it to the vitamin store in the hopes of extending my life and enhancing its quality beyond my impending birthday.

Joe told me that I could easily administer the nutrients on his list with my protein drink in the morning, like he does on arising. So after perusing the shelves and talking to the saleswoman in the store, I ended up spending $187 dollars in Spiru-Tein powder, optimized carnitine and Life Extension’s cruciferous veggie extract, along with the calcium and magnesium that also was recommended by Dr. Oz as an absolute must. When I got home, I had three jars of vitamins and had no idea what they were for—the most expensive being $31.59.

Ironically, my mother is 94 years old and all she takes is one multivitamin a day and the occasional aspirin. This new regimen is much more foreboding, it seems. But there’s no way I’m going to eat broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower all the time, so for now I’ll stick with the cruciferous veggie extract and the daily juices. Wish me luck.

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Food, Wellness

The Saga of the Juicing Continues

kale bunch

I did it for health reasons—because I am a vegetable-averse person and hoped to knock off a few unsightly pounds in the process.  I’ve made it well into my 60s without ingesting anything green except for the more-than-occasional M&M.  By the end of week three of daily morning juicing, I’ve gained one pound. Do I feel healthier?  Well no, because we have been out socializing every night and drinking wine. But it’s got to be healthy because my body has never seen these vitamins before.

One catastrophe: The Breville instruction book suggested putting a plastic bag in the container that collects the residue from the juicer. So every morning, we carefully wash the parts and leave them to air dry before returning them to the juicer, complete with new plastic bag for tomorrow’s collection.  Well, today at the bottom of my drink were what appeared to be spinach leaves that did not juice.  On closer examination, when washed off, I saw that they were pieces of plastic. Somehow the plastic bag got sucked into the juicing mechanism and pieces were ground into the drink. I hope I don’t die from that, but if I do, I’ll be healthier than in life.

Today’s juice recipe included the following organic vegetables:

 3 stalks of celery

3 carrots

1 cucumber

Bunch spinach

5 stalks kale

1 beet

2 Granny Smith apples

2 knobs ginger

2 knobs turmeric

1 plastic bag

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Food, Wellness

Keen, Lean and Green?

greenjuice

Although I’ve brought up the subject of “juicing” with my husband over the years, it took a sinus infection and a caring friend delivering him two juices from our local Whole Foods Market to earn his interest.  After extolling the healing virtues of juicing, she handed him two 12 oz. cups of a bright green liquid which he promptly finished.  He turned to me. “How come we don’t do this?” he asked. And to her, “Can we add vodka?”

I went in search of the best juicer, and settled on the Breville 1,000-watt for $299.  I know that I should have five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, but as vegetable-averse person, it was not going to happen.

Saturday, January 19. Day 1 of juicing our concoction included three Granny Smith apples, three carrots, three stalks of celery and a handful of blueberries. My body was in shock from consuming the most veggies and fruit it had ever seen, but it was tolerable and I drank 8 ounces of the fluid.

Sunday morning after our walk, we went for day 2.  Two Granny Smith apples, cored; three carrots; three stalks of celery, a cup of blueberries and this time we added a cucumber, kale, a knob of turmeric and two cloves of garlic. It was tolerable, but the garlic dominated. I’ll save the garlic for cooking.  It was not bad. We split it. “Cheers.”

Wednesday. It’s always great knowing we are on the cutting edge of new.  Today, on the cover of the Wall Street Journal, is the headline JUICERS INVADE THE KITCHEN.  Proof positive that we are doing the right thing; the Journal celebrated the benefits of juicing based on the testimony of juicers themselves.  The article said there was a 71% increase in U.S. sales of juice extractors for 2012. Three photos of juicers were displayed in the article and I’m happy to say that our Breville Juice Fountain Elite was among them.  We have become the couple that juices together.  It is certainly the only way my body would take in five servings of fruits and vegetables.  Hoping to slim down, detoxify or just be healthier is the goal this year—how could it hurt?  Maybe I’ll have to expand  my mantra to Keen, Lean and Green in 2013.

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