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This blog contains my thoughts on sound eating. I am a Nutritionist and Advanced Home Cook--meaning I love food and I love to cook. I have two kids, 13 and 14 (Lord, help me!), and a wonderful husband whom I love to cook nutritious food for (and some not so healthy food, in moderation, of course). My concern is that most of us in our affluent nation are malnourished, and keep searching for an answer that only exacerbates the problem. My hope is to help people by sharing tips, recipes, and nutritional information for every person who struggles to get delicious, nutritious food on the table. I hope it helps!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Plug

I am going to shamelessly tell you about something that I sell. However, I am not asking you to buy it from me--the important thing is to get it from someone if you need it.

Do you eat the USDA's recommended 4 1/2 cups of fruits and vegetables per day? Do your kids get the recommended 2 to 3 cups? Most dietitians and nutritionists recommend a much higher number. I believe the reason we need so many every day is because our bodies must battle pollutants everywhere around us...in the air, in our water, what we put in our bodies. All of these pollutants oxidize our cells meaning that they create free radical oxygen molecules that damage our cells. This can create a chain reaction in our bodies and damage organs, blood vessels, and our immune system. This is why most older smokers who eat poorly have more wrinkles and voices that sound hoarse. They are being oxidized or, in other words, are aging faster.

If we don't consume enough antioxidants, our bodies cannot defend our cells from this damage. If we eat poorly, i.e. lots of processed foods, we are contributing to this problem instead of defending against it. We need fruits and vegetables, and lots of them, every day to neutralize free radicals in our bodies.

Juice Plus is a product that my family has been taking for eight years. It is a capsule that contains fruits or vegetables and grains. My husband and I take 4 capsules a day--two fruits and two vegetables. My kids take 2 chewables a day--one fruit and one vegetable. This may sound contradictory to what I say about processed foods, but what is proven about these pills (they are the most scientifically studied natural supplement) is that the nutrients they contain are bio-available and readily used by the body just as a fresh fruit or vegetable would be. The only difference is that the water and the sugar is extracted from the fruits and vegetables, and the nutrients that remain are put in a capsule or chewable pill.

My family eats fruits and vegetables and lots of them, but when we started taking the pills, we began to suffer less from colds and allergies, we lost weight, we started craving more fruits and vegetables in our diet and less sugar, and we had more energy. I don't usually advocate a quick fix to anything, but these are a wonderful addition to a healthy diet, and I believe you will see a change if not changes in your body, health, and/or diet.

I have heard many stories from people who have started taking Juice Plus and been able to get off blood pressure medicine, stop taking insulin or reduce the amount they had to take, tumors have shrunk, etc. If you want to research this yourself or get more information about the product, use this link https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/RelatedInfo.soa and watch the two videos at the bottom. They might help you make an informed decision for yourself.

Also, for your kids, a Children's Health Study is being conducted which provides Juice Plus free of charge for your child if a parent agrees to take Juice Plus as well. You can access information about that via the link given above.

Juice Plus is not cheap, but they only use organic, picked-when-ripe fruits and vegetables, and the cost is much less than buying the same amount at a grocery store. It is worth it, but you have to decide that on your own. I encourage you to research it yourself, and let me know if you are interested.

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