For years, I have been educating and sharing with people how they can boost their fertility naturally. No matter what the situation is, diet is always important. When it comes to fertility and turning around an imbalance, a big shift needs to happen and large amounts of raw fruits and vegetables can help to support the body in that healing. Juicing is also the easiest way to get a large amount of easy to assimilate, fast nutrition. Juicing is a treasure for every woman and man who is preparing for conception and pregnancy. Plus, it is super easy to do. Later in this article I will share with you how to juice and give you some starter recipes.
When people ask me what the one biggest dietary change someone can make when trying to boost their fertility, I have to say it is juicing and smoothies. Liquid nutrition makes it so much easier to get the amount of these nutrient-dense foods into your body. Regardless of what your diet is like right now, juicing can help to make you healthier, reduce cravings for other foods, and make you feel fabulous.
Juicing is one of the absolute best things you can do for your health during preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding.
What are some of the health benefits of juicing?
In the body, our cells are constantly dying and being created over and over again. Everything in the body is made up of cells. The uterus, blood, fallopian tubes, eggs, ovaries, and on and on are made from cells. When our body is creating these cells, it is pulling from the foods that you eat for its building blocks. If you are eating fresh, whole foods and lots of them, then your body is going to have the ingredients it needs to produce healthy, vibrant cells. If you are eating processed foods, processed sugars, and chemicals, that is what your body has to work with and it will not be able to build healthy cells.
There is no question whatever about the fact that we are exactly what we eat. There is no other way in which the cells and tissues of our body can be replenished, except from what we eat and drink, and REPLENISHMENT is the great law of life. -Norman Walker
By drinking fresh juices daily, you are providing your body an abundance of absorbable nutrients for healing, rebuilding and functioning at an optimal level. Greens, fruits, and vegetables are the most nutritious food for us on the planet, juicing allows us to access nourishment in great quantities and in an extremely absorbable form.
There are so many health benefits to juicing. Personally, I have seen a big difference in my mood, my hair is growing faster and healthier, I have a ton of energy, my immune system is great. Some of the fertility health benefits that may be realized are:
- balancing effect on cycle
- balancing of hormones
- increased egg health
- healthier blood flow to the uterus
- cleansing of the liver and blood
- hydration to the body
- reversal of common fertility issues
How to Juice
Now that you have learned about all of the great reasons to juice, now we are going to cover how to create these wonderful juices. Juicing is really easy, and the better the equipment you have, the easier it is. Here is a step-by-step guide to juicing….
1. Buy organic produce– Organic produce is the best as it does not contain harmful pesticides, herbicides, etc. These toxins have been shown to impact fertility in both men and women. Studies have also shown that they impact the fertility and DNA of the fetus. Organic produce has also been shown to have more nutrients due to the sustainable and nourishing farming practices organic farmers follow.
2. Chop up the produce that you are going to juice. Only prepare the produce that you are going to use immediately, as nutrients begin to fade as soon as the produce has been cut and exposed to oxygen. Every juicer/blender is different. Cut your produce to a size that will allow it to fit through the feed hole.
3. Place all produce into a bowl near your juicer.
4. Make sure your cups that will catch the juice and pulp are in place.
5. Begin juicing!
6. (optional) Strain juice. After I have juiced, I like to strain my juice through a nut milk bag or strainer so all of the pulp/fiber is removed from the juice. This allows the juice to be digested really quickly and easily. If you have a juicer that is producing wet pulp, make sure to squeeze the pulp as there can be a lot juice in there.
7. Compost juice pulp. Juice pulp is the best ingredient for your compost pile. It breaks down very fast and makes excellent soil.
8. Drink your juice. If you need to make some juice for the entire day (you are going to work, or will be away from home) store extra juice in a glass container with a lid and refrigerate it. Juice will stay good for a day as long as it is in the dark and refrigerated. But it is best consumed right away if possible.
Juicing with a juicer
There are many juicers on the market, but only two that can juice everything from fruit, dark leafy greens, wheat and barley grass, and vegetables. The Hurom Juicer and the Green Star Juicer. The Green Star Juicer was the best juicer for a long time. It is able to break down any greens and wheatgrass. The downside is that it is not very good with fruit and is a very slow juicer. The Hurom juicer is also considered a slow juicer but it works much faster and with better results than the Green Star. The Hurom can juice vegetables, dark leafy greens, fruit, wheatgrass (The Green Star IS better at wheatgrass) and even can make frozen fruit into “ice cream”.
Getting a high-quality juicer can cost more than the regular juicers you find at the store, but the commercial juicers found at Wal-Mart and Target cannot juice greens and wastes juice because the pulp that comes out is usually still wet. If this is all you can afford, you can squeeze the pulp in the nut milk bag and get the juice out from it. Juicing is the most important regardless of the machine you have.
Greens are one of the most important (if not the most important) food for us to be juicing. Leafy green vegetables like Swiss chard, spinach, and kale provide abundant amounts of minerals, protein, enzymes and so much more. In a typical day, one may eat greens but when you are juicing, you can get a huge amount of greens. You can drink a lot more greens than you could possibly eat. This is beneficial because green leafy vegetables contain minerals which are so important to our health and help to alkalize the body.
Juicing with a Blender
Another option for creating nourishing juices is to use a blender. You would do this by chopping up all of the fruits and vegetables and putting them into the blender. Add a couple of inches of water (just enough to get everything moving). Blend all of the foods together and strain through a nut milk bag. Using a blender is more time consuming than using a Hurom juicer but if your only choice is a blender due to economic situations, it is better than nothing and works well. The best two blenders currently available are the Vita-mix and Blend Tec blenders.
Both the Blend Tec and Vita-mix are great juicers. The difference is that the Blend Tec is a little bit more powerful and Vita mix has a great stick that helps you to move everything around so it gets blended.
5 Juicing Recipes
Apple/celery/spinach/ginger
Cucumber/celery/apple/carrot
Carrot/ginger
Cucumber/spinach/celery/apple
Pineapple/strawberry/spinach
What do I do if I cannot get a Juicer or Juice Daily?
I realize some of you will not be able to get a juicer or may not be ready to start juicing, so an alternative to juicing would be to use a greens powder daily. This will help to supply you with important green superfoods every day. Juicing is the most potent, but green superfoods can provide you with a lot of nutrients in a convenient way.
In just 2 teaspoons of FertiliGreens you are getting:
* Organic Alfalfa leaf
* Organic Barley Grass
* Organic Wheat Grass
* Spirulina
* Chlorella
* Organic Flax Seeds
* Spinach Leaf
* Bee Pollen
* Kelp
* Royal Jelly
* Ginkgo Biloba
* And much much more…
On a daily basis this can make a difference that you can feel.
5 ways to Use FertiliGreens
1. Put 2 teaspoons into a smoothie
2. Mix with honey and almond/peanut butter
3. Mix with 2 ounces of apple juice and drink it like a shot
4. Mix it with water and drink
5. Mix into foods like oatmeal, yogurt, or bananas
Click here to shop for Fertilica™ FertiliGreens
I find mixing greens into my smoothies or doing a shot of them mixed with a little bit of juice is the easiest. If you do not like the taste, don’t worry; you don’t have to eat it all day. It is well worth it. And in time your taste buds will begin to change and acquire a taste for greener foods.
What are some ways that you take your greens?
- Abernathy, S. (n.d.). Top Tips For Shopping Organic for Your Fertility. Retrieved from: http://natural-fertility-info.com/organic-shopping-tips-for-fertility.html