JUICEtified

Yes, the title of my blog post is JUICEtified. Because drinking Juice has countless of proven and justified benefits to the body. When I say Juice, I meant fresh fruit or vegetable juice not the one bought in can or packs in the supermarket.

Those commercial juice surely have health benefits too and some are even fortified to give added nutrition. However, most of the tetra juices are very sweet which may not be too good for daily consumption.

I was a coffee, soft drink and alcohol drinker more than a juice fanatic in the past. I love drinking to socialize, relieve from stress and just be with my friends (or my lonesome at times). I even go to Wine Bar offering Wine Buffet for a very reasonable price. I loved Red wine and these wine buffet let me taste red wine from different countries like France, Italy, Romania, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and many others. I also stocked few bottles of wines and spirits in my pad so whenever I have friends coming over, we can enjoy few glasses or so. Or sometimes if I felt so stressed, I just sip a glass of wine then I’m fine.

I didn’t consider myself an alcoholic because I don’t drink wine everyday (or night) and on occasions that I do, I usually don’t allow myself to get drunk. However, towards December of last year, I sort of developed an allergy and according to the doctor the main culprit is alcohol. I thought I’ve eaten a kind of seafood that made me develop the allergy as it is almost simultaneous. I just came back from several back-to-back overseas and trip back home during that time. In one occasion, me and few other colleagues tried some seafood including Stingray. It was my first time to eat that seafood. About 1 or 2 days after, my body start to be itchy.

I remember there was also an occasion that I’ve eaten a lot of fresh oysters in a hotel buffet during Christmas and few days after I got a big red spot in my neck which resembles a hickey so some of my friends try to be naughty and asked me who gave me a kiss mark. LOL.

About 2 weeks ago when my family visited me in Bangkok for a week (which was my last blog post prior to this) , I may also have overeaten meat and seafood plus the very scorching heat of outdoor activities, I suddenly developed rashes in my chest.

Anyway, the doctor said there are certain triggers like food or alcohol but he told me to avoid alcohol if I can.
Seems life has been quite boring for me since then right? However, because I’m a firm believer of the saying “Health is Wealth”, I researched for some ways to live (or eat healthy).

There were a lot of topics in the internet suggesting people to be vegetarian for optimum health. But since I can’t give up crispy fried pork or KFC at this point, I searched for other alternative means.

Then I came across the blog called “Juicing for Health.com“. This blog I can say really convinced me to try drinking freshly juiced veggies or fruits.

The blog generously describes the health benefits of various fruits and vegetables and some helpful consumption tips and suggestions of which fruits or veggies are a good combination.

One day I decided to go to the nearest mall to purchase a juicer. I always had the impression that fruit juicers are expensive. I was very surprised when I realized that a good brand juicing machine costs less than THB 2,000 (approx. USD 64). There was a sale during that time so the discounted price was around THB 1,500 for a Tefal brand machine. Isn’t it really a good deal?

After that I went to the supermarket to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I did my very first “concoction” of Orange and Carrot Juice that night. The taste was really refreshing and I felt my body is starting to detoxify all those bad cholesterol and gut in my stomach with a glass of juice. Ha ha ha. Of course, I’m just exaggerating.

Anyway, I continued reading the blog and got interested to try other varieties to benefit from it’s medicinal promise.

Over the next few days I tried Cucumber, Spinach, Beetroot and Bitter Gourd. Yes, you read it right- Bitter Gourd! This vegetable I believe is probably the most unappealing in terms of taste and texture to a lot of people. But reading the long list of benefits, I got encouraged to try it. Loving the juice of this veggie is an acquired taste. I had to try for few days before I started liking it. Now, I can drink a glass of bitter gourd (from 1 medium size gourd) juice in an empty stomach in the morning to get the maximum benefits. A caution though, you have to start with a small quantity at first otherwise you will have upset stomach the whole day.

I felt lighter, more alert and healthier after a month of drinking different kinds of juice. Since some of the juice serves as diuretic (to flush out toxins from the body), I lost weight a bit so my friends kept asking me why I lost weight. I jokingly told them I became vegetarian which they definitely will not believe me.

To reap the benefits of the juice, it has to be taken consistently (not once in a while). I read many articles about people looking very young and healthy because of regular consumption of these healthy drinks. Of course water must not be replaced by these juices. However, freshly made juice also aids in cooling off especially in this scorching summer. Try watermelon or cucumber and you surely will feel refreshed.

Some people may think that drinking fruit or vegetable juice is actually an expensive habit especially if the fruits are not in season. However, you can be smart enough to select what are in season so it is less expensive. There are a long list of fruits and vegetables you can choose from.

You may ask what is my favorite juice so far. I like Carrot Juice and Cucumber the most. Sometimes I mix them together. I also like Carrot and Beet Root but Beet Root is very potent so you have to put only a small or medium sized bulb for a start.

So start to be healthy, drink your juice regularly.