Juicing has become trendy in recent years and it tastes really good. Some people juice to lose weight, detox, de-stress, while others juice because of differing nutritional benefits. I've been juicing on and off my entire life.
At fifteen, my mother created a concoction that was filled with beta-carotenes, falcarinol, vitamin-A, minerals, and antioxidants. All these ingredients she found in one vegetable- the carrot. Vitamin A is supposed to improve eye health and my mother wanted to reverse the fact that I needed corrective lenses.
She woke up at six am daily to create a carrot concoction that would do just this. Most days she'd juice carrots and apples and kept this up throughout my high school years. Just for good measure, she also packed me a zip-lock filled to the brim with carrots to munch on during the day.
You're probably wondering: Did it work?
The response to that question is complicated. Firstly, ophthalmologists hated me. They could never get the same reading twice and often had to reduce the corrective property of my lenses. Secondly, it got me the endearing nickname, "Rabbit." Fortunately, I never needed make up for I was a beautiful orange hue.
Most importantly though, it taught me that a mother's love is unfathomable. In December of 2016, after I was diagnosed with colon cancer, my mother arrived on my door step hauling a cart of veggies.
"What are you up to, mom?" I asked.
Her response was clipped, "Just tell me where you keep your juicer!"
I faltered. The juicer she had bought us after our wedding was over 15 years old and was out of commission. "We now have a masticator," I tried to explain.
Seventy-two and a little hard of hearing, she mumbled, "Mast-a-what?"
Ryan (my hubby) led her into our kitchen and introduced her to our "Mast-a-what." The difference between a masticating juicer and other juicers is that the masticating juicer works at a low speed, grinning the food to a pulp as one does their food with their teeth. More nutrients are extracted and mixed into the juice. There is also a huge price difference between the two. A masticating juicer costs over $200. For more information, you can explore the following comparison via The Juicer Directory.
Standing before my beast of a machine, she gasped, "That's a juicer?"
Ryan nodded and demonstrated how it worked.
He then returned to my side and whispered, "Do you know what your mother is up to?"
"She plans on curing me naturally," I whispered back.
"She does know you are still going to be doing chemo, right?"
I nodded and said, "I'm sure she does, but this is something she's done on and off her entire life and something she can control as opposed to what's going on inside me that she can't control. Growing up in Armenia, she relied on natural herbs to heal."
He nodded and said, "Can't hurt to add a supplementary cure."
She filled the house with a grinding sound that overpowered all other conversations. I waited as she finished her task and returned to me with an 8 oz. glass of a multi-colored liquid.
I looked into her saddened eyes, holding back tears, and reaching for hope.
"Juice?" I asked.
"This will fight the bad stuff in your body," she said.
"Bad stuff, eh?" She had refused to say the word c-a-n-c-e-r since my diagnosis. She saw me as a little stuffed grape leaf and wanted to keep me safe. At times, if allowed, she'd "eat me up too," a term of endearment Armenian adults greet adorable little babes with.
"Please," she said, "Don't fight me on this. Just drink it."
I raised both palms up in the air, demonstrating my submission. I reached for the cup and brought it to my lips. The liquid burned as it went down. I looked up at her smiling face.
"Ginger?" I asked.
She nodded.
I knew. Ginger was filled with amazing therapeutic properties- it dealt with nausea. It fought inflammation. It had anti-viral and anti-carcinogenic strengths. It was meant to directly fight the cancer that had lodged within me. For further information on the benefits of ginger, click here.
"Carrot?"
She nodded.
"What, a second attempt at correcting my eyes?"
She laughed. "It's supposed to help with the, you know..." At first, I trusted. I took without thinking and drank. But after conducting my own research, I'm confident in saying that she had done her's tenfold. In recent years scientists have discovered that carrots have something called falcarinol, which has anti-cancer fighting properties too. For more information, click here.
"Celery?"
She nodded again. Celery boosts digestion, reduces inflammation, supports joint health, improves immunity, and contains flavonoids, phthalides and polyacetylenes that detoxify carcinogens (and fight cancer). For more information, click here.
"Turmeric?"
She nodded, proudly. Turmeric, like ginger, has anti-inflamatory properties that fights and treats cancer. To increase absorption into the system, one must also add a pinch of pepper. More information on the benefits can be found here.
She grinned and proudly announced, "I've also added some beet."
Beets have phytonutrients, which likewise fight inflammation and cancer.
I didn't know it that first day she took over my kitchen, but my mother had created a power punch of ingredients to fight the carcinogens (the substance that causes cancer in living tissues). Every day after that, promptly at 9:55, she'd enter my house, walk into my kitchen, stand before my sink, watching me from the corner of her eye, praying and peeling.
"You will live longer than me daughter, I trust that God saved you for a reason and now with everything we've done, the chemo, the juicing... you will grow old to see your grandbabies someday."
To find out more about juicing to cream cancer you can explore some of the following articles:
-Healing Cancer from the Inside Out
-Oncology Nutrition: Juicing and Cancer
-Ten Foods to Help Fight Cancer
In no way am I promoting one therapy over another, but instead am suggesting a balance of both alternatives, an exploration of the diagnosis and a solution that will work best for the individual person. This recipe has changed a bit based on my blood work and physical needs. It now also includes a few leaves of kale and cilantro/parsley. Regardless, do your research and experiment with your juicer to find the flavor and potency you can handle.
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