To juice or not to juice

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Juicing is one of those things I have never understood. I like food too much to pulverize it all into a drink. The big fad with juicing is meal replacement to lose weight and to cleanse the system. In bigger cities there are even juice bars that focus solely on cleanses.

But I recently found a friend whose philosophy on juicing is adding it to your diet, not substituting food.
She also said she likes food too much.

Harmony Henry started juicing when she went to visit her parents in Destin. They are meal replacement juicers and have lost 80 pounds.

“Being a guest, I just drank juice with them,” she said.

When she came back from her week-long visit she was hooked. She felt depleted not having the juice and found herself spending $8 a day at a juice bar in St. Augustine. That is when her parent’s chipped in to buy a juicer.

“I juice because of the enzymes,” Henry said. “No way you are eating 25 carrots, but you can juice 25 carrots, and you still get the living enzymes.”

She added, “The way I’m excited about juicing now, is how my parents are. They’re annoying how excited they are.”

But there is a reason why juicing is usually a meal replacement: the natural sugar. In order for Henry to keep food in her diet with juice, she exercises more.

“You can’t just add juice to your diet or else you are going to gain weight,” she said. “I’ll do an extra 15 minutes to earn juice – the vitamins are more important to me.”

But juicing, Henry said, is a labor of love. To keep the nutrients viable, you can only make a 48-hour supply at a time.

“My theory for nutrition and juicing is all about balance,” she said. Below is Harmony’s favorite juicing recipe.

Harmony’s juicing specialty
What you need:
20-25 carrots
2 beets
2 cucumbers
5 celery stalks
2 handfuls of spinach

What to do:
Juice carrots, beets, cucumbers and celery. In blender, add spinach and blend on a juice setting.
Add spinach to juice.

This will make 32 ounces worth of juice, or a two-day supply of two 8-ounce drinks. Store in refrigerator.