Juicing for Well-Being

Since the diagnosis (the husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer about 6 weeks ago, and has since undergone surgery to remove 60cm of his colon) I have been juicing up a storm.

Basically I started juicing fruit and vegetables because he didn't like to eat them... crazy!  I'm a vegetarian, so basically the idea of not eating vegetables is abhorrent to me.  Now he even likes cauliflower... oddly.  Thank goodness for a great doctor, excellent surgeon, and a series of cancer episodes on Doctor Oz.  (In other news, I have been reading and cooking from Anti-cancer cookbooks...)

Anyway, juice is awesome, and pretty darn easy to make.  I actually think it is rather affordable.  We grow a lot of vegetables and the citrus trees are doing really well at the moment.  Almost all the different juices I make have either lemons or celery in at the moment because we have them growing nicely.

Here is one of my favourites at the moment: Pineapple, Lemon and Carrot Juice.

You will need:
4 Carrots
3cm of a Pineapple
1 large Lemon

Wash the carrots, chopping off the top bit where the fronds grow from.  Wash the lemon skin.  Cut a circular round of pineapple about 3cm wide.  Cut the lemon in half and the pineapple section in quarters.  Throw all the bits of fruit, skin still on, into the juicer.  Stir the juice.

This should make about 2 large glasses of juice.  I always serve with 2 ice-cubes.  Drink as soon as possible, but the lemon should prevent discolouration if you have to refrigerate for a bit.

And the benefits... Among others of course, but the reasons I use these are...

Lemon juice is really high in Vitamin C, and is great for moving things through the bowels... as well as having loads of anti-oxidants which help fight cancer. 

Pineapple juice is really good for joint health and mobility (I struggle with my ankle after surgery last year, and basically I'm preparing for surgery next month).  Really good for dealing with disgusting nasties in the digestive and intestinal tracts.   And for sorting out constipation... as our goal here is to have nothing hanging around in the colon, this is excellent....  (you may notice I am trying not to be too specific, as it is all pretty darn gross).

And carrots, oh the super food that is the carrot!  Carrots are high in all the vitamins, especially C and E, really good for clearing the intestines and dealing with harmful bacteria.  Indian healers have been using carrots for thousands of years to help patients recover from illness, so it can't be bad.  That, and I like carrots.