Course 5

«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
LEARN TO MAKE YOUR OWN HEALTHY DRINKS
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
(Copyright - Healthrecipes.com)

==========================================
WHY FRESH JUICES AND FRUIT SMOOTHIES ARE
GOOD YOU
==========================================

A friend of mine describes drinking freshly-made
fruit juices like this: "If you have never taken a mouthful of
cantaloupe juice or strawberry juice mixed with apple, you
simply have not lived. Blueberry juice is a taste of liquid
heaven."

Freshly made juices are a tremendous source of bio-
available vitamins and minerals which are the partners of
enzymes and co-enzymes. Vitamins activate enzymes and
without vitamins, enzymes could not carry out their work,
and we could not live. Enzymes act as catalysts in hundreds
of thousands of chemical reactions that take place
throughout your body, and are essential for digesting,
absorbing and converting food into body tissue.

Enzymes produce energy at the cellular level and are critical
for most of the metabolic activities taking place in your
body every second of every day.

Another benefit of drinking fresh juices and smoothies is
that your body can absorb MORE of the vitamins and
minerals then if you were to eat the fruits and vegetables
whole! Many of the nutrients are TRAPPED in the fiber
and by blending fruits and vegetables, you break down the
fiber and release the vital nutrients.

EXAMPLE:
When you eat a raw carrot, you are only able to assimilate a
small percentage of the available beta carotene. When a
carrot is juiced, removing the fiber, a LARGE percentage of
the beta carotene can be assimilated by your body.

Of course, you still need to eat whole produce because fiber
is also an important part of your daily diet.

Meeting you or your children's need for energy and nutrients
is essential for good health. Children who do not meet their
needs for energy may stop growing and gaining weight. In
severe situations, they can develop a condition which is life
threatening called protein energy malnutrition.

Vitamins and minerals are only required in very small
amounts, but a diet insufficient in these can cause severe
deficiency related diseases.

==========================================
YOU MAY BE SHOWING SIGNS OF MALNUTRITION
IF YOU .
==========================================

-- feel tired and weak.
-- feel like you never have the energy to clean your home,
    make - meals or even do the dishes.
-- have difficulty losing or gaining weight.
-- can't easily get to sleep.
-- feel stressed and/or nervous.
-- feel drowsy during the day.
-- sometimes can't concentrate, you're mind feels numb, or
    you get confused easily.
-- have problems with your digestion.
-- have constipation and/or hard dry stools.
-- have mood swings, or get easily upset.
-- sometimes feel depressed.
-- have overly dry or oily skin.
-- sometimes have nausea and/or abdominal pain.
-- have annoying eye twitches.
-- bruise easily.
-- have muscle cramps and/or low back pain.
-- sometimes get cracks and sores in the corners of your
    mouth.
-- notice that your nails have become thin and/or brittle.
-- are losing your hair.
-- have water retention.
-- have uncontrollable temper outbursts.
-- don't eat a well-balanced nutritious diet every day

Natural vitamins are found only in living things, that is,
plants and animals. Your body, with a few exceptions, can't
manufacture vitamins. They must be supplied in your food
or in dietary supplements but supplements can't replace
food, especially fruits and vegetables which provide
thousands of substances, some of which have well-known
functions, and some whose roles in the human body are not
yet understood or recognized.

==========================================
WHAT VITAMINS AND MINERALS DO FOR YOU:
==========================================

-- reduce your risk of getting a stroke or heart attack!
-- strengthen your nails!
-- improve your hair condition, strength and growth by
    providing certain essential nutrients to the hair follicle!
-- beautify your skin by keeping it smooth, soft and disease-
    free!
-- provide essential compounds that are necessary for
    growth, health, normal metabolism and physical
    well-being!
-- promote normal growth and development!
-- maintain bone density and strength!
-- regulate blood clotting!
-- help in the function of nerves and muscles, including
    regulating a normal heart beat!

When it comes to choosing a healthy diet for their children,
many parents don't realize the important role that beverages
play. For example, fruit flavored drinks and soft drinks are
not a substitute for real fruit. Many of these drinks only
contain 10% real fruit juice. The very best drinks are made
from whole fruit and you can make great fruity healthy
drinks at home.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS NUTRIENT-RICH
FRESH JUICES
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

~~~~~~~
STEP 1
~~~~~~~
You'll need an inexpensive juice machine.

~~~~~~~
STEP 2
~~~~~~~
All fruits and vegetables should be juiced raw.

~~~~~~~
STEP 3
~~~~~~~
Small seeded fruit, such as watermelon and pears, may be
juiced with their seeds, with the exception of papaya and
apple seeds. Orange and grapefruit seeds might impart a
bitter taste to your juice. Remove the large pits from fruits
like peaches and nectarines, etc.

~~~~~~~
STEP 4
~~~~~~~
Peel all fruits and vegetables that are not organically grown
because the peel is where most of the chemical residues can
be found. While most skins of organically grown fruits and
vegetables may be left on, with the exception of waxed
produce, the skins of pineapples, kiwis, oranges, grapefruits
and papaya should be removed.

~~~~~~~
STEP 5
~~~~~~~
Choose fresh ripe produce. Rubbery vegetables, bruised
fruit, wilted greens and over or under-ripe fruits will
produce juices that are neither tasty nor healthful.

~~~~~~~
STEP 6
~~~~~~~
Cut the fruits or vegetables into pieces that will fit into the
mouth of your juice machine. Turn the juice machine on
and push the pieces through the mouth of the juicer. As you
juice, pulp will collect in a large receptacle. If you don't
clean the pulp out right away, it will develop a sour odor and
tiny gnats and fruit flies may appear after 8 to 10 hours.

~~~~~~~
STEP 7
~~~~~~~
It is best to drink freshly made juices within one day.

** Free Online Fruit Juice Recipes **
www.healthrecipes.com/fruit_juice_recipes.htm

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
HOW TO MAKE SUPER HEALTHY SMOOTHIES
AND SHAKES!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

~~~~~~~
STEP 1
~~~~~~~
Put the fruit in the blender first. Make sure that the items are
smaller than a golf ball so they will blend completely. Add
the liquid ingredients next.

~~~~~~~
STEP 2
~~~~~~~
Fasten the lid and press the start button. Use high speed for
about 20-30 seconds.

~~~~~~~
STEP 3
~~~~~~~
Stop the blender and check to see if the ingredients are well
blended. Sometimes the frozen fruit will jam under the
blade. If there is jammed fruit, use a spatula to unjam the
fruit, and blend again.

~~~~~~~
STEP 4
~~~~~~~
Once the mixture is evenly blended, slowly add two ice
cubes through the opening of the blender lid. Keep adding
one or two ice cubes at a time until the blender sounds
smooth. If your blender is not strong enough to blend ice
cubes, omit the ice and substitute just enough ice cold water
or fruit juice so that the shake will have a milkshake
consistency.

~~~~~~~
STEP 5
~~~~~~~
If the shake/smoothie is too thin, add more fruit or ice. If it's
too thick, add more liquid.

** Free Online Smoothie Recipes **
www.healthrecipes.com/fruit_smoothies.htm

---------------------------

Go to Course 6: Why Enzymes are Necessary for Life.

Go to previous Course 4: The Amazing World of Vegetables, Part 2 .