Better Eyesight

When I was a child, our parents told my older brother and I that we should eat our carrots because it would improve our vision. He and I somehow wound up carrying this idea to the extreme view that eating carrots somehow bestowed a magical power to the eyes, going so far as to enable us with night vision. So that night there we were, two small boys in a dark room, armed with fresh carrots, happily munching away to kickstart our new superpowers.

Yeah, that didn't work.

However carrots HAVE been proven to aid one's eyesight, that much is true as long as you understand that one carrot stick just isn't going to do the trick. But try this recipe, from the Encyclopedia, for a delicious vision tonic:

Wash but don't peel two medium carrots (if you can get differing varieties get one each of the Chanteney and Nantes types). Juice these, and then wash-don't-peel and juice one small beet (eating the greens later). Blend these together with a half cup of unwhipped cream, half a teaspoon vanilla and half a teaspoon maple syrup.

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A grapefruit note

My wife has a habit acquired from her mother or grandmother: When eating a grapefruit she will peel it completely to the point where only the prime, juicy contents of each slice are left for heavenly consumption. It really is the most delicious way to enjoy a grapefruit, made even better only by chilling the fruit prior to eating.

Prior to our marriage I would only eat grapefruit sliced in half, removing the contents of each slice with a grapefruit spoon. This method takes a little less time, regardless of whether you use your knife to free the flesh from the bitter skin before diving in with the spoon or not. On the other hand, it seems a bit messier and a little more wasteful as you're always left with but a little of the flesh stuck inside.

Both of these methods, however, fail to truly capture the benefits of this fruit in their entirety, because grapefruit have a layer of bioflavonoids such as hesperidin and rutin stored within the bitter white rind just under the outer skin. These bioflavonoids help maintain the body's small blood capillaries, and set the body's "fat thermostat" a little higher, making them especially useful in chemically "burning off" excess stored fat.

A great way to capture these elements is to peel the grapefruit lightly, leaving as much rind on as possible, and sending it through a juicer.

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Thyroid Notes

My mother-in-law takes thyroid medicine and any kind of doctor-prescribed drugs (or any drugs for that matter - they're all the same) and it makes me sick to think about it. In a recent juice book that I'm reading, The Encyclopedia of Healing Juices, I've found a few notes about the thyroid:

Extended consumption of cabbage can deplete iodine within the body, which will weaken the thyroid gland. Kelp can offset this iodine loss.

Cranberry juice may help an underactive thyroid, again because of the iodine levels in the berry. Don't go buying Cran-whatever juice and expect miracles, though - processed juices usually contain added sugars, are often diluted with water and/or other juices, and have usually been pasteurized, which kills the nutritional value of the juice.

Radishes are amazing in their effects on the thyroid. They contain a sulfur component called Raphanin that regulates the thyroid gland - it both speeds up and slows down its hormone production. A *very small* amount of radish juice is well-recommended wherever a thyroid condition is concerned.

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Juicing and Exercise

I started reading another juicing book that (apparently!) we've had in our possession for some time, called the Encyclopedia of Healing Juices, by John Heinerman. I find it amazing that I've had it for quite some time now and never opened it up before, because despite having the word "encyclopedia" in the title, it's an incredibly interesting book to read.

The book steps through a plethora of vegetables and fruits, listing the contents (vitamins & minerals) of each, telling what they're good for - and giving case examples occasionally, and describing how best to prepare each one. I'm currently testing out the asparagus juice; it's supposed to keep your skin healthy and mine has been too dry for - well, ever since I can remember, regardless of whether or not I drink enough water. I'm optimistic that it'll help, but then, I'm also ramping up on all other sorts of juicing, so it's not a controlled experiment.

In the future, I DO plan to get a vita-mix; I'm absolutely convinced those are the best blender-type juicers possible - I just haven't gotten one because they're so terribly expensive. I should just go ahead and buy one as I'm sure I'd be happy with it. There are some expensive purchases that make me feel really good months and years after I've bought them. (Like my teapot; it's a zojirushi vacuum boiler/heater thing. It was about $179 for a TEAPOT but it's been absolutely 100% worth it.)

I haven't done any bodyweight-only exercises for a while. I did change things up a bit last night, though - my wife had brought down the mini-trampoline and put it in the basement for our daughter. I remembered reading that bouncing on one of those is actually one of the best cardio exercises you can do, so I grabbed some handweights - some easy 2-pounders - and jumped through a large portion of a movie (Arthur and the Incredibles - thumbs up!). It really did get the heartrate pumping FAST. I'll keep this up, definitely. :)

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