Juicing

I have been using the juicer my brother got me for my birthday everyday for the last month. I can officially say I love juicing (and so does my husband. Kaylee even gets a few sips. Her favorite is spinach, kale, apple, carrot, and celery juiced together. Strange kid!). Before I get to the health benefits, I will say I love juicing mainly because I simply love the taste of fresh juice, it is the most refreshing drink! I have yet to find a combination I don't like (granted, the only food I can think of that I don't like much is cilantro so maybe I am just easy to please when it comes to flavors?). I will admit that I have yet to build up the courage to try adding garlic to my juice which I read is really healthy, but yuck! I am finding I might have a slight addiction because fresh juice is the only thing I want to drink now and I seriously crave it.

Okay, as for health benefits. I really wanted to start juicing because I have been having such a hard time recovering from the flu. I have no energy and cant get back to feeling like myself. I will admit it is hard to know if the juice made the difference or if it was simply my body building back strength due to time, but I have been fever free for a few weeks now! I have more energy (stopped napping every day with Kaylee, although I still lay down with her every few days) and I feel much more me than I have in a long time. I am sure juicing played some role in my recent health, but I will never know exactly how much. With breastfeeding I know I am using a lot of the nutrients I eat to make milk and give to Kaylee so I feel grateful that I can make an extremely nutrient dense drink everyday to help replenish some of what I am giving away with each feeding.

I am really trying to juice foods that are high in the vitamins that CFers usually need more of so I always add carrots (Vitamin A) and often add kale (Vit A, C, and K). I am supposed to get my labs drawn at my next CF clinic so I will be curious to see what my levels are (especially since I nurse). I also juice carrot and apple (yum) often because it is supposed to help with inflammation and I have a pretty severe asthma component to my CF.

I will keep everyone posted on my juicing journey. I am excited to continue juicing and trying new recipes especially as the heat of summer is just around the corner.