The key to optimal health is to maximize our intake of nutrients from raw foods without putting an excessive burden on our body’s ability to digest those foods while also enabling the body to eliminate toxins.
But how do we do this? First, let’s look at the challenges we face and the potential consequences of a nutrient-starved diet.
Our food isn’t what it used to be.
In biblical times, the food supply provided by God consisted of raw foods rich in nutrients that were grown in organic soil free of chemicals and environmental toxins. People back then didn’t have to think twice about what they put in their bodies. They could nourish themselves and enjoy optimal health.
Throughout the centuries, and especially in recent times, even raw produce has diminished dramatically in nutrient density and quality. For example:
- In 1997, broccoli contained 53% of the calcium it contained in 1979 and 35% of the thiamin (USDA Nutrient Handbooks).
- Donald R. Davis states that “Recent studies of historical nutrient content data for fruits and vegetables spanning 50 to 70 years show apparent median declines of 5% to 40% or more in minerals, vitamins, and protein in groups of foods, especially in vegetables.” (“Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition: What is the Evidence?” HortScience 44:1 February 2009)
Why are our foods continually becoming less nutritious? Today’s commercial farming practices, erosion of topsoil and not allowing the land to rest sufficiently between plantings are the principal culprits.
There is still another challenge.
We need raw foods to supply the vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phyto nutrients that are found in nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables that our body needs. However, to compensate for the ever-diminishing quality of nutrients in our produce and to provide enough nutrients to achieve and sustain optimal health, we would need to consume an ever-increasing amount of those raw foods.
The problem is that we’re not cows. They can graze all day because their stomachs can easily digest what they consume. Our digestive system simply can’t handle that much fiber. Moreover, the nutrients are locked into the fiber and most of us do not masticate our raw foods sufficiently to release a high percentage of nutrients. As Dr. H. E. Kirschner, M.D., says in his book, Live Food Juices, "...The power to break down the cellular structure of raw vegetables, and assimilate the precious elements they contain, even in the healthiest individual is only fractional, not more than 35%, and in the less healthy, down to 1%. In the form of juice, these same individuals assimilate up to 92% of these elements."
So what do we do?
To ward off chronic diseases, illnesses and other conditions, we need to nourish our bodies at the cellular level. Our cells are living organisms that require living food to regenerate at a stable or improved state. Living food contains living enzymes, a marker of our life force. Enzymes help us to digest our food and deliver more nutrients to our cells.
The dense, living nutrients found in raw foods and their juices satisfy our cells’ nutritional needs. The benefits are:
- Abundant energy
- Cells working better
- Organs have the nutrients needed to function optimally
However, as noted above, we can’t get sufficient nutrition from even the best organic fruits and vegetables alone.
The solution is more than 100 years old and better than ever: juicing
In the early 1900s, a few intrepid pioneers who discovered the importance of living foods strived to figure out how to maximize nutrient intake from raw foods. Perhaps most noteworthy was Dr. N. W. Walker who regained his health in about two months instead of the nine months predicted by his doctor. Dr. Walker gave himself an innovative prescription: he grated carrots and drank the juice that he pressed out of the pulp.
Many others discovered the power of juicing including Reverend George Malkmus, founder of Hallelujah Acres (now Hallelujah Diet), who abandoned his unhealthy diet and began eating raw fruits and vegetables and one to two quarts of raw vegetable juices daily. His baseball-sized tumor and colon cancer disappeared, along with other physical problems, and he continues to enjoy robust health and activities at age 81.
Why is juicing so advantageous? With juicing, we ingest only the part of the vegetable that contains the nutrients—the liquid. The nutrients reach cellular level in mere minutes, which increases dramatically the percentage of nutrients reaching our cells.
Here is another way to see how juicing enables us to nourish our bodies with far more nutrients than we could get from eating raw foods:
- It takes a pound of raw vegetables to make eight ounces of vegetable juice, so you get the nutrients from a pound of vegetables and most reach cellular level.
- You wouldn’t want to eat two pounds of carrots every day, but you could drink two eight-ounce glasses of carrot juice. Reverend George Malkmus reports that “At the Gerson Hospital in Mexico they are healing terminal cancers using 8 eight-ounce glasses of carrot juice per day, 4 eight-ounce glasses of green juices from organically grown vegetables, along with a vegetarian diet.”
Which juicers are best?
Hallelujah Diet Research Director Michael Donaldson, PhD, evaluated various juicers. He tested quality of juice based on:
- enzyme activity
- degradation of juice from exposure to air and heat generated during processing
- volume of juice produced
Dr. Donaldson concluded that the highest quality juice was produced using the two-step triturator and press combination. Close second was the twin gear juicer such as Green Star, followed by the mastication Champion Juicer. The two-step process can be accomplished most efficiently and economically with the Champion triturator and manually operated Welles Press. However, most people prefer a less labor-intensive one-step process with the twin-gear Green Star or masticating Champion, especially inasmuch as the quality and volume are only slightly below that of the two-step.
The juice powder alternative
With advances in technology and knowledge, we can now dehydrate fresh living juices or organically grown grasses, vegetables and fruits at a low enough temperature that heat-sensitive nutrients are not destroyed. You can mix these powders with purified water or organic apple juice to gain many of the benefits of juicing, an especially good alternative if you’re somewhere where juicing isn’t possible.
BarleyMax is a juice powder that delivers almost instant energy and is an excellent source of a well-balanced, natural and broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals and enzymes.
Final thought
While we strongly recommend adding fresh raw vegetable juices to one’s diet, this doesn’t mean that you should stop eating raw vegetables. After all, fiber in raw vegetables contributes to colon health, promotion of regular bowel movements, avoidance of constipation and elimination of toxins. That’s why the Hallelujah Diet calls for a balance of whole raw foods and freshly extracted raw vegetable juices.
