Tea Time With Jo|Juicy January

January often kick starts with lot of individuals making New Year’s Resolutions. One of the most popular resolutions is to get healthier; and just like that, “juicing” becomes one of the top strategies folks enlist to attain this goal. Immediately, people hit up the grocery stores to stock up on all the fruits and veggies they may not otherwise eat throughout the year.  Juices, smoothies and salads quickly become a staple in this new nutrition plan, but how is all this viewed through the lens of East Asian/Chinese Medicine? Let’s discuss...

Juicing

It's the morning of January 2nd. You grabbed your celery, apples, carrots and cucumbers and ran it through the juicer. Ahhh so refreshing! “I feel healthier already” you think to yourself. You head to your Acupuncture appointment (what do you mean you don’t have an appointment? Acupuncture wasn’t on your list of things to do to improve your health in the New Year?? Of course it was, you just forgot to book your appointment because you don’t know how to pick it out a legit practice and you were reading through Google reviews. You’ll book an appointment when you are done reading this post- 'wink wink' )…where was I??? Ah, yes, so you tell your Acupuncturist about your new plan to juice for detoxing and this is along the lines of what they tell you: 

TCM views the nutrition in juice the same way it views it in food…by it’s energetic properties/temperature. Generally speaking, juice is considered raw. Something like celery juice would be considered “cold” but ginger juice would be considered “warm”. Because of it’s raw nature, juices should still be enjoyed in moderation and blended to suite the needs of the person. For example, a person with a lot of thirst, dry mouth and throat would benefit from a pear juice. Another person with cold hands and feet, low energy and pale complexion would benefit more from cherry, beet and ginger juice. Ideally, the properties would be balanced out by a combination of juices containing complementary energetic temperatures. 

Outside of the TCM lens, juicing removes a good deal of fiber from the fruit or vegetable. Why does this matter? The fiber in fruits and vegetables plays a key role in how the nutrients get absorbed in the body. Fiber in fruit, when it is whole, helps to slow down the metabolism of fructose (sugar). Drinking a freshly processed fruit juice, with the fiber removed, has comparable blood sugar spiking properties as the equivalent amount of a soft drink/soda/pop. I know, right?!

Smoothies

So what about smoothies? If you can throw the whole fruit/vegetable in the blender, that would be better right? Well, not exactly. The chopping of the produce by the blender also chops up the fiber in the produce. While it doesn’t eliminate it, it breaks it down into smaller pieces that move through your digestive system faster. Faster movement means blood sugar spikes are more likely to happen. As a refresher, blood sugar spikes are usually followed by blood sugar crashes. This rise and fall can wreak havoc on your hormones and affect your digestions, energy and mood.

From a TCM perspective, smoothies can be even colder than juices as most people will tend to use frozen fruits/vegetables plus add a cold liquid to blend it (some even add ice...yikes!). In contrast, most juices tend to be room temperature.

Furthermore, a lot of people use smoothies as meal replacements so they tend to add a larger amount of raw produce that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise consume if they were served the produce, in its whole form, on a plate. 

Still, the argument can be be made that smoothies could be a great delivery system for protein if you add something like collagen peptides or protein powder. Especially for those who are on the run and don’t have time to sit down and enjoy breakfast. They could also be more mindful of the amount of produce they add and include warming spices such as ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, clove, fennel, nutmeg, allspice, etc. 

The Big Picture

Juicing, smoothie drinking and salad consumption is not seasonally appropriate during the winter months. Fresh fruits and vegetables are more appropriate to consume during the heat of the summer. Even if you live in a tropical climate, chances are the weather is still colder in January than it is in the summer (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere and your summer is in January). 

Additionally, the idea of having a juice/smoothie for breakfast because it is “faster” is missing a very important point about digestion. Meals are meant to be enjoyed. Proper digestion begins with thorough chewing of your food, taking your time to eat and allowing a few moments of rest before resuming activities. Making time for a proper, warm, breakfast that your juice or smoothie could compliment, does wonders for digestion, hormonal health, weight management and mood.

Remember that the bioavailability of most foods is enhanced when eaten in their whole form and when cooked. If you have been following me for a while, you know that TCM views the digestive system like a wood burning oven. Consuming a lot of raw/cold foods/drinks will dampen the digestive fire. It’s one thing to have 4oz of freshly prepared juice alongside a warm breakfast than it is to have a large juice for breakfast, a smoothie for lunch and a salad for dinner. All that raw food throughout the day is like throwing wet logs on your digestive fire. No bueno. 

So How Do We Detox If We Don't Juice?

Here’s the thing, our bodies are CONSTANTLY detoxing. Every time you breathe, sweat, urinate, or pass a bowel movement, your body is ridding itself of waste. If we support our bodies with good hydration, nutrition, sleep, movement and healthy emotions (oh yeah, emotions play a huge roll in TCM as well), it’s abilities to detox will be naturally supported. It's also important to look at lifestyle “detoxes” rather than just nutritional. Do you spend too much time on social media? Do you follow accounts that make you feel bad about yourself? Do you have friends or family that make you feel judged? Are you using toxic products to clean your home/body? 

You’d be surprised at how healing it can be to detox yourself from negative people, places, activities and behaviors. 

Gentle Reminder

The dead of winter is not meant to be a time where we take on new things. If we look at nature, we see that winter is a time to hibernate; take it slow. It’s a time to dream. To think about what seeds of intentions you want to plant so they can bloom in the Spring. It’s the season for warm, comforting foods that are easy to digest and warm us from the inside-out (add seasoned logs to the digestive fire). Putting on a little weight for the winter is a form of survival (especially in cold climates) as our bodies burn more calories in order to stay warm. While I am not suggesting to purposefully do this, I AM suggesting that you reconsider any aggressive strategies to loose weight during this season. This also applies to workout routines. The gyms get so packed with people the first 6-8 weeks of the year and then they start to fall off the wagon. Why do you think that is? It is not seasonally appropriate to go balls to the wall with physical activity in the winter. It might be a better plan to focus on sustainable movement during the winter so that you can gain momentum for increased intensity in the Spring. 

Sometimes that just means you get your house in order. Maybe you declutter your home /office/guest bedroom/garage so that you can create space for a yoga mat and possibly some kettle bells. Maybe you organize your finances to make space for a membership that supports your goals (like a personal trainer or a nutrition program). 

Hopefully you can see the theme here of preparing for the goal rather than getting after it when literally ALL OF NATURE is not aligned to best support you. 

I hope this post made sense. If it did, consider sharing it with someone who might find it helpful. Thank you for taking the time to read and share this post. See you in the next one!