This is for all those who have written in asking for healthy juice recipes. While these juices are not the tastiest, they do a world of good, as all those who have imbibed them on a regular basis will testify.
Making wheat grass:
Prepare 6 small flower pots, filled with earth and organic manure.Keep ready.
Soak two tablespoons of whole wheat grain overnight. Next morning tie the grain in a muslin cloth and keep aside. See that the cloth is kept damp by watering it from time to time. When the grains sprout, which may take from1 -3 days, remove from the muslin and sprinkle into small pots .
Cover with a light sprinkling of earth. Water gently.
Within 5-7 days the grass will grow. When approximately 5 inches in length cut a handful of the grass.
Wash well and put in a blender with a tablespoon of water. Blend till pulped. Now add a glass of water and blend further. Strain and drink the juice immediately.
Repeat the process in a cycle of three days to get fresh juice everyday.
The grains sometimes sprout twice and you can get another lot of grass from one planting but I have been told this is not advisable.
I'd like to take the opportunity to share a letter with you from a dear friend who was diagnosed with cancer and recently underwent radiation. Today she is glowing with health and energy, has gone back to her work- a full day heading a university department and her hobbies which include vigourous dance practice.
It is a little long and quite graphic in its details but might be helpful for any cancer patients who have undergone the same reaction.
When I was undergoing radiation I went through severe reactions to the radiation. (Reactions to radiation are individual - more for some, less for others; different for different parts of the body and for different types of cancer. Friends of mine with breast cancer sailed through with no problems at all. ). I was given 25 sittings of radiation over five weeks and then two more at intervals of a week each. I was operated upon for cancer of the uterus so I was radiated in the
region of the intestines and bowels and bladder. For the first week it was kind of OK - I even managed to go to work in the morning and take small evening walks. Then in the second week I began to get diarrhoea which increased in intensity. The doctors asked if I was passing mucus in the stools. I said yes. So they gave me antibiotics even though these are rarely given during radiation as the body's immunity is already weakened and this weakens it even more. The diarrhoea only increased - 15 - 20 times a day . To curb that the doctors prescribed Im....... and told me I could take it up to three times a day. (And this by the way is a banned drug abroad. I took it even though I knew it merely paralyses the bowel movement and doesn't really get to the root of the problem). After two weeks of radiation I got intense stomach
cramps. So intense was the pain that it is impossible to describe. The doctors prescribed Sp............... as a pain reliever. It did relieve the pain but only marginally. Again was told I could have 3 a day if
necessary. To counteract the effect of the drug I was given antacids.
Sp......... is a very strong drug and can become addictive.
By now I began to feel nausea and could not retain food. I began to vomit. I was constantly told to make sure I eat so that I would have enough strength to handle the radiation. I began to worry - how would I do that if I could not eat? They had told me to eat a lot of proteins - so I began to add meat and chicken and cheese etc. to my diet. The doctors also told me to have lots of fluids - to keep a jug of lime-juice and sugar and sip it through the day. I did that too.
But the cramps at the end of the second week were becoming unbearable and there was no way I could eat. My strength was being sapped and I was becoming very weak. The cramps were the worst. I felt I just could not go through with it. The diarrhoea increased . I once even called my doctor to say I could not go through with the radiation. But she was firm and said I should make the effort.
Then out of the blue my homeopath called me to check how I was and asked me what I was eating. She suggested I stop all the meat and chicken etc. and begin eating only fruits and salads. This sounded
familiar. I had done this type of diet before for two months once before and it had felt very good. It was Vijaya Venkat's diet. But it was so tough I had given it up. She said just try it again. What about
the proteins I protested? She said if you have to, then have moong sprouts. She also suggested that I stop the Im....... I did all she suggested just for one day. The diarrhoea increased and the cramps
continued but on the whole I just felt so much better. In the next two days two other people also suggested I contact Vijaya Venkat or her daughter Anju Venkat. When I look back I feel it was really Providence at work. I kept trying to get through for a few days but could not. I began to get desperate - the pain of the cramps was driving me crazy and I was getting weaker.
And then one evening I got a call from Vijaya Venkat. She spoke to me with so much compassion in her voice that my depression and negativity disappeared. She assured me I would be healed and that nature had in abundance whatever was needed to heal me. I moved from despair to optimism and the conviction that I would be OK.
She roughly gave me a diet plan and told me what to do. She said Anju would give me more details the next day.
Anju called the next day. I felt I was talking to an angel - a modern day intelligent and smart angel. For me she is no less. I feel I owe my life to her. She told me what to do in great detail. I will outline
what I did but not in so much detail. She told me to eat a single fruit every hour ( mono fruit) and have a single raw vegetable for lunch and dinner. Whenever I felt weak I was to eat khajoor (dates). I
said again what about the proteins? She said all fruits break down into aminoacids which are the building blocks. She said I was incapable of digesting anything excepts fruit. And that only fruits would be fine.
Fruits are the easiest to digest and give all the energy the body needs. I had to have a different variety of fruits - a rainbow of sweet, watery, acidic and sub acidic. I also had to stop adding the sugar in the lime-juice mixture the doctors had recommended. Refined sugar was absolutely out.
For the cramps she said 'Just have lime juice mixed with in equal quantities with ginger-juice every hour or so.' The lime juice becomes alkaline when it enters the intestine and neutralizes the acidity. The
ginger would help the stomach muscles to relax. She also asked me to stop taking all the drugs if possible, as the Imodium was preventing the toxicity from being excreted, and of course the Spa............. was adding to the toxins and increasing the acidity. Although the cramps continued I gritted my teeth and stopped taking the drug. I began to feel slightly better but weaker. So I got worried. She said do not worry, just eat and sleep like a baby. I kept having doubts about what I was doing but there was a definite change in just two days. But the cramps, although far less, were still there. Then I began to notice that whenever I had water to keep myself hydrated as I had been instructed by my doctor to do I would feel uncomfortable. I told her this and she immediately said - stop the water! I couldn't believe I had to do that! No water?! She explained that water diluted the digestive juices and I could not afford to have that happen at that time. Within the next two days my cramps had gone! The miracle had happened! In just four days of her diet. And it was only lime-juice andginger juice that had done it!
I had a break from radiation over the weekend so I was worried that when I resumed on Monday I would get cramps again. She assured me I would not. She told me how to sip water-melon juice before the
radiation instead of water in order to get the bladder full which was necessary for the radiation. And yes that worked too. On Monday too there were no cramps! I could have kissed the ground Anju Venkat walkedon. The relief was so incredible!
But of course since the radiation continued the body became weaker and weaker under the assault. I had to get a haemoglobin test done to checkif I could withstand more. When I got it done my haemoglobin level after the diet had actually increased! The doctors were surprised at my strange diet, but seeing the effects said do whatever you are doing. They were luckily quite open to my diet. As long as I was able
to handle the radiation they said, I could eat whatever I wanted. The rise in the haemoglobin level was due to the dates. Having dates immediately boosts the energy levels. To de-toxify, I was also made to drink pumpkin juice an hour before meals ( this lined the stomach and aided digestion) and the juice of water-melon rind thrice a day . The mono fruits and vegetables slowly gave way to mixed fruits, then gradually mixed raw salads, then she added wheat grass juice, then little by little I was allowed to eat nuts, then steamed moong sprouts and steamed corn. What joy!
For other small things too she would tell me what to do - for the burntskin - aloe vera, for building immunity add fresh haldi to the lime-juice, when I felt nauseous and could not eat, she said apply honey on the tongue and then rinse it out, that will enable you to eat the fruit. I did and I was able to eat. If my mouth was dry - make orange juice and freeze it in cubes - then suck it. Oh it was heavenly and relieved the dryness.
What happened through the diet was that she first de-toxified me as much as possible so I could begin to digest food. She told me to be thankful for the diarrhoea which was throwing out the toxins. If I was
feeling weak she would say sleep, your body needs rest to heal. Then gradually she began to build up the body's energy levels. She would talk to me everyday and encourage me. I would be depressed and she
would tell me to blow out those thoughts. Whenever I would call she would always respond. Often she would call to find out how I was. I really felt that she cared. It was an incredible humanistic reaching
out. And I know for certain how incredibly pressurised and busy she is.She was so positive I began to change. My energy levels increased day by day.
A month after the radiation I was ready to go on a holiday. Then she said no strict diet on a holiday - eat whatever makes you feel good. Just try to have fruits for breakfast, salad before lunch, fruits in
the evening and lime shots ( equal quantities of lime-juice and water) after dinner. I ate everything I wanted to, but soon I began to understand my body and know how much I could or could not handle. I had a wonderful holiday. But when I came back I began the strict diet againand began to feel much better. I realized how important the diet was.
Today, thanks to the diet my energy levels are so good. I am back at work. I work a full day, I do rigourous classical dancing three times a week and yoga everyday. I have made a lifestyle change. And I feel on top of the world. I feel in many ways better after the cancer than before!
My diet today:
Early morning - wheat grass juice
Breakfast - fruits and dry fruits for breakfast. ( Nothing except
fruits till 12)
12 - Spinach Juice with Celery/Tomato/Cucumber with lemon
Lunch: a dabba ( tiffen/ pre packed lunch) she sends me ( If you think this diet is not a tasty one has to try her food. It is creative and delicious!) which consists of raw salad, sprouts, rice/idli and a nut-milk preparation which seems like a daal.( lentil soup) I am amazed at the variety of things she sends.
After lunch : a lime-shot
Evening : fruits
Pumpkin juice an hour after the fruit
Dinner: salads with lots of nuts - no carbohydrates - steamed potatoes
and/or steamed whole daals or sprouts.
After dinner. Lime shot
Pumpkin juice an hour after dinner.
Is it tough? Yes - especially initially. It is labour intensive and it requires discipline. And everyone around you thinks you are odd. But the effort is worth it! And the best part - whenever I feel tempted to have something, I can, but just a little. And about four meals a week nowadays - I can eat what I want. But now I feel tempted less and less because I feel so good with what I do eat.
IMPORTANT : The things to avoid completely - all the "NO"s
Refined Salt ( a small quantity of sea salt or rock salt is OK)
Refined Sugar ( gur /mollasses or honey in small quantities is OK). Khajoor (Date paste is a great substitute)
Milk and milk products (she gives me what seems like curd-rice but
is actually rice with nut milk! You honestly cannot make out the
difference! Saw her doing it on a TV cooking demonstration)
Wheat ( Bajra and jowar are preferable, rice is the best)
Oil ( Sesame oil and olive oil in small quantities are OK). Freshly
grated coconut is great as an addition
Split daals (lentils)- Ok but very occasionally .
Important dos of the diet
Lots of fruit - but not to be mixed with any other food
Lots of dry fruits - khajoor, anjeer, jardaloo, black raisins, raisins
etc ( not to be eaten or mixed with nuts)
Lots of nuts - e.g. almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts, pistachios ( peanuts
OK in some cases - but not yet for me)
Lots of fresh vegetable juices
Lots of raw vegetable salads
Freshly grated coconut
Lime-shots - the juice of one lime and an equal quantity of water.
(No furthur dilution as in a limboo pani. (lime juice ) That has no effect.
Additional things to remember - disinfectant and immunity builder - the juice of fresh haldi.( turmeric)"
Anju Venkat's Health Awareness Centre telephone nos:
022- 24361672; 022- 24320788
Disclaimer: Diets can differ from person to person.This post is not meant to be a promotion of any particular health regime or person and you are advised to take the advice of your physician before making any changes to your diet.
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