Kit Leffler

Sara Dixon, Derby, Kan. senior, prepares a smoothie while working at The Community Mercantile Saturday afternoon. The smoothie was a "Cherry Vitality".

Feel like you’re coming down with a cold? Need an energy boost? Fresh juices made from fruits and vegetables can help power up your tired, overworked self this winter. By juicing different combinations of fruits, vegetables and herbs such as carrots, apples, beets, cucumber, celery, spinach, garlic and parsley, you can create the perfect drink to help you feel better and build up your immune system.

A Scientific Explanation.

Fresh juice can provide health benefits like no other drink. Although bottled juices can have nutritional value, these pre-made drinks lack the thriving enzymes present in fresh juice. Removed from their food counterpart, enzymes have a different effect on the body.

Hal Sears, wellness manager at the Community Mercantile explains that enzymes function to aide digestion and eliminate waste and free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can cause cancer. When they are consumed with the vitamins and minerals of the fruit and vegetable juices, the body quickly absorbs the nutrients, and enzymes work to eliminate pre-existing waste.

Does this sound confusing? Basically, when you drink fresh juice, your body quickly absorbs the nutrients of the raw fruit or vegetable, requiring almost no effort by the digestive system. This advantage of drinking fresh juice is receiving all of the nutritional benefits of vegetables and fruits without actually eating them.

A Real-Life Juicer

Lawrence sophomore Melissa Brewer attributes her interest in juicing to her father.

“My dad’s a health nut,” she says.

Brewer’s father taught her well; she lists some of the wide-ranging benefits of fresh juice. It provides vitamins, antioxidants and is good for the hair, skin and nails, Brewer says.

No Juicer, No Problem

Since most of us don’t own a juicer, the Juice Stop and the Community Mercantile (the Merc) both offer fresh-made juices to order. Brewer says carrot, apple and parsley comprise her favorite juice combination, which is available at both juice shops. The important antioxidant vitamin C in apples helps maintain healthy skin and bones, boosts the immune system and helps the body utilize the iron in parsley, which is also detoxifying.

The Juice Stop also offers earthy-tasting wheatgrass shots. A 1-ounce shot of wheatgrass juice is nutritionally equivalent to 2 1/2 pounds of raw vegetables. A wheatgrass shot is a quick way to energize you; it helps detoxify and regenerate the liver and blood.

If the wheatgrass is too extreme for your palate, vegetable and fruit juice may be better for you. The Juice Stop and the Merc both have menus suggesting different drink combinations. Try one of those, or create your own mix of yummy, healthy vegetables and/or fruits.

These ingredients, when juiced, can provide the following benefits:

• Beets stimulate the liver and help cleanse the digestive system.
• Oranges and apples are packed with the antioxidant vitamin C, which helps boost the immune system and rid the body of free radicals.
• Celery can help purify the blood, kidneys and bladder.
• Cucumber is cooling to the body and is a mild diuretic.
• Garlic has antiviral and antibacterial properties.
• Ginger protects against respiratory infections, aids digestion and warms the body by stimulating circulation.
• Spinach is rich in antioxidants, which help slow cell degeneration; it’s also high in calcium, folic acid and vitamin A.
• Carrots and red peppers contain the important antioxidant beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body and helps you maintain healthy vision.

—Information about specific health benefits from Tracy Rutherford’s “Power Drinks and Energy Tonics” (2002).