Bernadette Bohan’s The Choice: The Programme: The simple health plan that saved Bernadette’s life – and could help save yours too. Bernadette Bohan

While masticating juicers are more expensive, I have certainly found my machine to be worth the extra cost. It provides several advantages:

      

The slow grinding process produces a good-quality juice loaded with enzymes and nutrients. Independent studies show that they extract up to 74 per cent more vitamins and minerals than centrifugal juicers.

      

These machines are easy to clean and, believe me, this is a huge advantage and a major selling point of masticating juicers. A quick tip: after a juicing session I open the nozzle at the front of the machine and, with the machine turned on, pour a jug of water through the machine. This cleans out 90 per cent of any leftover waste and there is virtually no cleaning left to do.

      

They produce very little pulp. I collect what little pulp there is in a small glass and pass it through the machine again and again to squeeze more juice from it.

      

Wheatgrass and all leafy green vegetables (major sources of chlorophyll and nutrients) can be easily juiced in these twingear masticating juicers. With the cheaper machines these leafy greens get stuck and can jam the machine.

      These are just a few of the things to consider when purchasing a juicer, and I hope you find this short analysis of their relative effectiveness useful. I have researched and discussed the merits of various types of juicers with many experts and they all seem to have come to the same or similar conclusions.

       Wheatgrass Juice

      Wheatgrass juice is a superfood that deserves a mention all of its own. It has become justifiably popular and it is now best-known for helping those with weakened resistance because of its incredible effectiveness at fighting disease. It contains high quantities of minerals and is one of the richest sources of beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin B₁₇ (a substance that is thought to destroy cancer cells). It is extremely valuable in suppressing bacterial growths and is highly effective at eliminating stored toxins, as it is rich in chlorophyll which aids the body in purifying the liver.

      Indeed, wheatgrass is so powerful that 1 ounce of it is said to be the equivalent of over 2 lb of fresh fruit and vegetables in terms of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and phytonutrients. Humans cannot eat wheatgrass. It can only be digested in a juice form, because in this form it can be easily assimilated and the body can utilize its storehouse of nutrients. Juice bars up and down the country are now supplying this wonderfully powerful juice. Indeed, it has become one of the top-selling health foods in the world. More details on growing your own wheatgrass can be found on pages 67-9.

       Let’s Juice

      You will notice I have used a lot of apples in the mouth-watering recipes that start on page 119 – mainly because apples are readily available all year round, and the majority of people have apples regularly available in their fruit bowl. Furthermore, apple seeds are a wonderful source of nitrosilides, which can help protect us from disease. Carrots also feature largely in the recipes, as again they are an everyday vegetable which most of us use and they are readily available. The use of readily available fruits and vegetables is important as it can be frustrating not having the fruits and vegetables available when you decide to make a juice. I hope you enjoy the different tastes, as well as the health benefits that juicing will bring to you. Remember; keep it simple and enjoy it!

      Yummy-for-your-tummy Smoothies

      Enzyme-rich smoothies are another wonderful way to kick-start your day. They are the ultimate fast-food as they can be whipped up in seconds. You simply throw all your favourite ingredients into a blender and whiz them up. What could be more convenient and easy?

      I should point out at this stage that juices and smoothies are completely different drinks, although both are beneficial. Smoothies, which include some fibre, require more prolonged digestion. With juicing the cellular walls of the fruit and vegetables are broken down and only the liquid is extracted, leaving the fibre behind. Fibre, which is important for health, can easily be added throughout the day by the intake of other foods. Digesting foods is one of the hardest jobs your body has to undertake, but in these liquid drinks we can digest and assimilate their precious nutrients much more readily.

      Smoothies take less time to prepare than the average breakfast of cereal, toast and coffee. Children are especially attracted to their yummy creamy textures and colours. Nourishing ingredients such as soaked fruits, seeds and nuts can be used as thickeners, and also nourishing essential fats can easily be blended into smoothies. Smoothies by their nature tend to use more fruits than vegetables, subsequently these will satisfy the sweetest tooth. Remember the old saying, though – a little of what you fancy does you good – and try not to overindulge. For sustained energy levels throughout the day, these drinks offer good nourishment for breakfast or lunch.

      The majority of households have blenders or even hand-blenders these days, so I hope you will not need to purchase another piece of equipment. If you do have to invest in one you will find them useful for many tasks such as making soups, smoothies, patés and stuffing. Hand-blenders are wonderful, as in the past when I would make soup I’d pour it into the food processor to liquidize the vegetables, and end up spilling most of it on the counter-top or on myself, so needless to say I find the hand-blender a big improvement!

      Some of the smoothie recipes included in this book has been given to me by my friends Stephen and David. They run a juice bar in Wicklow called ‘The Happy Pear’ and all I can tell you is they are absolutely gorgeous…the smoothies, that is, not the happy pair! Thanks for your kind help, lads!

      I hope that the smoothie recipes will give you ideas for some quick and healthy starts to your day.

       Step Two: Powerful Foods

       Nature intended us to eat growing foods and living foods that are full of vitality…

       To Cook? Or Not to Cook?

       We have been habitually conditioned to using foods that are stripped of nutrients and leave us with exhausted immune systems. We very often overlook the simple fact that eating raw food is what Mother Nature intended.

      This next section looks at the issues of preparing food, and the benefits of eating an uncooked diet. Nature intended us to eat growing foods and living foods that are full of vitality. What nature did not intend was for us to zap the life out of what we eat, resulting in us consuming tasteless, bland, dead food that in no way resembles nourishment. The result of continually eating highly processed foods is that we become increasingly susceptible to disease as the body loses the ability to repair itself. On top of this is the added concern that we then attempt to reinstate a sense of taste into these now tasteless foods by overloading them with salt and sugar.

      The term ‘raw food’ can often conjure up an image of something unwelcoming or even unpleasant. For this reason most of the recipes will be referred to as ‘uncooked foods’. Any negative connotations of raw food soon disappears when you begin to taste how delicious this food can actually be.

      I can fully appreciate how the idea of eating raw cuisine can seem strange and daunting. Many people think that raw food consists of a plateful of ‘rabbit food’, believing the meal will consist of leaf or two of lettuce