Juice Fasting

Anyone who has eaten strawberries will find it easy to understand why this is everyone’s favorite fruit.  The taste of a ripe strawberry is like summer itself.  But eating strawberries is not the only way to benefit from its healing properties, strawberry juice is another way to enjoy the flavor of this delicious fruit.  You will probably have to prepare your strawberry juice yourself, but as long as you have a blender or a juicer, you will be able to make this juice for yourself and your entire family. Fresh strawberries are best to use, and most large supermarkets will stock them year round.  Frozen strawberries are available in nearly every grocery store if fresh are unavailable, although these often have added sugar.

Like many of the more colorful fruits, strawberries contain a high amount of ellagic acid, which is a very powerful antioxidant.  One of the most important aspects of strawberry juice’s ellagic acid is that it is able to bind onto carcinogens.  This could prove to be instrumental in preventing or treating cancer.  Free radicals, the byproducts of stress, pollution, smoking, or metabolism can wreak havoc with the healthy cells in the body and are thought to be one of the major causes of cancer.  Ellagic acid has a surplus of electrons in its outer ring that will bind with the free radicals, rendering them harmless.  And, antioxidants themselves never become free radicals.

But, there is more to strawberry juice than its antioxidant properties, it has also been shown to be valuable in helping to treat diseases of the liver.  Hepatitis and cirrhosis can be extremely damaging and disabling conditions, but it has been shown that drinking several glasses of strawberry juice every day can help to rebuild and restore liver tissue.

Strawberry juice also contains a high amount of aspartic acid, which is an amino acid.  While our bodies do produce some aspartic acid themselves, the extra boost from strawberry juice can help to keep our nervous system working properly and assists in brain function, too.  As people age, very often their cognitive ability goes into a decline, even if serious conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease are not present.  While some of this may be unavoidable, it is possible to help prevent and even reverse some of these effects, and the aspartic acid, among other phytochemicals, in strawberry juice can be one way to do just that.

Aspartic acid also is critical in building other amino acid chains that are essential for a number of bodily activities.  If someone is deficient in aspartic acid, it can lead to fatigue and interfere with normal metabolism.  Amino acids are important because they assist with the production of protein, which is the basic material for the creation of cells, tissues, and organs.  Our bodies are actually being constantly renewed as old cells are replaced by healthy new ones, and amino acids are the means by which this happens.  Strawberry juice provides the body with extra aspartic acid to keep this process running efficiently.

Strawberry juice contains high amounts of vitamins and minerals that will help to keep the body well supplied with essential nutrients.  Besides supplying a high amount of vitamin C, strawberry juice provides manganese, which is instrumental in breaking down the food we eat so that it can be used by our bodies.   The iodine in strawberries will help to keep thyroid activity normal, and potassium is important in maintaining the body’s electrolyte balance.  This is important not only in preventing dehydration, but also as regards heart health.

When preparing strawberry juice at home, you will probably find that it is quite thick.  However, it is easy to make a delicious beverage by adding milk and sugar or some other fruit juice, such as apple, to the strawberry juice.

References

Ellagic acid in Strawberries
Polyphenol-Rich Strawberry Pomace Reduces Serum and Liver Lipids
Focus: STRAWBERRIES (Fragaria Ananassa)