Natural juice therapy has been around for centuries in one guise or another. Used in the prevention and treatment of disease by some of the most renowned leaders in nutritional therapy, freshly extracted fruit and vegetable juices furnish the body with the perfect balance of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, carbohydrates, antioxidants and enzymes. Juice therapist Sarah Cardona talks to Simonne Pace.

We hear and read about what we should or shouldn’t eat all the time but so little about how much sugar is in our ready meal, takeaway or the bar of chocolate we’ve just given to our child.

“This is the type of sugar we should be concerned about,” says juice therapist Sarah Cardona.

“Unlike freshly extracted fruit and vegetable juices, longlife juices and processed foods have been pasteurised to be able to sit on a shelf for a long time and have added sugar and preservatives.”

Juicing is used to nourish the body in times of illness when there is not enough energy available for the digestive process, giving the body a rest from the demands of digestion, and freeing it to use its energy for other constructive ways, such as walking to work or helping in a healing process.

A research project conducted by Peter Burnley, published in the European Respiratory Journal, found that children who drank freshly extracted apple juice at least once a day were half as likely to suffer from wheezing as those who drank it less than once a month. The study also showed that at times the juice can have greater health properties than the whole fruit. This shows that natural chemicals occurring in apples can have a positive effect on these kind of ailments.

Being a volunteer with the Action for Breast Cancer Foundation and the local representative of the Health and Environment Alliance in Brussels (Heal) has given Sarah more information to realise that lifestyle can really affect health, albeit some of it is outside our control, but we must make small changes, the best we can, to lessen our chances of disease.

“The system is there if we are sick, but if we feed ourselves with some of what nature provides, we are less likely to need medical intervention,” she says.

Several illnesses first within her own family and then herself led Sarah to further look into healthy eating. Food and diets always interested her, but “when your family has an illness, you want to help them get well”.

After following some of the best-known juicing experts, she knew this is what she wanted to learn, as she was beginning to see how juice therapy could help with illness. “Western diet has gone off track, with too many processed foods. Maybe this all  contributes to disease.”

After buying her first juicer, Sarah never looked back.

“Juice therapy helps by removing toxicity and replenishing deficiencies. We are overfed and undernourished, so by drinking freshly extracted juices we can flood the system with nature’s water and support the body’s ability to fight disease. The juice is separated from the insoluble fibre, which makes it bioavailable,” she explains.

But why juice the fruit and not just eat it? “The vast majority of people do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, so they are more likely to get the raw nutrients required for good health if they have it in juice form,” Sarah says.

We are overfed and undernourished

“Over time, due to eating and drinking the wrong kind of things, our digestive systems become overburdened and less efficient. The nutrients contained in raw juice are easily absorbed into the body with less work.”

Juicing for general health, Sarah tries to include a variety of seasonal vegetables and fruit every day. For certain ailments or for people on medication, there might be more of one thing and less of another, but she always works with and supports the person on their journey to health as a “whole”, consulting with their GP if necessary.

She quotes Charlotte Gerson, daughter of juicing and health pioneer Max Gerson, who once said: “You cannot heal selectively, treat one disease and leave another untreated.”

Sarah is convinced that the whole body will heal if given the chance – “with the right fuel for the system”.

What about the chemicals in our food?

“As I consume mostly fresh food, I would say eat as fresh as you can, keeping processed foods to a bare minimum, to avoid any chemicals in the food or packaging. Educate yourself by reading labels and picking out things you might want to avoid in certain products.

“Then, there are the pesticides on fresh produce. Going organic is always the best way, but I understand it might not be possible for everyone. Regular produce can be nearly organic but without certification, so work with your supplier or farmer and ask questions.”

Sarah thinks there is still a way to go in Malta in terms of nutrition and health education. “There seems to be a slight change for the better but there are still too many young people consuming fast foods with no idea of what they are doing to their future health. Education has to start in the early years with the introduction of fruit and vegetables. Disease doesn’t happen overnight, although the first sign of it might, but it manifests for years unnoticed within our bodies. I’m not talking about having the odd meal in a box or soda as a treat, but the continuous fast foods and sodas over days, weeks and years are the problem.”

Recent studies have tackled processed meats and healthy fats. What should we believe or not believe when we’re reading?

“Always check the source of the reports. I believe moderation is the key. The occasional hot dog or rasher of bacon is not harmful. We are in control of what we eat. After consuming processed foods, we should continue the following day on the road to prevention and give the body time to recover from our outburst. As for fats, the tables have now turned. We have  been told to consume half fat, low fat or no fat. Not all fats are bad; it is the added sugar that is doing the harm. Healthy fats include avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil butter or ghee and salmon – which are important for many bodily functions and protect the body from disease. A good source of meat occasionally is not not out of the question either.”

How much is cancer influenced by the additives we find in foods?

“I am not a doctor or claim to be one, but as a juice therapist and Heal representative, I come across many reports on additives and synthetic chemicals with connections to cancer. A recent study has suggested that dietary emulsifiers cause low-grade gut inflammation, which can then influence disease.

“These are found in processed foods, such as ice cream, sauces and toothpaste. More reason to limit the intake and prepare our own food from scratch. The ones named are carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80, but this study needs more research. All food additives undergo a safety assessment before they are used, so it’s not yet possible to say that these pose a risk. But they have been brought to our attention, so it’s up to the individual to make choices.”

Are the fruits and vegetables we eat ever totally pesticide free?

Living on such a small island, with many windy days throughout the year, pollution of construction dust, fireworks and traffic emissions, Sarah believes our produce, organic or not, will have a dusting of a “chemical cocktail”.

“Such a shame really, but washing well with white vinegar and water or a shop-bought vegetable wash will help, whether you purchase organic or not.”

Healthy advice

Although there are many things we need to be aware of, but much of it is out of our hands, we can only do so much.

• Firstly, look at what you’re eating, getting as much nourishment as you can, either by juicing your fruits and vegetables, or by eating more, including good-quality food. Quality over quantity is the key to fighting disease.

• Our skin is the biggest organ, so again, what are your personal care products, the ones we absorb so much through the skin? Laundry and cleaning materials are highly laden with chemicals, so watch out. (https://youtu.be/DUO7E7KyYKo)

• Some simple form of exercise. Even a 20-minute walk is better than nothing at all.

• According to the World Health Organisation, glyphosate is probably linked to cancer and is the herbicide used for spraying laboratory created GMO crops, once planted in fields. A survey several years ago showed that glyphosate showed up in urine samples across Europe and the world. We are all contaminated, it seems (http://www.env-health.org/resources/press-releases/article/to-what-extent-are-the-french).

Juice-all recipes

• 1/2 apple, small thumb of ginger and slice of lemon.

• 2 oranges, 2 carrots. Juice all and add a piece of mint.

• 1 apple, 1cm slice of raw beetroot, 3cm piece of cucumber, slice of lemon.

• 2 apples, 1 celery stick, 1/4 medium cucumber, small handful of spinach or kale, small slice of lime.

Sarah Cardona does not diagnose or claim to cure but presents the information and scientific research to support the knowledge that freshly extracted juice can be extremely beneficial for a number of health conditions, from high blood pressure, skin and heart conditions to weight and lethargy problems. She can be contacted on blendsofnature@gmail.com.