Fresh juice contains a range of substances often collectively referred to as phytochemicals: enzymes; pigments like carotenes, chlorophyll, and flavonoids; and a long list of other compounds often referred to as accessory food components. Nutrients are classically defined as substances that either provide nourishment or are necessary for body functions or structures.
In the past, phytochemicals were often referred to as anutrients. The placement of the prefix a- in front of nutrients was used to signify that these compounds were without nutritional benefit. While not technically nutrients, these substances have profound health benefits; in fact, anutrients are responsible for many of the known health benefits of fruits and vegetables. So the term anutrient is really a misnomer.
The key point is the “essential nutrients” are not the only important components of food in our diet. In fact, the phytochemicals may be even more effective in promoting health and protecting against diseases like heart disease and cancer. One of the American Cancer Society’s key dietary recommendations for reducing the risk of cancer is to include cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower in the diet. These foods have been shown to exert a protective effect against many types of cancer that is beyond the protective effect of their known nutrient content. In other words, their anticancer effects have little to do with their nutritional value in terms of vitamins and minerals. The anticancer compounds in cabbage-family vegetables include phenols, indoles, isothiocyanates, and various sulfur-containing compounds. These compounds exhibit no real nutritional activity and are therefore examples of anutrients. However, these cabbage-family compounds stimulate the body to detoxify and eliminate cancer-causing chemicals—a very profound and powerful weapon in the war against cancer.
Every year, scientists discover additional phytochemicals that produce remarkable health-promoting effects (see table 3.1 for example). These discoveries emphasize the importance of not relying on vitamin and mineral supplements for your nutritional needs that could otherwise be met with a healthful diet. Supplements are designed as additions to a healthful diet—that is why they are called supplements. A healthful diet must include not only adequate levels of known nutrients but also large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables for their high content of unknown and known anutrients, phytochemicals, and accessory healing components.
table 3.1. health benefits of selected phytochemicals
HEALTH BENEFITS: Lower cholesterol levels, antitumor properties
FOOD SOURCES: Garlic and onions
Carotenes
HEALTH BENEFITS: Antioxidant, enhance immune system, anticancer properties
FOOD SOURCES: Dark-colored vegetables such as carrots, squash, spinach, kale, parsley; also cantaloupe, apricots, and citrus fruits
Coumarins
HEALTH BENEFITS: Antitumor properties, immune enhancement, stimulate antioxidant mechanisms
FOOD SOURCES: Carrots, celery, fennel, beets, citrus fruits
Dithiolthiones
HEALTH BENEFITS: Block the reaction of cancer-causing compounds within our cells
FOOD SOURCES: Cabbage-family vegetables
Flavonoids
HEALTH BENEFITS: Antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties
FOOD SOURCES: Fruits, particularly darker fruits like cherries, blueberries; also vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli
HEALTH BENEFITS: Stimulate enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing compounds
FOOD SOURCES: Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, radishes, mustard greens
Isothiocyanates and thiocyanates
HEALTH BENEFITS: Inhibit damage to genetic material (DNA)
FOOD SOURCES: Cabbage-family vegetables
One of the key reasons that fresh juice is referred to as a live food is because it contains active enzymes. As mentioned in chapter 2, enzymes are composed of vitamins and minerals. Their job is to speed up chemical reactions. Without enzymes, there would be no life in our cells. Enzymes are far more prevalent in raw foods such as fresh juice because they are extremely sensitive to heat and are destroyed during cooking and pasteurization.
There are two major types of enzymes: synthetases and hydrolases. The synthetases help build body structures by making or synthesizing larger molecules. The synthetases are also referred to as metabolic enzymes. The hydrolases or digestive enzymes work to break down large molecules into smaller more readily digestible ones by adding water to the larger molecule. This process is known as hydrolysis.
Digestion is the body process that utilizes the greatest level of energy. That is why one of the key energy-enhancing benefits of fresh juice is its highly digestible form. When we eat, our body works very hard at separating out the juice from the fiber in our food. (Remember, it is the juice that nourishes our cells.) The juice extractor does this for the body, but that is not the only benefit to digestion with fresh juice. Fresh juice and other live foods contain digestive enzymes that help break down the foods in the digestive tract, thereby sparing the body’s valuable digestive enzymes.
This sparing action is referred to as the law of adaptive secretion of digestive enzymes.1 That means if some of the food is digested by the enzymes contained in the food, the body will secrete fewer of its own enzymes. This allows vital energy in the body to be shifted from digestion to other body functions, such as repair and rejuvenation. Fresh juices require very little energy to digest, taking as few as 5 minutes to begin to be absorbed. In contrast, a big meal of steak and potatoes may sit in the stomach for hours. If a meal is composed entirely from cooked (no-enzyme) foods, most of the body’s energy is directed at digestion. What happened to your energy levels after your last large meal of cooked foods? If you are like most people, your energy levels fell dramatically. What would your life be like if you directed less energy toward digestion and more energy to other body functions? It would be a life full of increased energy.
For maximum energy levels, it is often recommended that 50 to 75 percent of your diet (by volume) come from raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Juicing ensures that you can reach this percentage.
Perhaps the best example of the beneficial effects of plant enzymes is offered by bromelain, the enzyme found in the pineapple plant. Bromelain was introduced as a medicinal agent in 1957, and since that time over 200 scientific papers on its therapeutic applications have appeared in the medical literature.2
Bromelain has been reported in these scientific studies to exert a wide variety of beneficial effects, including:
• Assisting digestion
• Reducing inflammation in cases of arthritis, sports injury, or trauma
• Preventing swelling (edema) after trauma or surgery
• Inhibiting blood platelet aggregation; enhancing antibiotic absorption
• Relieving sinusitis
• Inhibiting appetite
• Enhancing wound healing
Although most studies have utilized commercially prepared bromelain, it is conceivable that drinking fresh pineapple juice exerts similar, if not superior, benefits. One question that often comes up when talking about enzymes like bromelain is whether the body actually absorbs enzymes in their active form. There is evidence that in both animals and humans up to 40 percent of bromelain consumed orally is absorbed intact.3 This suggests that other plant enzymes may also be absorbed intact and exert beneficial effects.
Carotenes or carotenoids represent the most widespread group of naturally occurring pigments in nature. They are a highly colored (red to yellow) group of fat-soluble compounds that function in plants to protect against damage produced during photosynthesis.4 Carotenes are best known for their capacity for conversion into vitamin A, their antioxidant activity, and their correlation with the maximum life-span potential of humans, other primates, and mammals.
Over 400 carotenes have been characterized, but only 30 to 50 are believed to have vitamin A activity. These are referred to as provitamin A carotenes. The biological effects of carotenes have historically been based on their corresponding vitamin A activity. Beta-carotene was long thought of as the most active of the carotenes, because it has a higher provitamin A activity than other carotenes. However, considerable research shows that these vitamin A activities have been overblown, as there are other, non–vitamin A carotenes that exhibit far greater antioxidant and anticancer activities such as lutein, lycopene, and astaxanthin.5 See table 3.2 for common carotenes, their vitamin A activity, and food sources.
The conversion of a provitamin A carotene into vitamin A depends on several factors: the level of vitamin A in the body, protein status, and adequate levels of thyroid hormones, zinc, and vitamin C. The conversion diminishes as carotene intake increases and when serum vitamin A levels are adequate; if vitamin A levels are sufficient, the carotene is not converted to vitamin A. Instead, it is delivered to body tissues for storage.
Unlike vitamin A, which is stored primarily in the liver, unconverted carotenes are stored in fat cells, epithelial cells, and other organs (the adrenals, testes, and ovaries have the highest concentrations). Epithelial cells are found in the skin and the linings of the internal organs (including the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract). A considerable number of population studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between carotene intake and a variety of cancers involving epithelial tissues (such as lung, skin, cervix, gastrointestinal tract). The higher the carotene intake, the lower the risk for cancer.
table 3.2. carotenes, vitamin a activity, and food sources
Beta-carotene
VITAMIN A ACTIVITY (%): 100
FOOD SOURCES: Green plants, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, spinach, apricots, green peppers
VITAMIN A ACTIVITY (%): 50–60
FOOD SOURCES: Corn, green peppers, persimmons, papayas, lemons, oranges, prunes, apples, apricots, paprika, poultry
VITAMIN A ACTIVITY (%): 50–54
FOOD SOURCES: Green plants, carrots, squash, corn, watermelons, green peppers, potatoes, apples, peaches
VITAMIN A ACTIVITY (%): 42–50
FOOD SOURCES: Carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, watermelons, apricots
Lutein
VITAMIN A ACTIVITY (%): 0
FOOD SOURCES: Green plants, corn, potatoes, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, fruits
Lycopene
VITAMIN A ACTIVITY (%): 0
FOOD SOURCES: Tomatoes, carrots, green peppers, apricots, pink grapefruit
Cancer and aging share a number of common characteristics, including an association with oxidative damage, which has led to the idea that cancer prevention should also promote longevity. Likewise, foods and food compounds that protect against cancer also promote longevity. There is some evidence to support this claim, since it appears that tissue carotene content has a better correlation with maximal life-span potential (MLSP) of mammals, including humans, than any other factor that has been studied.6 For example, the human MLSP of approximately 120 years correlates with serum carotene levels of 50 to 300 mcg/dl (micrograms per deciliter of blood), while other primates such as the rhesus monkey have an MLSP of approximately 34 years, correlating with serum carotene levels of 6 to 12 mcg/dl.
Since tissue carotenoids appear to be the most significant factor in determining a species’ MLSP, a logical conclusion is that individuals within the species with higher carotene levels in their tissues would be the longest-lived. Tissue carotene contents can best be increased by eating and juicing a diet high in mixed carotenes.
The best sources of carotenes are dark green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, and spinach), and yellow-orange fruits and vegetables (apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, and squash). See table 3.3 for carotene levels of raw fruits and vegetables. The carotenes present in green plants are found in the chloroplasts with chlorophyll, usually in complexes with a protein or lipid. Beta-carotene is the predominant form in most green leaves; the greater the intensity of the green, the greater the concentration of beta-carotene.
Orange fruits and vegetables (carrots, apricots, mangoes, yams, squash) typically have higher concentrations of provitamin A carotenes. Again, the provitamin A content parallels the intensity of the color.
In the orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, beta-carotene concentrations are high, but other carotenes are present as well, including many with more potent antioxidant and anticancer effects than beta-carotene. The red and purple vegetables and fruits (such as tomatoes, red cabbage, berries, and plums) contain a large portion of non–vitamin A active pigments, including flavonoids and carotenes. Legumes, grains, and seeds are also significant sources of carotenes.
table 3.3. carotene levels of raw fruits and vegetables
Approximate total carotene, micrograms per 100 g edible portion (100 g = 3.5 ounces)
| Kale 75,000 | Apricots 3,500 |
| Spinach 37,000 | Peaches 2,700 |
| Collard greens 20,000 | Oranges 2,400–2,700 |
| Butternut squash 17,700 | Melons 2,100–6,200 |
| Carrots 11,100 | Yellow squash 1,400 |
| Beet greens 10,000 | Papayas 1,100–3,000 |
| Tomatoes 7,200 | Green bell pepper 900–1,100 |
| Brussels sprouts 7,000 | Zucchini 900 |
| Apples, unpeeled 5,500–12,600 | Blackberries 600 |
| Broccoli 5,200 | Grapes 200 |
| Acorn squash 3,900 | Apples, peeled 100–500 |
Juicing provides greater benefit than beta-carotene supplements or intact carotene-rich foods because juicing ruptures cell membranes, thereby liberating important nutritional compounds like carotenes that can be locked within the plant’s cell walls. Beta-carotene supplementation, though beneficial, provides only one particular type of carotene, whereas juicing a wide variety of carotene-rich foods will provide a broad range of carotenes, many of which have properties more advantageous than those of beta-carotene.
For example, lutein is a yellow-orange carotene that appears to offer significant protection against macular degeneration7 while lycopene, a red carotene found in tomatoes, watermelon, and other red fruits and vegetables, has received attention for protecting against heart disease and the major cancers (i.e., breast, colon, lung, skin, and prostate cancer).8 In one of the more detailed studies with lycopene, Harvard researchers discovered that men who consumed the highest levels of lycopene (6.5 mg per day) in their diet showed a 21 percent decreased risk of prostate cancer compared with those eating the lowest levels.9 Men who ate two or more servings of tomato sauce each week were 23 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer during the 22 years of the study than were men who ate less than one serving of tomato sauce each month. Lycopene consumption has also been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, cataracts, and macular degeneration.
You cannot consume too much carotene. Studies done with beta-carotene have not shown it to possess any significant toxicity, even when used in very high doses in the treatment of numerous medical conditions.10 However, increased carotene consumption can result in the appearance of slightly yellow- to orange-colored skin, because of the storage of carotenes in epithelial cells. This is known as carotenodermia and is probably a beneficial sign, simply indicating that the body has a good supply of carotenes.
Increasing your levels of lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin levels can play a central role in protecting against the development of macular degeneration. Although lycopene and lutein supplements are entering the marketplace, they are relatively expensive, especially when you compare them to food sources.
LYCOPENE SOURCE: 1 ounce tomato paste
TOTAL MILLIGRAMS OF LYCOPENE: 16
COST: $0.065
LYCOPENE SOURCE: Lycopene supplement (one 15 mg capsule)
TOTAL MILLIGRAMS OF LYCOPENE: 15
COST: $0.44
LYCOPENE SOURCE: 1 (12-ounce) can tomato paste
TOTAL MILLIGRAMS OF LYCOPENE: 192
COST: $0.69
LYCOPENE SOURCE: Lycopene supplement (one bottle of 60 capsules, each containing 15 mg)
TOTAL MILLIGRAMS OF LYCOPENE: 900
COST: $26.99
In short, it looks like the most economical and healthiest way to boost lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin levels is through diet. The top 20 foods rich in these important carotenes are as follows:
Apple
Bell peppers (red, orange, green, yellow)
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Celery
Corn
Cucumber
Green beans
Green grapes
Greens (spinach, kale, chard)
Honeydew melon
Kiwifruit
Mango
Orange
Peach
Peas
Red grapes
Scallions
Squash (zucchini, pumpkin, butternut, etc.)
Tomato paste or juice
Flavonoids are plant pigments that exert antioxidant activity that is generally more potent and effective against a broader range of oxidants than the traditional antioxidant nutrients vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium, and zinc. Flavonoids lend color to fruits and flowers, and are responsible for many of the medicinal properties of foods, juices, herbs, and bee pollen. More than 8,000 flavonoid compounds have been characterized and classified according to their chemical structure. Flavonoids are sometimes called “nature’s biological response modifiers” because of their anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, antiviral, and anticancer properties.11
types of flavonoids
• The anthocyanidins and PCOs (short for proanthocyanidin oligomers) are the blue or purple pigments found in grapes, blueberries, and other foods. They can also be extracted from pine bark. These substances help prevent destruction of collagen, an important protein for healthy skin and connective tissue. Extracts of grape seeds and pine bark are popular supplements that provide PCOs.
• Quercetin is found in many foods. One of the best dietary sources is onions. Quercetin is often used in the treatment of allergies.
• Citrus bioflavonoids are found in fruits such as oranges, limes, lemons, and grapefruit. They appear to improve blood circulation and increase the integrity of tiny blood vessels (capillaries). Citrus bioflavonoids are often included in vitamin C supplements because they enhance the activity of vitamin C.
• Polyphenols are complex flavonoids contained in such foods as green tea, red wine, and even chocolate. They protect against heart disease and various cancers, especially in the gastrointestinal tract. They work by blocking the formation of cancer-causing chemicals such as nitrosamines.
Flavonoids are sometimes considered “semi-essential” nutrients, but in my view they are as important to human nutrition as the so-called essential nutrients. Because they have a broader range of antioxidant activity as well as other important anticancer effects, include as many different types of flavonoids as possible in your diet.
Recent research suggests that flavonoids may be useful in the prevention and treatment of a very long list of health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and allergies. In fact, many of the medicinal actions of foods, juices, herbs, and bee products (such as pollens and propolis) are now known to be directly related to their flavonoid content. Different flavonoids will provide different benefits. For example, the flavonoids responsible for the red to blue colors of blueberries, blackberries, cherries, grapes, hawthorn berries, and many flowers are termed anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins. These flavonoids are found in the flesh of the fruit as well as the skin and possess very strong “vitamin P” activity. Among their effects is an ability to increase vitamin C levels within our cells, decrease the leakiness and breakage of small blood vessels, protect against free radical damage, and support our joint structures.
Flavonoids also have a very beneficial effect on collagen. Collagen is the most abundant protein of the body. It is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the ground substance responsible for holding together the tissues of the body. Collagen is also found in tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Collagen is destroyed during inflammatory processes that occur in rheumatoid arthritis, periodontal disease, gout, and other inflammatory conditions involving bones, joints, cartilage, and other connective tissue. Anthocyanidins and other flavonoids affect collagen metabolism in many ways:
• They have the unique ability to actually cross-link collagen fibers resulting in reinforcement of the natural cross-linking of collagen that forms the so-called collagen matrix of connective tissue (ground substance, cartilage, tendon, etc.).
• They prevent free-radical damage with their potent antioxidant and free-radical scavenging action.
• They inhibit destruction to collagen structures by enzymes secreted by our own white blood cells during inflammation.
• They prevent the release and synthesis of compounds that promote inflammation, such as histamine.
table 3.4. flavonoid content of selected foods
Milligrams per 100 g edible portion (100 g = 3.5 ounces)
Apple juice
BIFLAVANS: 15
Cherries, sour
ANTHOCYANINS: 45
BIFLAVANS: 25
Currant juice
ANTHOCYANINS: 75–100
Grapefruit
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 50
Grapefruit juice
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 20
Hawthorn berries
CATECHINS+: 200–800
Oranges, Valencia
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 50–100
Orange juice
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 20–40
Plums, yellow
ANTHOCYANINS: 2–10
Raspberries, black
ANTHOCYANINS: 300–400
Raspberries, red
ANTHOCYANINS: 30–35
Tomatoes
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 85–130
Cabbage, red
ANTHOCYANINS: 25
Parsley
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 1,400
Rhubarb
ANTHOCYANINS: 200
Beans, dry
ANTHOCYANINS: 10–1,000
Chocolate, dark semisweet
BIFLAVANS: 170
Sage
4-OXO-FLAVONOIDS*: 1,000–1,500
* 4-Oxo-flavonoids: the sum of flavanones, flavones, and flavanols (including quercetin).
+ Catechins include proanthocyanins.
Flavonoid components of berries are extremely beneficial in cases of arthritis and hardening of the arteries. Foods rich in anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins appear to offer significant prevention as well as a potential reversal of the often lethal atherosclerotic processes.
Several studies have shown that people who have a high intake of plant flavonoids are less likely to die from heart disease or develop some cancers or other chronic diseases. In one of the largest studies, when researchers looked at the diets of nearly 100,000 men and women, they found that those who ate fruits and vegetables rich in different flavonoids had a lower risk of overall mortality owing to heart attack and strokes.12 Other studies have shown a lower risk for other chronic diseases including lung and prostate cancer, type 2 diabetes, and asthma. See table 3.4 for the flavonoid content of common foods.
Still other flavonoids are remarkable anti-allergic compounds, modifying and reducing all phases of the allergic response by inhibiting the formation and secretion of potent inflammatory compounds. Several prescription medications developed for allergic conditions (asthma, eczema, hives, etc.) were actually patterned after flavonoid molecules. An example of an anti-allergy flavonoid is quercetin, which is available in many fruits and vegetables. Quercetin is a potent antioxidant that inhibits the release of histamine and other allergic compounds.
Chlorophyll is the green pigment of plants found in the chloroplast compartment of plant cells. It is in the chloroplast that electromagnetic energy (light) is converted to chemical energy in the process known as photosynthesis. The chlorophyll molecule is essential for this reaction to occur.
The natural chlorophyll in green plants and their fresh juice is fat soluble. Most of the chlorophyll products found in health food stores, however, contain water-soluble chlorophyll. Because water-soluble chlorophyll is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, its use is limited to ulcerative conditions of the skin and gastrointestinal tract.13 Its beneficial effect is largely due to its astringent qualities, coupled with an ability to stimulate wound healing. These healing properties have also been noted with the topical administration of water-soluble chlorophyll in the treatment of skin wounds. Water-soluble chlorophyll is also used medically to help control body, fecal, and urinary odor.14
To produce a water-soluble chlorophyll, the natural chlorophyll molecule must be altered chemically. The fat-soluble form, the natural form of chlorophyll as found in fresh juice, offers several advantages over water-soluble chlorophyll. This is particularly true regarding chlorophyll’s ability to stimulate hemoglobin and the production of red blood cells and to relieve excessive menstrual blood flow.15 In fact, the chlorophyll molecule is very similar to the heme portion of the hemoglobin molecule of our red blood cells.
Unlike water-soluble chlorophyll, fat-soluble chlorophyll is absorbed well by the rest of the body and contains other components of the chloroplast complex (including beta-carotene and vitamin K1) that possess significant health benefits not provided by water-soluble chlorophyll.
Like the other plant pigments, chlorophyll also possesses significant antioxidant and anticancer effects.16 It has been suggested by some public health experts that chlorophyll be added to certain beverages, foods, chewing tobacco, and tobacco snuff to reduce cancer risk. A better recommendation would be to include fresh green vegetable juices regularly in the diet. Greens such as parsley, spinach, kale, and beet tops are rich not only in chlorophyll but also in minerals like calcium and carotenes. Parsley or some other green should be consumed whenever fried, roasted, or grilled foods are eaten, as parsley has been shown to reduce the cancer-causing risk of fried foods in human studies.17 Presumably other greens would offer similar protection.
The term terpene probably conjures up images of cleaning solvents, but while naturally occurring terpenes are used as an alternative to synthetic terpenes in many natural cleaning products, the primary health benefits of terpenes revolve around some impressive anticancer effects—both in prevention and possibly treatment.
D-limonene and perillyl alcohol are the most widely tested terpenes, having shown considerable benefits in animal studies against a wide number of cancers. Both of these terpenes are being investigated in humans with advanced cancers with encouraging preliminary results. For example, six individuals with advanced cancers were able to halt the progression of their cancer for periods of time ranging from 6 to 12 months while taking d-limonene.18
The best dietary sources of terpenes are citrus fruits, berries, cherries, and volatile herbs such as peppermint, basil, thyme, and rosemary. Citrus peels, especially lemons, are a particularly rich source of the beneficial terpene d-limonene so be sure to juice lemons with their peels.
Fresh juice contains a wide range of substances once collectively referred to as anutrients but now most often simply called phytochemicals. Included in this category are enzymes; pigments like carotenes, chlorophyll, and flavonoids; and accessory food components. Although these substances possess little or no real “nutritional” value, they do exert profound health benefits.
Increasingly, experts are realizing that it is not just the essential nutrients that are significant. A healthful diet must include not only adequate levels of known nutrients but also large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables for their high content of unknown and known anutrients, phytochemicals, and accessory healing components. Drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juice is a phenomenal way to increase your intake of these healing agents.