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The 12 Best Benefits of Juicing For Breast Cancer

This is the first of a four-part series. In this article I will share with you the 12 best benefits of juicing if you have breast cancer (and even if you don’t!), the second article will cover what to juice, the third article will cover the best juicers to purchase, and the fourth article will share some really great juicing tips to help you save time and money.

As a breast cancer coach, I am increasingly aware of the fact that although juicing seems to be a hugely popular health food trend, not many people are aware of the actual benefits of juicing for breast cancer. There are plenty of reasons, particularly if you are fighting breast cancer and going through all of the treatments, but even if you’re not, there are some compelling reasons for juicing.

Let’s jump right in.

The 12 Best Benefits of Juicing for Breast Cancer

1. The Number One Reason – many fruits and vegetables have nutrients that kill cancer cells and/or stop the spread of cancer.  See my page Diet and Cancer for the very best ones.  If you are not a huge fan of eating lots of fruits and vegetables, juicing is a fantastic way to get them into your body.
2. Juicing allows you to consume a large amount of vegetables and fruit and the phytonutrients (plant based nutrients) they contain.  Could you sit and eat 6 carrots, 2 apples, a big chunk of ginger and a slice of lemon in one sitting?  Probably not.  But you can certainly juice them and get all of the super-charged nutrients and antioxidants which are more easily and completely absorbed by the body than when taking synthetic vitamins.
3. Cooking food destroys 100% of all enzymes in that food.  Because you are juicing raw vegetables and fruit, you can take advantage of all the living enzymes within that fruit or vegetable.  Why are enzymes important?  Enzymes are substances which make chemical reactions possible.  The enzymes found in natural, “live” foods and also in your body are the “work force” of the body. They are needed for the production of hormones, to break down the food you eat, for nutrients like minerals and vitamins to work, and thousands of other processes.  There are believed to be hundreds of thousands of enzymes in the body and without them, life cannot exist.
4. Juicing is great for impaired digestion.  By the time we have reached middle age, our digestion is less than optimal and this limits your body’s ability to absorb all the nutrients you take in.  Juicing helps to “pre-digest” these nutrients for you, allowing the highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and enzymes to rapidly enter the bloodstream so that you are able to absorb all of the nutritional benefits of the fruits and vegetables, giving your digestive organs a much-needed rest.
5. You can enjoy a wider variety of vegetables and fruits in your diet.  If you worry that you aren’t eating a wide enough variety of fresh produce every day, juicing is a great way to remove that worry.
6.  Juicing gives you more energy.  If you are going through treatments for breast cancer, you will be feeling the effects of those treatments.  I promise – you begin juicing and you will stop feeling this way.  Also, if you don’t have much of an appetite due to the treatment you’re on, sipping away at a lovely blend of juices in a glass helps you to feel better.  Just knowing each sip is full of potent cancer-kicking nutrients helps your peace of mind.
7. Juicing helps to strengthen your immune system.  If you understand that our immune system is our number one defense against cancer cells, you will recognize the importance of juicing.  I’ll give you just one example of how this occurs.  Carrots are a great source of beta-carotene, a substance in plants that is converted into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A plays a very important role in regulating the immune system, it helps the body fight off infections, and helps keep enough T-cells, also known as fighter cells, in circulation. It also boosts the activity of white blood cells, which defend the body from foreign substances.
8. Juicing helps to reduce your risk of recurrence.  It only stands to reason that if you are juicing regularly, building your immune system, taking in all of the lovely super-charged nutrients that enter your body through the juices, you are actively helping to keep yourself well and reduce your risk of recurrence.  Additionally, cancer loves acid conditions and juicing helps to keep your body more alkaline.
9. Juicing helps to reduce inflammation.  Inflammation has long been associated with the development of cancer, as well as other diseases like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, allergies, asthma, Crohn’s Disease, migraines and on and on.  Juicing regularly helps to relieve inflammatory conditions to a huge degree.  For more information, read this article: Why Cancer and Inflammation?
10. Juicing helps to detoxify your body.  After going through chemotherapy and radiation, you often feel like you are a toxic waste dump, that you might actually glow in the dark.  Juicing during these treatments, and especially afterward, helps your body detox and eliminate the chemicals.  Just check with your oncologist, however, as some won’t allow juicing during the treatments.  I think it is the belief of some oncologists that antioxidants from the juicing may disrupt the action of the chemotherapeutic agents.  I juiced all during my chemotherapy, however, and I’m still here to tell the tale!  I feel it helped me enormously to do it that way.
11. Juicing regularly helps clear your mind.   It actually helps to increase mental focus and improves clarity of thought.  All those lovely little phytonutrients are so beneficial for the healthy functioning of your brain and nervous system.
12. Juicing reduces junk food cravings.  I love this last one – whether it’s a function of giving your cells the nutrition that they are craving or because you are eating less sugar when you are looking after yourself and juicing, it’s definitely a great side effect.

Look out for my next article The Benefits of Juicing For Breast Cancer – What To Juice

If you would like my help with getting through breast cancer in an inspiring and ultra-healthy way, please sign up for my free e-newsletters and e-books on the right, and/or “like” me on Facebook (Marnie Clark Breast Health Coach).  It is my honor and my goal to help you through this so that you emerge from breast cancer feeling better than before, thriving!