One of the stranger “discoveries” in my last year has been juicing. That’s right, the process of extracting juice from fruits, vegetables and tubers and then eating that exclusivley for a few days. My friend Corey turned me on to this and she can elaborate on her amazing story later, but I’ve settled on making “juicing” an important part of my health arsenal – mainly because it’s a way to get a LOT of nutition into a small cold drink. Your body will be shocked in a really good way.

I never really liked vegetables. When I went mostly vegan, my taste buds came alive and now I like veggies more than I ever dreamed was possible. But I still don’t really LOVE them. Not like nachos, or fried cheese. So I’m always up for a hack that gets more of the good stuff in.

When I find myself not getting enough veggies or if I just need to mix things up a bit, I incorporate a full juicing day (or two) and it works as a great system reboot for me. This morning, I ran 5 pounds of carrots thru my juicer. It made one quart of pure carrot juice (which tastes shockingly sweet). That’s a lot of carrots for that realitively small amount of juice, but there’s also a large bag of leftover pulp that I’ll use for endless other cooking purposes: muffins, breads, broth, veggie patties, etc. Total price: $3.50.

Sometimes, I substitute just one meal a day with jolt of pure cold press juice. Sometimes it’s just a snack when I need a pick-me-up. You can buy bottles of various blends at specialty stores, but they tend to be really pricey. Most important thing: keep it ice cold. Lasts about 3 days in the refrigerator before they start to go bad.

The best drinks result from concocting a nice solid mix of veggies and fruits. The photo above is 1 part Kale to 4 parts Green Apple juice. Delicious and otherwise, I’m probably not getting a whole cup of kale in my body. I bought this jug-o-juice at BerryNatural in Fayetteville to which one of my Oklahoma friends remarked: “you almost lived in Fayetteville for too long.”

If you are looking for something to watch that will really blow your mind, check out Joe Cross’s film from about 10 years ago – “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.” It’s the story of a solid detox from prescription drugs and an unhealthy lifestyle, with some pretty radical inspiring stories to boot.

The longest I’ve ever gone on a “Juice” is 3 days but it’s a great refresh. Does crazy things to the body and mind. But not any crazier than all the other things people do.