On the Juice: Day 10

Some people start the New Year off with a few poxy resolutions scribbled down somewhere only to be forgotten by February. Me? I'm going on a two-week juice fast.

Day 10: Sprout to Get Me
There were some lines I discovered very early on that I simply wouldn't cross; foods that ordinarily I love and adore, but couldn't stomach the thought of consuming in juice form. Cauliflower? Love it, don't ever want to juice it. Asparagus? Yum. Don't ever want to juice it. Avocado? Yam? Garlic? Leek? The list was fairly long. It wasn't based on any concrete evidence; it was more of a gut thing. "Go with your gut," I told myself, "and everything will be just fine."

This strategy has worked well for me so far, but earlier today at the supermarket I had a moment of weakness. Hang in there for a moment and I'll explain.

The holy grail of any hard core juicer is filled with what we call the dark-green leafies - things like kale, chard, broccoli, spinach and parsley. They're absolutely packed with nutrition, including hard-to-find minerals like calcium and iron. Unfortunately, with the exception of broccoli, it's really difficult to get all that goodness out of them. Your average bunch of parsley yields perhaps a half cup of juice. It's nothing, a gulp. So I'm always on the lookout for new sources.

Enter a sack of humble Brussels sprouts. There they were, sitting in the produce section and looking wonderfully green and nutritious. I love Brussels sprouts. I love them boiled, I love them steamed, I love them roasted. Juiced? No thank you. But I'm getting a little sore in the wallet watching bag after bag of kale disappear down the glory hole leaving barely enough to wet my whistle. So I did it. I let my brain override my gut and grabbed some sprouts.

I'd like to tell you this story turns out well, and for the first few minutes it did. The sprouts yielded a good quantity of juice that I cut with some broccoli and cucumber. At the eleventh hour I decided to throw in half an apple, you know, to sweeten the cup. I stirred it up and tentatively took a sip.

Brussels sprout juice has a wonderful creaminess to it that tastes quite rich and satisfying. It draws out the subtler notes of the broccoli juice. And then the burning hits. You know that classic action movie set piece where the hero or heroine is stuck in a mine, a cave or an elevator shaft that we're told is filled with flammable gas or liquid? And then something climactic happens and the hero or heroine runs away from a giant, fast-moving fireball only to leap heroically to safety? And then flames come bursting out of some doorway or cave opening and disperse into the open air? Well, it felt a bit like that, only instead of a mine, cave or elevator shaft, it was my throat. And instead of hitting the open air and dispersing, the flames just hit my stomach and exploded. My poor, shriveled, unfed-since-last-year stomach. For the first time in the course of the fast, I had encountered a juice I just couldn't finish.

So here's a lesson to all potential juice fasters, learned the hard way: stick with your gut. If something doesn't seem like good juicing fodder, it probably isn't.

Day 10 Hunger Level: Pretty much a non-factor today.

Day 10 Energy Level: Consistently high. This was a good day, Brussels sprout juice not withstanding.

Day 10 Physical Condition: There are little aches and pains here or there, but on the whole I feel pretty friggin' great.

Day 10 Mental State: No great fits of self-doubt today, and no major panic attacks. It's all good in my head for the moment.

Day 10 Juices:
#1: Banana, Chard, Broccoli, Grape
#2: Purchased Odwalla Mo' Beta Drink (half bottle)
#3: Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Cucumber, Apple
#4: Carrot, Beet, Ginger, Cucumber
#5: Purchased Odwalla Superfood Drink (full bottle)
#6: Orange, Mango, Broccoli, Parsley, Seltzer Water

Total amount: approx. 58 oz.

Previously:
* On The Juice: Day 1. If you can't beet it, juice it.
* On The Juice: Day 2. Fire in the glory hole!
* On The Juice: Day 3. Sipping point.
* On The Juice: Day 4. Brush with destiny.
* On The Juice: Day 5. Food for thought.
* On The Juice: Day 6. Dinner-free dinner party.
* On The Juice: Day 7. The longest chard.
* On The Juice: Day 8. The daily grind.
* On The Juice: Day 9. Driving force.

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