Attention Juice Lovers
Avoiding the processed stuff from the stores is easy with this simple cantaloupe sesame juice recipe
Juice from a fruit. How could something so simple be so corrupted?
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, commercial orange juice can be a pretty “toxic soup”. This is because oranges are sprayed with pesticides during growth. Upon arrival to the juice processing facility, the orange skins are treated with chemical acids to soften them and to get the most juice as possible out of each orange. The whole fruit is squeezed into juice, and all those chemicals and pesticides get squeezed right in with the juice.
The acid and heat pasteurization of fruit juice can give rise to mutagenic activity and completely kills any beneficial enzymes, minerals/ vitamins - as is seen in pasteurized milk. Drinking fruit juice has been associated with increased risk of dementia possibly due to the processing/ pesticides in the fruit.
“Simply” Orange
Simply Orange is one of the most processed drinks on the market; they source the oranges from Florida, Brazil and Mexico and uses a computer modeling system to ensure a uniform taste year round. The juice is flash pasteurized and as the oxygen removed to ensure that it wont spoil. Oxygen removal also removes flavor, so “flavor packs” created by fragrance companies need to be added in to give it an ‘orange juice” taste. (These flavor packs are the reason why different brands of orange juice have a slightly different taste).
In December 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed against Coca Cola’s Simply Orange juice brand for falsely advertising the product as “natural” when in fact it is far from it. Simply Orange juice was found to contain a category of synthetic compounds known as PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl). These chemical compounds are known to persist in the human body for months/ years and wreak havoc on the body.
PFAS are nicknamed “forever chemicals” because their chemical makeup allows them to persist in the environment and human body for unusually long without breaking down.
PFAS exposure has been assoicated with:
Increase in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol
Decreased fertility in women and pregnancy complications
Kidney and testicular cancer
Thyroid disease
Chronic kidney disease, elevated uric acid, hyperuricemia, and gout
Liver damage
Immune system disruption
According to the lawsuit, the amount of PFAS in Simply Orange was over a hundred times what is considered permissible by the EPA.
Welch’s Grape juice
Drinking just 1/2 cup per day of Welch’s grape juice can pose a serious health threat to adults and children due to the amount of Lead and arsenic found in it - according to a consumer report study in 2019.
Welch’s was hit with a false advertising lawsuit in 2021 due to the juice containing petroleum-derived artificial flavor enhancers while being advertised as “100% juice” and “no artificial flavors”. The statement “100% juice” is a common marketing trick used by juice companies - but it doesn’t mean anything. Flavor packs and other questionable ingredients are not required to be disclosed on the label.
Apples From China
Over 30 years, apple juice sold in the US has slowly shifted from domestically sourced apples to Chinese apple concentrate. By 2009, two thirds of US apple juice was produced with apple concentrate from China. As of 2020, the Chinese province Shaanxi is the world’s top producer of apple juice concentrate and accounts for one third global production volume. From 2020 to 2021, China produced 44 million metric tons of apples for export around the world.
A 2014 survey by the Chinese government found that one-fifth of the country’s farmland was polluted with inorganic chemicals and heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, and nickel. Health concerns around these pollutants is huge. The heavy metal cadmium is linked to cancer and accelerated aging. Arsenic exposure can lead to cancer of the skin, bladder, kidneys, and lungs as well as vomiting, headaches and fever.
Children exposed to heavy metals may be at risk for lowered IQ, ADD/ADHD, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and more.
Some brands that have been found to contain lead and arsenic include: Minute Maid, Apple & Eve, Juicy Juice, Mott’s, Gerber, Great Value (Walmart), America’s Choice (A&P), Gold Emblem (CVS), Joe’s Kids (Trader Joe’s), Seneca, and Walgreens.
A consumer report tested 24 national, store and private-label juice brands and found measurable levels of at least one of these heavy metals: cadmium, arsenic, lead, and mercury in ALL brands tested.
What to do?
Some ideas for removing PFAS chemicals from your body include:
Drinking plenty of water
Drinking apple cider vinegar
Drink lemon juice
Some ideas for detoxing from heavy metals:
consume cilantro
vitamin C rich fruits/ vegetables
Garlic & onions
Flax seeds
Chia seeds
Buy your produce locally and make your own juice.
Making your own juice is easy!
Cantaloupe Sesame Juice Recipe
Only 4 ingredients:
Cantaloupe
Sesame seeds
Honey
Water
This delicious juice is really refreshing and it’s really more like a milkshake.
Sesame seeds are a great source of natural oils, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, B-vitamins and more. Cantaloupe is also full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals; this hydrating fruit can reduce cancer risk, reduce inflammation, and have an anti aging effect.
Step 1: Make sesame milk
Begin by pouring about 3 Tbs of sesame seeds into a high speed blender with 6 cups of water to make sesame milk. Blend on the highest speed for 30 seconds and strain through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth.
You can discard the sesame pulp, or store it in the freezer for later use. It makes a great addition to homemade bread or granola. This milk is delicious on its own and it takes a surprisingly small amount of sesame seeds to make a milk.
Step 2: Add melon and honey
Blend 5 cups sesame milk with 1-2 cups cantaloupe and 2 Tbs honey. Refrigerate it until cold and enjoy!
~Julia
