The Miracle of Juicing – Interview with Shantree Kacera

Hello,  I’m Nancy Desjardins, and I’ll be your host this evening, with our special guest, Shantree Kacera. And we’ll be talking about The Miracle of Juicing.

This is a topic you’ll be hearing a lot about throughout the month of April when I’ll be making a series of posts on juicing and spring cleansing.

I am very passionate about juicing — people who know me can attest to that! I have been juicing for over 20 years now, and have learned a lot in the process. I first became interested in juicing when my father-in-law gave me the Champion Juicer as a gift when I was 18. I’ve been juicing ever since!

And I believe that drinking the juices from fresh organic produce has helped my health in many ways.

I started out much like everyone does: juicing lots of carrots. But we all know now that juices with large amounts of carrots, or fruit, contain too much sugar for daily consumption.

Now, I focus primarily on green juices, with smaller amounts of high-sugar produce. An example of ingredients for a green juice would be cucumber, kale and celery, with small amounts of parsley or spinach. I sometimes add one carrot or apple for sweetness.

Juicing really can do miraculous things for your health. And that’s why we’re here this evening with Shantree. Before we get the discussion underway, I’d like to introduce our special guest to those who may not be familiar with him.

Shantree is an internationally recognized author. Among his books is Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis, and he is the co-author, with wife Lorenna, of the Conscious Living: The Sevenfold Path to Peace manual. He is currently writing The Healing Tastes, which is a workbook and exploration of the healing essence of tastes on body, mind and emotions. Also under construction is Elemental Medicine: Living on Life-Force.

He also offers courses in constitutional Ayurvedic Medicine, Living Nutrition, Practical, Therapeutic and Shamanic Herbalism, and the Sevenfold Path to Peace.

He co-facilitates workshops and retreats with Lorenna at numerous centres in Canada, the U.S. and Costa Rica. They offer private and group consultations, retreats and training intensives.

We’ll be drawing on his more than three decades of experience this evening. So let’s get started.

Welcome, Shantree!

Nancy:  Shantree, you are a nutritionist, you have your Ph.D. in nutritional science and Ayurvedic Medicine and, for more than 30 years, you’ve been exploring the effect of food and herbs on our physical, mental and emotional health. What inspired you to become a healer in so many areas?

Shantree: It’s in my blood. I think from my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my parents. When I was growing up, we never used chemicals. Everything was organic. Everything was natural. And I loved being in the garden. I always loved working with plants even when I was just four or five all the way through my teenage years. Actually, I didn’t really know I was going to become a healer. It was more that I wanted to work with plants. My bedroom was always full of plants – it was like a jungle. When I was fifteen years old I just knew I wanted to live in the country. We grew up in London, Ontario and I wanted to live in the country. One thing led to another and I started studying and learning along the way, going to different colleges and healing centres to learn about this. So like I said, it’s in my blood. I started very, very young. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Nancy: You said in one of your articles: One of the main reasons people are overweight these days is due to the fact that they have changed their feelings toward their food and nutrition needs, and only think in terms of what is “right, wrong, good” or “bad.” Let’s talk about that.

Shantree: The words “right” and “wrong”, “good” and “bad.” I’ve seen them come into the holistic language and I find that very sad because it’s such a judgment thing. It’s like money. Is money good or is money bad? We should be asking, “Is this life-enhancing or is it life-reducing?” A lot of times people approach fasting or juicing or getting into a healthy way of eating on a physical level, but it’s important to broaden it to the psychological. To bring in the psychological aspect is so important for people because when we go into patterns, it’s not the physical that breaks the pattern, it’s the psychological or the mindset: if someone’s bored or just wanting some stimulation. So that’s why that part is very important and why I shared that in the article.

Nancy: How can someone break a destructive eating cycle?

Shantree: One of the theories I love to work with is to never push something away because to resist is to persist. If you keep pushing something away, it comes back and it comes back stronger. Something I learned a long time ago, back in the early 80s is something called “The Three As.” The first is being aware – aware of what mood you’re in, what’s going on. That can be difficult sometimes when someone is dealing with anxiety. If you can catch yourself, you can think, “OK, I’m aware of this.” Number two ends up being the hardest, and that is accepting, accepting the pattern that is coming. When I use the word acceptance, that really means loving yourself. Now, acceptance doesn’t mean you’re never going to change. A lot of times people think it means you’re going to stay in that place all the time, but all it means is that you’re pausing and witnessing what is happening. If you push it away, it won’t go away. You need to be able to see it, face on. It’s like looking into a mirror and saying, “OK, I see you. I see this pattern”, and really being present with it. Once you do that, the third ends up being very easy. An adjustment happens. Something shifts. So those are “The Three As” and I find them to be useful in anything, not just eating cycles. Aware. Acceptance. Adjustment. The second one is the hardest. If you can just get to that and stick with it, the third one happens on its own.

Nancy: And could you give us a few simple and easy steps that people can follow when they are upset?

Shantree: That’s really where you can bring those “Three As” into anything.

Nancy: You have a great article on your website titled “Drink Your Troubles Away”, which I am happy to say was posted on my website last year. But if someone new to juicing decided to take your advice, what are some of the pitfalls?

Shantree: I’m in 100% agreement with what you said earlier about your passion for juicing. We’ve been juicing for a long time as well. One pitfall is going into high sugars. People get into that because of apple juice, orange juice, mango juice. They get into fruits and the sugary vegetables and that is one of the biggest pitfalls because you think this is great, you’ve got lots of energy, you’re juicing, but what happens is that you are supporting one part of your body but throwing off another part of your body. That is one of the biggest pitfalls I see: the sugar content that’s in fruit and vegetables now that wasn’t there twenty years ago.

Nancy: And could you explore this avenue for weight loss! What would be the benefit of juicing for someone trying to lose weight?

Shantree: One of the things that are key are the greens. Greens will really help someone to lose weight because you’re helping the alkalines in the blood, you’re helping your nervous system, really supporting the liver. So the greens are doing a lot and that can really make a difference. That way you won’t have the highs and lows that come with the sugary juices.

The other thing I’d really recommend is not to overdo the amount of juice you’re drinking. When we do a fasting retreat at our place or in Costa Rica, sometimes I’ll see people. If you give them a quart they’ll drink a quart. Give them two quarts, they’ll drink two quarts in one sitting. It’s really important just to have small amounts and to really chew your juice. Try to get into the pattern of chewing and you can chew when you’re fasting and having juice. A lot of people have the habit of eating very quickly and that’s one of the main things I believe that causes weight to go up.

Nancy: How would you recommend someone start juicing, and how long should their juice fast last?

Shantree: That’s a complicated question because my approach to juicing or to fasting is an Ayurvedic approach: looking at a person’s constitution to see if they’re Vata, Pitta or Kapha. So that’s one aspect. One of the things I did for years and years, back in the 70s, is to just fast one day a week. I think I did that for about three years. I never missed one. Every seventh day I would just have juices and that’s so simple. It’s just missing three meals. Not eating and having your juices. That is one of the healthiest and best things I think of: breaking the pattern before it gets going. If you just keep eating and eating and eating, after a few months or years, you’ve got a pattern there. But if you have that pause, that one day a week, a new pattern develops.

The second part of your question was how long should they fast. If someone’s beginning, one day a week is great, but one of the things that have happened for me in the last two years is that I’m really starting to believe in longer fasts. I never thought that would ever happen. I just did a long fast in January and February that was 40 days and last year I did 45 days. Both of these fasts were in Canada, last year in November into December, and then this year January into February. We’ve had numerous people come to Costa Rica with us for fasting retreats there and they’ve become our most popular retreats. Part of me is a little surprised because if you’re going to go to the tropics, you might as well enjoy the food there. So anyway, I do believe in longer fasts now and I just have more and more energy. That’s the part that really surprised me. I’m into my second week and I have more energy, my third week and even more energy, a month and even more and I wondered how much higher can my energy keep going?

Nancy: What supplements or superfoods would you suggest adding to juice drinks?

Shantree: I actually have a hard time with the term “superfood.” Everything that is natural, I think of as a superfood. If I go out and get some red clover or greens that are growing in the field, that’s a superfood. Nettles are a superfood. Dandelions are a superfood. In other words, they’re packed full and they’re still in their natural package. And I think the word superfood is starting to become a little overused and it takes it away from things that grow right here in our own areas right here in Canada. We have hundreds of superfoods right here in Canada; they don’t have to come from the ocean or from faraway places. We can have our own superfoods in our own backyards or in our window boxes. Superfoods are high density, packed full of goodness and a lot of those things do come from the ocean and other places.

There are so many things on the shelves nowadays that we didn’t have years ago, like hemp protein, which is one of my very favourites. The ones that become my favourites are actually the ones that grow the closest to us, closest to our own locale and our own bioregion: bee pollen, hemp, numerous herbs that you can buy dried, like nettles which you can buy by the pound. If you are going to go further away, I would go to the algae foods and of course the grasses. Those are the two main things that I would bring in. Make sure they’re alkalizing. When I think of superfoods, I ask if this is going to alkalize me. Most of them on the market do as long as they’re fresh, so make sure you check that label to see when the expiry date is or when it was prepared.

Nancy: Of course, juicing is easier with the right tools. For me, the best juicer is the one you never put away. How about you? Which juicer would you suggest to invest in?

Shantree: The nice thing is that now there are lots of choices out there. The ones that I’ve used or had a lot of experience with are the ones that I promote and sell here. During the 70s or early 80s when I started the centre here, the Champion was the champion. There was nothing better than the Champion. The only other one was close to $10,000. The Champion was affordable so it was what we used but it couldn’t juice everything. It could only juice certain types of things. The one that I use and that I have here is the one called Green Power, which I believe is called the Green Star now. It’s got the twin gears, and the beautiful thing with that one is that it can juice anything: any leaf, any twig, any bark, any berry. It can do all kinds of things and the way that I make my herbal medicine here is as juices. I go out into the fields and the garden, harvest them, juice them and they’re available as a medicine that way.

Question from clients: Shantree did answer those questions

Q: What way is the best way to get your juice fresh if you cannot make it on the spot and drink it right away. Is it better to freeze it the night before or refrigerate or neither? Time is always a factor for me… and I have no excuse really… no kids… no stress… no nothing… but I always rush in the morning. I can’t imagine people with 2 kids even with a job. I want to know what are the 2 best choices for getting the most nutrients possible from your juice. I do enjoy juicing but sometimes wonder if no juice is better than “next day juice”!

Shantree: Part of it will depend on the juicer. If you have a really good juicer like the ones we talked about, they don’t oxidize the nutrients as fast, so if you take the juice and put it into a jar with very little air in there, in other words, the jar is almost full, and you put it in the fridge, those juices will keep for a full 24 hours. Some say 48 hours but I usually don’t like to leave it that long; I like to drink it the next day. If you have that kind of good quality juicer, in the fridge it is fine, and that would be my choice, especially if it’s made later in the evening, then it’s ready for you the next day. The air in a container is what will deteriorate it, and also the temperatures.

Freezing is fine as long as it’s frozen in glass or some kind of container that’s really going to hold the nutrients. Part of it will depend on how long it’s frozen for, and then when you thaw it, how long it’s thawing for. If it takes you eight hours to thaw it out, you’re losing nutrients during those eight hours. But I really believe in glass, not plastic, so keep it in a mason jar and make sure there’s room for the liquid to expand when it freezes. Don’t have it sitting in the freezer for days and days, or weeks and months.

Q: I do have a digestion problem which I want to correct because of the feeling of “something brewing inside all the time”; anyways I want to know what kind of alkaline juice can I make in the morning that would be tasteful and not taste like grass mixed with weeds. I know that would probably be good for you but what would be a sweeter fruit besides apples and beets that would make my juice taste good?

Shantree: I’m a firm believer in juicing herbs that have an aroma. Anything that has an aroma has something called carminatives. So anything that has an aroma – basil, garlic, ginger, fennel – all the different spices that you can think of, and when I say herb or spice it doesn’t have to be a seed, it can be a leafy thing but it has an aroma. Things with aroma really help digestion. They really help the whole digestive process and make the juice that much more tasty so that you enjoy it. There are at least 100 different herbs and spices that we have growing in our own gardens or that we can buy at the grocery store or in farmers’ markets. Just take those and juice them. Anything with an aroma is really going to activate the digestion.

Basil is my number one herb. I don’t know anyone who can get depressed if they have enough basil. In Ayurvedic medicine in India, basil is the number one antidepressant herb. It’s not St. John’s Wort, it’s basil. It’s an incredible herb, one of the highest antioxidants we have. Rosemary, there’s another really good one. The nice thing with rosemary is that it has the aroma but it also has oil.

Q: I understand the concept of juicing which provides the live enzymes and nutrients from fresh produce in an easy to digest liquid form but aren’t you depriving your body of the natural process of chewing whole food in order to stimulate and produce the digestive enzymes necessary to break it down? To get a glass of juice aren’t you using much more food than you could possibly eat if you were chewing it? I believe in doing things as simple and natural as possible therefore I’m not sure I understand how juicing food (in a highly complex and expensive juicer) is more beneficial than good old-fashioned chewing. Isn’t that what teeth are for?

Shantree: Excellent question. To me juicing is therapy; it helps us to get from point A to point B, so if you want a boost, or you want to help heal or enhance your body – juice means your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard. 70% of our energy goes to digesting food. That’s why if you have a big meal in the evening when you wake up in the morning you won’t have as much energy, so there’s a lot of energy that goes into digestion. Once you’re having juices, it’s right there. Now that energy is not being used for digestion, so it’s going elsewhere, for healing. The other thing is to make sure you chew your juice. Don’t just gulp it down. Chew it. The more we chew, or the more slowly we take in fluid, the more it gets absorbed in the cells, and the more fluid is absorbed in the cells, the more useful we stay. Lots of people are drinking lots of liquids but it’s going right through them. There’s something called an ancient tea ceremony. It could be called an ancient juice ceremony. What you’re doing is drinking a tiny bit at a time, so you take a tiny ounce, put it in your mouth and you chew it. The more saliva that’s with that juice the more you’re going to absorb it right in your mouth. It doesn’t even have to go through your digestive system. You’re going to be getting a lot of benefits, and the way you can actually tell that absorption is happening is that you won’t have to urinate. If you drink a glass or two and within half an hour you have to urinate, you know you didn’t absorb that.

Another thing is we live in a very artificial world. If we were living closer to the land, without as much electromagnetic energy, I don’t think we would need juicers. It’s a way of getting high-quality nutrients in our body without having to buy supplements in a bottle. It’s a preventative tool.

To be healthy in today’s world we have to be smart. When we think of how much a supplement costs, compared to going and supporting an organic farmer, think of how much produce you can get for that. I’d rather get it from whole food that’s in juice form so it’s easy for me to digest than from something made in a factory and in plastic.

One more thing, fruits stir up acid in the body. Vegetables flush it out; they have a downward cleansing action. They stimulate the liver. It helps to move the acid out of the body. With fruit, you’re cleansing but you’re just moving the acids around. Vegetables have a lot more minerals.

Nancy: Before we wrap up, let us know more about what you’re up to these days.

Shantree: Spring is here! Last week was the grand opening of our 25th year of running the centre. It was very exciting because it was Spring, the equinox, full moon and Easter. That also means our apprentices are arriving. We have an apprenticeship program where people come here and live with us for 12 or 24 weeks. What we’re focusing on now is education and people can come for an evening, for a weekend, or they can come for a whole week.

Nancy: Shantree, it’s been such a pleasure. It’s a real honour to have had the opportunity to interview you today, and have you share your insights with our listeners. You’re incredible, man! Send my love to Lorenna!

You can visit Shantree’s website at tlc.riopelle.ws.

Well, that’s all for this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed our teleclass.

Until next time, a green toast to your good health and happiness!

Bye for now.

Nancy Desjardins

www.Healthlady.com