Core Diet dietitian Anne Rollins chronicles here journey on the Core Diet holiday juicing challenge! Join her in her 30 day journey……Below is the Juicing challenge by Jesse Kropelnicki, and then you will find the first entrees of Anne's juicing challenge...

During this time of year when everyone, including triathletes let loose to enjoy the holiday cheer, it is a good time to focus on some ways to balance the endless holiday party platters and treats. The average American will gain between five and 10 pounds, in the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's. What can we do to help avoid this, to some degree, and provide nutrient density that supports the training volume that we are trying to get in, in between parties? The answer: Juicing!

I have been juicing for the past couple of years. As odd as this may sound, it can be a therapeutic break in a hectic day. The juice itself can be very tasty, or not at all. The beauty of juicing is that you decide exactly what type of juice you are going to make, based entirely on your mood. Some days I feel like a fresh apple, ginger and cranberry will do. On other days, something moves me to combine kale, garlic, and beet; a tequila-like cocktail that you won't soon forget! Either way, you'll quickly find that juicing provides a bit of a boost, which will make you feel healthier.

For those who have never juiced, there are two primary types of juicers: 1) the high-speed centrifugal juicer, and 2) the slow speed auger. I have, and like a lot, the slow speed auger. It is easy to use, clean, and ready to juice anything you throw into it.

For athletes, the benefits of juicing run pretty deep. Juicing fruits and vegetables provides a huge dose of phytonutrients (plant chemicals) in a very concentrated, easily absorbed form. This quality, alone, makes juicing whole, fresh, ripe, and raw fruits and vegetables one of the most powerful vehicles for achieving optimal health; upon which speed is built. Here are some of the most commonly touted benefits of juicing:

Many of the common juicing ingredients contain chlorophyll, a substance found exclusively in plants. It has a structure similar to hemoglobin which is the substance in blood that is responsible for transporting oxygen. Some research has found that consuming chlorophyll enhances the body's ability to produce hemoglobin, thus improving the efficiency of oxygen transport.
Fresh juices have the ability to deliver a group of nutrients know as enzymes. Enzymes are your body's work force. In addition, fruit and vegetable juices are good sources of the traditional nutrients like vitamins and minerals.
Since juicing removes the indigestible fiber of fruits and vegetables, nutrients are available to the body in much larger quantities than if the fruit or vegetable were eaten whole. Because the process of digestion that is necessary when you eat whole foods is bypassed, the body can quickly absorb larger amounts of nutrients from the juices than it can from solid foods.
Finally, fruits and vegetables provide one more substance that is absolutely essential for good health in the athlete - water!

I typically try to include choices, in my juices, that I wouldn't typically eat on their own, in a raw form. Below are my four favorite recipes that apply particularly well for the athlete:

Apple/Ginger Juice
2 apples
1/2 lemon
1/2″ of ginger root
1/2 cup of cranberry

Red Stuff Juice
12 plum tomatoes
1 apple
1 cup of cranberry
1 beet

Triathlete Juice
1 beet
2 cups of kale
1 head of romaine
1/2 lemon
1/2 inch of ginger root

Carrot/Garlic
2 cups of baby cut carrots
1 cup of broccoli
1-2 cloves of garlic (Not too much…this packs quite a punch!)

The first rule of juicing is that an apple can act as an excellent sweetener! Rule number two: If you want to hide the taste of something, like a dark leafy green, lemon and ginger will do the trick! And lastly, romaine will add volume to your juice without much taste.

I'm sure that you noticed some reoccurring ingredients in the above recipes: primarily beet, ginger, and kale. These are my favorite ingredients to use as a base for my juices, as they provide the following health benefits for athletes:

Beet - Beets are a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. Studies have shown that beet ingestion actually improves endurance performance! Beets are very high in nitrates, which, when processed in the body, increase our levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps to relax blood vessels, and improve oxygen efficiency. Hence the lowered blood pressure and increased endurance of beet juice drinkers. Lastly, beets are a rich source of iron, which many athletes struggle to get sufficient absorption of!

Ginger - Many studies have shown that ginger acts as an anti-inflammatory and is a powerful natural painkiller. For the triathlete, these are ideal qualities as most of us spend our days chronically inflamed, after frequent and damaging workouts. I like to put ginger root in my post workout juices for this purpose. Typically ½" of the root will do!

Kale - Researchers have identified over 45 different flavonoids in kale. Kaempferol and Quercetin are at the top of the list. Kale's flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in a way that gives kale great qualities to help avoid chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is commonplace in the athlete, as the primary energy system utilized during exercise is aerobic and therefore oxidative in nature. This fat oxidation creates damaging free radicals, which kale helps to minimize the damage of, in our bodies.

As you navigate the upcoming holiday season parties, don't be afraid to do a bit of juicing. This practice will help you stay healthy throughout the holidays, and may even create some really good habits that you can carry into the 2012 season. You may get a few cockeyed smirks along the way, but tis' the season! So, join me in the Core Diet "Holiday Juice Challenge": Juice once a day, every day from Thanksgiving to the New Year! You pick the juice, and when you drink it. You'll step into 2012 a stronger and healthier athlete..I guarantee it!

-Jesse

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So, I have been lured into a 30 day trial of juicing. Perhaps a bit of previous intrigue, and with minimal taunting, I am in… 30 Juices in 30 days.

My disclaimer: I have never juiced, am scared of juicing and do not own a juicer.

Typically, if I choose to start a new endeavor, I will research and analyze every possible angle, perspective and internalize until I feel expertly versed…Unless of course, I feel like jumping in with no knowledge at all so as to create a larger margin for improvement. The later is true for my juicing. After wrapping up the racing season and moving into holiday mode, I'm feeling like I need some raw enzymes and with no time to prep.

Project Juice: Day 1

I stopped by the local market today for my juicables. I read Jesse's article and remembered the mention of kale…so I bought some. I saw some aloe juice and thought maybe if the juice was blah, I could snaz it up with some aloe. I purchased many greens, ginger, ginseng and the like, and I was pumped!

Juice # (-) 1

Now I am staring at the "juicer" and a pile of veggies. Hmm. Maybe I should just look up what the other folks put in their juices? No, that was the fun…mix it up. OK, here we go. My son volunteered to grate the ginger and ginseng, and I started the show with some celery. I added some kale, parsnip, and beet leaves. When I had finished adding my ingredients, which did sound not entirely yummy, I had a very pulpy concoction tasting mostly like celery. Ah! The aloe! I poured a bit in and this had a much more desirable consistency. Perfect! We all got ready to taste the fruits of our labors. Awful. As it turns out, aloe juice may not be the answer. I threw in more ginger, more ginseng, but nothing could really muscle out the aloe juice. We started from scratch.

Juice #1

Keep it simple was the new theme. Frozen blueberries, ginger, ginseng and a shake of cinnamon. Delish. Thank goodness I had restored my children's faith in juicing (and myself!) by managing to make something drinkable! The amounts are tough to measure in juicing, but I think that might be the fun of a new juice every day.

I still have a variety of untapped vegetables in store for tomorrow's juice. Hopefully, my practice juice is out of the way. Stay tuned…

Project Juice: Day 2

Building on what I have learned from Day 1, I set out to juice, keeping it simple. I look over the fruit, and was initially thinking pear, but realize I have actually, in my raw food frenzy at the market, purchased a quince…never had one. I taste it to see what I am in for, and the texture is somewhat spongey, the flavor somewhat subtle. I think with some ginger, ginseng and orange I will have quite the refreshing juice.

Juice #2

Quince, ginger, ginseng and orange.

Again, I am left with a pulpy mess and a juice with an overwhelming flavor of ginger that I taste for the rest of the evening, much to the chagrin of others around me. I think I should do some research….

I start to read some of the comments posted about others being taunted by the Juice Challenge. Hmm. There's a question about juicers here. Maybe you can't juice in the blender…

Project Juice: Day 3

Today I stopped in Target to check out the juicers. The selection was slim and a bit pricier than I had hoped. I google searched the juicer and found that Macy's had a pretty good juicer on sale for approximately $40.00. I was on my way. Macy's at the local Mall on December 2nd is topic enough for another blog, but I did successfully purchase my blender and had renewed faith in my project.

I had been warned that juicers my have 842 pieces that would need to be cleaned, and to try to purchase one with as few as possible. Instead, I went with the one that looked like it would juice, a Bella. The one questionable feature are the suction cups on the bottom of the machine. Sure, this will be optimal for stabilization should I throw in some real serious fiberous veggies, but moving the juicer on the counter does require lift off, no sliding it under the cabinet with ease.

I remember my first rule of thumb, keep it simple, and choose a pomegranate, lime and ginseng juice for the initiation. I throw in the pomegranate anrils and flick the switch. Whoa! Like a CSI episode. Fortunately the splatter is contained within the juicer, but wait. Where's the jui.. Oh! That's the pulp catcher. The extra pitcher isn't extra. That's where the juice is suppose to wind up. I mop up the pomegranate juice pooled on the counter, and start again. (I envision a day when I can just make a juice and won't have to start over.) I place the pitcher under the spout and toss in the ingredients. Well, this looks like juice, and tastes fantastic. Juice #3 is a half pomegranate, one lime and small piece of ginseng. Finally! We may be on to something…

Anne Rollins is a Registered Dietitian working with triathlon coach Jesse Kropelnicki and TheCoreDiet.com and QT2Systems.com. She holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Nutrition. TheCoreDiet is a sports nutrition specialty group working with athletes from age groupers to world class professionals. Visit their website TheCoreDiet.com to explore how they can add a nutrition component to your coaching business and help your athletes achieve better body composition, health, and performance goals.