Juice, reduce and rejoice!

First, this juicy announcement: A raw food workshop titled “Let Food Be Our Medicine” (a mouthful of wisdom from Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, who catalogued a list of herbs that have healthful benefits on the body) will be held on Saturday, July 27 at Sugarleaf, MediCard Bldg., Makati.

The workshop, says Angelo Songco of Sugarleaf, gives us the best “raw deal” as we learn how to cleanse ourselves with fermented foods with a colon cleanser with triphala tonic and kefir, seaweed ganoderma soup, astragalus kimchi salad, maitake, bulgogi in lettuce warp, and mucuna peppermint pie.  Name it, they probably herb it!

Th workshop fee of P2,000 includes handouts, generous samplings, and tons of  fun with fellow health enthusiasts. But if you pay by today, you can avail yourself of the P200 discount (thus, you pay only P1,800). And if you come in a group of five, you only pay for four.  For more info, call Angelo Songco at 09178039055.

Do you juice? Ever tried slow juicing? Angelo gives us something to rejoice about: “Slow juicing is the way to go to ensure the retention of heat-sensitive enzymes and phytonutrients.”

And when it comes to slow juicers, your best bet, according to Angelo, is Matstone, which has many other uses aside from juicing fruits and veggies — it can also make pasta, make sorbet, slice vegetables, shave ice, grind coffee or pepper, milk nuts and soy beans, and mince seasoning. How’s that for a hardworking versatile juicer?

There’s one really healthy, juicy recipe I’d like to try: malunggay juice. Dr. Christine Gonzales of the Wellness Institute notes that an ounce of moringa (English name of malunggay) contains seven times the Vitamin C found in oranges, four times the Vitamin A in carrots, three times the iron in spinach, four times the calcium in milk, and three times the potassium in bananas. It is known to reduce high blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, manage diabetes sugar level, and reduce inflammation and arthritis pain. And the good news about this superfood is it’s abundant in the Philippines. A few years ago, Senator Loren Legarda, a true-blue green advocate, gave me some malunggay seedlings to plant. I don’t have a green thumb so I asked my mom’s yaya to plant them.  One has grown into a towering plant in our garden.  We have not tried juicing with it, but it’s given us so much joy as we’ve used it for cooking a hot and hearty vegetable soup. Up next is the malunggay juice. Here, let me share the quick and simple malunggay juice recipe with you: Juice 2 stems malunggay, 1/2 pineapple, 1/2 ampalaya, and one bulb lemongrass. Enjoy your malunggay juice!

Or why not try a light and perky veggie salad? For the ingredients, you have 1/2 pineapple (cut into tidbits), 3 pcs. carrot, 1 pc. radish, 1/4 ampalaya, 2 pcs. onion chopped, toasted sesame seeds, 1 cup calamansi juice, 3 tbsps. olive oil, 1/2 cup pineapple juice. Simply process the carrots, radish, ampalaya, and onions through the Matstone vegetable slicer. In a salad bowl, mix the sliced vegetables and add the pineapple tidbits. Put 3 tbsps. of olive oil. Season with salt and pour in the calamansi and pineapple juice. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds on top and serve.

Matstone juicer is available at Sugarleaf — you can avail of the free demo-delivery at home, plus a bag of organic produce. This juicy deal now includes the ice shaver and vegetable attachment, which used to be sold separately for P1,800. The juicer comes with an instructional manual, DVD, and a recipe book detailing the health benefits of each kind of juice and recommended combinations. Check out www.matstone.com.ph and like the Philippine page for more info.

Angelo warns that due to the overwhelming response, stocks are running out quickly. So if you wish to get a unit from Sugarleaf in Makati or Greenhills, do advise ahead of time when you’d like to get it and what color you like (it comes in ivory or maroon). It retails at P14,000 but there’s a P500 discount or installment plan with BDO.

Time to juice and rejoice!