Juicing Book

I am doubting kale. I juiced celery, carrot, ginger and kale today. I used 4 to 5 leaves of kale for 16 ounces of juice for my husband. I drank 4 ounces of it and gave him the rest. I'm fine but he has an upset stomach. I'm very curious to know the reason behind it. Is it okay or is it bad? He says whatever went in, came out the same way like water. Even when he takes beets in his juice, the same thing happens.

What you are experiencing is exactly what I am talking about when I discuss responsible juicing.

Vegetables can have a powerful effect on the body. Everyone thinks oh,they are just vegetables, nothing bad will happen — wrong, bad things can happen.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that you are juicing recklessly but you did go a little heavy on the kale, which is a powerful vegetable,thus one of the reasons why your husband experienced what he did.

On my responsible juicing page you will read that the difference between poison and medicine is in the dose. Thus, you had 4 ounces, a smaller dose and were fine. Your husband, had 8 ounces and was not.

Furthermore, each person has individual needs and can tolerate different amounts. By the sounds of it, your husband's body is more yin, colder, than your body. When there is too much yin energy in the body then diarrhea, loose stools, etc. will happen. Conversely, when you have too much yang energy, heat,constipation happens.

I suspect that your husband's body already has more yin energy than your body. Thus, when you feed things like beets, which are also loaded with yin energy, his body then gets overloaded with yin energy leading to the problems.

Now an upset stomach can also indicates too much yin energy. When there is excess yin energy, it can lead to dampness in the body — this is how the Chinese describe it. When there is dampness in the stomach, you get a stomach ache. Many people who eat too many raw vegetables including salads, often get this feeling. It's very similar to the stomach ache created by eating too many candies after Halloween. Sugar also traps moisture in the body which leads to a stomach ache just as too many raw vegetables does.

Back to kale for a second. Since kale is a green food, you only want it to be a maximum of 1/4 of your drink. In fact, you only want the green foods to be a maximum of 1/4 your drink. So if you were giving wheatgrass too, as an example, then both the kale and wheatgrass combined should only be a maximum of 1/4 the drink. So in a 12 ounce juice, only 3 ounces should be the green juice. I am not sure if you went over this amount or not, but since kale leaves are big, you might have done so.

Anyway, everyone is different — what works for you will not work for your husband. Since it sounds like your husband has more yin (cold) already, he might benefit from vegetables which have more yang (heat) energy.

But until his stomach ache goes away, I personally would not give him any juice. Doing so might only make things worse until he gets to the point where he doesn't feel comfortable when walking — you know, you get to the point where you need to bend over a little while walking with your hand on your stomach — oh what a feeling that is.

I don't know the exact yin or yang property of kale, but I suspect it is in yin also. If so, all of the vegetables you juiced were yin except for the ginger which is yang and actually, that was good of you to add some ginger to the vegetables. But for your husband, it seems like it was still too much yin energy.

Anyway, don't doubt kale - this vegetable is not your enemy. Instead,you are witnessing the power of vegetables and how the yin and yang energy works.

If your husband's problem continue, I would suggest using something like the Chinese herbal remedy known as Po Chai Pills (which you can find online or in a Chinese herbal store). This remedy can help relieve the stomach ache. However, the Po Chai Pills only work on minor stomachaches. If it is really uncomfortable then the best solution is to consult a Chinese herbalist and overnight the stomach ache will go away with the help of the Chinese herbs that the herbalist suggests. In a few days, he will be fully back to normal.

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Jesse is not flexible — never has been and probably never will be flexible like others. But it doesn't matter. In pure hatha yoga, how flexible you are makes no difference. It's all about loving the pose and focussing the mind on the stretch.

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