Hello Friends!
Most people who
are familiar with Instagram, the popular Iphone app, would probably agree it is
a great way to feel connected with celebrities who post pictures of their
personal lives. For instance, I follow Jef Holm’s posts. He was the winner of
the ABC hit show, The Bachelorette.
His latest post was a photo of 7 bottles of Suja juice. Jef explains in the
caption that after trying a 3 day juice cleanse, he is eager to continue with
another 5 day Suja juice cleanse. Many
of his followers commented that they were also ready to give Suja juice a try (it’s
obtainable at Whole Foods, when it’s not out of stock). Eric Ethans and Annie
Lawless, passionate creators of Suja juice, claim that this juice is
cold-pressed and packed full of nutrients. To dispel juicing myths, they assert
that “a juice cleanse is not a quick fix for weeks or months of poor eating”
and “it is a way to help your body detox and reset” (sujajuice.com). It is
interesting how celebrities can strongly impact everyone’s choices, especially
through their endorsements. Will I try Suja now that Jef has influenced me as
well as so many other fans?
Film is another
medium through which society can share their opinions about health. I watched
the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
recently. The documentary is about an Australian, Joe Cross, who realizes that
his obesity is causing physical, mental, social, and emotional stresses on his
well-being. Essentially, he was on his way to involuntarily committing suicide
by food. However, Joe was able to change his lifestyle. He went on a juice fast
for 60 days, eating only juice smoothies made of vegetables and fruits for
every meal. He lost 80 pounds and kept it off, inspiring others. Joe claims to
feel better and think clearer than when he was heavy. He has also learned a lot
about nutrition. Most importantly, Joe is taking lower doses of his medication,
Prednisone. He has improved his health and no longer gets sores and does not
suffer severely from the autoimmune disease, urticaria. This story of triumph
is a warning to others, as well as motivation. It clearly illustrates the
dangers of obesity, and a lot of other people like Joe make themselves ill.
Now, whether I am sick from poor eating habits or for some other reason, what
we have in common is that I would also like to improve my health. Juice fasts
appear intimidating and I’m hesitant to try it because I know I will get
hungry, but that sort of challenge will build my willpower and smart habits.
After all, I’ve got to start somewhere.
Interestingly,
Joe Cross’s latest tweets include the link to an article in the online magazine
publication Well+Good NYC. The piece evaluates the controversy of using the new
process of High Pressure Processing (HPP) that extends the shelf life of juice
products. This technology is seen as a kind of “selling out” to some. This is
exactly the method that Suja Juice employs. But others believe in HPP because
it makes few changes to nutrient quality and allows products to be sold in
chains such as Whole Foods (WellandGood). In the end, there will always be a
new company bringing raw products to consumers in a neat and enticing package
with or without provocative technology, ready for the masses.
It appears as
if more students than I thought are getting an opportunity to try the juice
trend. When I was walking through the campus cafeteria, a flyer posted on the
board caught my eye (see picture). It was advertising a Shamanic Juice Fast for
three days, described as “A Gateway to the Journey of Transformation”. I
actually saw this before I had watched Fat,
Sick, and Nearly Dead, so it did not have the same implications because
juicing seemed like just another fad diet. This promotional poster emphasized
the benefits of a juice fast including “cleanse, purify, detoxify” and “explore
and heal your relationship to food and hunger”. Divine Service Center of San
Jose hosts the program and listed different pricing options (it was cheaper for
members of Modern Shamanism) and meeting dates. This advertisement seems to
have genuine interests in promoting a healthy juice fast, but marketing to
college students is indicative of the self-serving undercurrent. Bill Duran,
self proclaimed Master Guide of Modern Shamanism, runs the Shamanic Juice Fast
tour across the U.S. His company, like others struggling to survive in this
economy, needs to make money. Whether he truly believe in juice fasts or not,
college students such as myself are desperate to be healthy and thus easy
targets. Young adults already often have self-esteem and body issues due to the
pressures of society about how women should look and dress or the expected
athletic abilities of a “real man”, all of which are enforced by stereotypes.
Thus, students are eager to try crazy diets and take risks.
I was further
delighted to see another advertisement for the university’s Wellness Center
Program right next to the juice fast ad. The ad encouraged students to join the
Health and Wellness Group run by the Cowell Health Center. Fortunately, Santa
Clara offers many resources for students looking to improve their health. For
example, I could join Peer Health Educators and be able to teach and educate
other students on wellbeing. In outdoorsy Northern California, health and
fitness is a priority for many. If I am not on top of my game in the health
department, someone else will be a constant reminder that I need to improve my
ways when they jog by in bright athletic gear or enthusiastically mention that
their simple juice fast is absolutely “replenishing”. Everyone seems to have
some sort of opinion about the right foods. Whether the source is an
experienced field expert such as Gillian McKeith, an inspirational story like
Joe Cross’s transformation, an entrepreneur like Bill Duran, or a generic
health center, they will all share their knowledge without hesitation. Some of
those sources truly care about its clients, but some have hidden motivations. I
will be cautious of which information I accept. The most important thing is
that I make my own decisions because I am taking control of my own body.
I enjoy hearing
about other people’s inspiring transformations. As I walked to a Santa Clara
student event across campus last week, a friend of a friend started sharing his
recent experience along the way. He had been on a juice cleanse for 5 days so
far, and he indicated that he felt decent from the detox. Juice cleansing seems
to be pretty ubiquitous for the crowd of young people. Odwalla is the most
prominent maker of superfood smoothies available at all grocery stores. Their
green-friendly packaging and marketing style draws customers to its peculiar
taste. My photo shows the multitude of super-smoothies of different brands
available in the Safeway across the street: Odwalla, Evolution Fresh
(Starbucks), Naked, Bolthouse Farms, Kevita, Pom, Zola, Zico, and GTS Kombacha
to name a few. In a few of these bottles in the refrigerated section, I noticed
cloudy bits swirling around in the bottom of the smoothies. The bottles were
labeled with a warning that live cultures might cause pulp to condense in the
bottle. This disgusted me, but I guess others can deal with it. Anyway, I purchased
an Odwalla superfood smoothie (there are many flavors available) from Benson
cafeteria. Supposedly, there is half a peach, two strawberries, one-tenth of a
banana, one-fifth of a mango, spirulina, and apple juice in this concoction. Ever
since 5th grade when I had a bad experience with Jamba Juice
smoothies (stomach flu memories really stay with you), I have avoided all juice
purees. My best friend worked at Emerald City Smoothies last summer, so she was
frustrated when I never came to visit her at work and try her samples. Even so,
Odwalla smoothies are made more from vegetables than fruits, so that does not
help me get over my aversion (who likes carrot beet ginger anyways?). Yet, I
attempted to drink all of the Odwalla juice. However, over the course of a day,
I could not force myself to drink any more, but I finished more than half of
it. It did not taste as bad as I thought it would, but the consistency was not
appealing to me. I did not feel energized or full because I simply did not enjoy
the Odwalla juice. Is there any hope for a juice cleanse for me? I don’t think
so. I will have to search for some other outlet to continue my health craze. I’d
love some advice from you all about how to enjoy the ever-popular smoothie.
-ZK
Works
Cited
"Still
Fresh? A Shelf-life-extending Technology Creates a Rift in the Juice
World."Well+Good NYC. Well+Good LLC, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 08 Mar.
2013
"Suja's
Organic Juices Will Keep You Balanced and Hydrated to Thrive." Suja
Juice. Suja Juice, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment