I have been consulting a Homeopath for a routine stomach infection and his medicines seem to work for me. Last week during one of the meetings he asked me about my diet regime. I was quick to add that I eat a very healthy and balanced meal. I am very proud of my breakfast, Oats and sugar free Orange juice, but the doctor looked far from happy hearing my regime.
He said why don’t you eat some Oranges and leave some for the less privileged. I was a little lost, I told him I drink juice and my trainer at the gym said a glass of Orange juice has about 4 Oranges. I tried explaining him that in effect I am eating 4 Oranges every morning, which is commendable!. He said precisely for this reason he wants me to quit having Orange juice.
Next question was, would you be able to eat 4 Oranges at one go? The maximum I could have was two and that makes me very full. Next question was, can you finish one Pomegranate in one go?. Again my answer was no, I generally share. You cant eat that much amount of fruits in one go, but we can easily gulp down a glass full of juice.
The doctor I visit is an elderly, soft-spoken gentleman. He told me a juice gets immediately excreted out of the system. When you have a whole fruit you get the added fibers and also it goes through the whole digestion process and stays in your system longer. Also juice extraction, i.e. 4 oranges for 1 glass of juice has led to the rise in the prices of fruits making it unaffordable to the underprivileged. The convenience of juice has a cost which I was unaware of, plus it was of less nutritional value than a whole fruit.
He said we should think about our fellow beings and ensure everyone can afford basic necessities of life. In our pursuit of convenience and maximum effectiveness we at times rob a vast majority of their needs. How many of us spare a thought for this. So hats off to Dr Kenia for having thought about it and enlighten me. Will I stop drinking juice now? Well I wont stop but I will restrict intake and be a little considerate, as they say drops of water make an ocean.
