The Green Juice Revolution

by Alan Pratt
(written for Hippocrates magazine, January ’08 issue)

I am the founder of GrandSpace, an artists’ residence and holistic health center in Brooklyn. We recently hosted an all-day workshop with Dr. Brian Clement, and I learned new things to incorporate into my health practice. I told Dr. Clement about my unusually fast recovery after a recent shoulder injury, which I attribute to regular green juice fasting. He then invited me to write an article for this magazine.

As I write this, I am fasting on green juice, made of freshly squeezed organic celery, cabbage, broccoli, kale, dandelion, sprouts and romaine lettuce, accented with apple, beet, carrot, spirulina and powdered wild grasses. I drink 1-2 liters of this juice every day, and on days when I eat no solid food, I drink 3 or more liters.

I’m 48 and have been on the path of raw food and holistic health for 9 years. I was 100% raw for 5 years, and am now about 75% raw. I began juice fasting a year after going raw, and have slowly mastered the practice. My goal for 2007 was to play a juice fasting game in which I would fast -- or “feast” -- on only green juice for 5 to 10 days a month, with at least one fast of 5 days or more in a row each month. As I write this article (in November), I am achieving my goal. I have juice fasted a total of 87 days so far, or an average of 8 or 9 days per month. There have been ups and downs -- one month I only fasted 3 days, another month 13. At this rate, by the end of the year, I will have juice fasted over 100 days. This game is extraordinarily rewarding -- I feel AMAZING!

There are at least five primary benefits that I experience from drinking large amounts of freshly juiced greens:
1. MINERALS. Dark leafy greens are a rich source of minerals. Lack of mineralization is a primary cause of disease.
2. ALKALINITY. Greens are highly alkaline. Acidity is a primary cause of disease.
3. LIVE ENZYMES. As I drink the juice, I can literally feel the life force flooding my body. It’s a natural high!
4. PROTEIN. Dark leafy greens contain all 8 chain-linked amino acids required for building protein.
5. HYDRATION. The water in the plants has been purified by the best system in the world – nature. When accompanied by minerals, the body assimilates and holds water more effectively than when it ingests regular water. Much of the water we regularly drink passes through us, washing out nutrients as it goes.

Among the positive effects I experience when I feast on green juice and abstain from all solid food: My skin gets clearer and softer. I breathe more fully and easily. As toxins and mucus are drained from muscles and joints, there is little if any stiffness in my limbs; yoga is exquisite. I feel light, calm and peaceful. Spirit speaks powerfully through me -- I think clearly, and brilliant creative ideas fall into my head. I am one with God, the planet and the universe. Exterior circumstances may not change, yet I feel whole and complete, all is well in my personal sphere, and thus my attention shifts outward to be of greater service to others.

I must acknowledge that the process of juice feasting has not always been so glorious. The first few years -- during which I fasted well over 100 days, including fasts of 10, 21, 30 and 33 days -- were very challenging. A lifetime of stored toxins, anger, and trauma from both this life and past incarnations came to the surface to be processed and released. There were periods of exhaustion, resignation, and isolation. It was a roller coaster ride of bright peaks and dark valleys, and ultimately, it has been the greatest adventure of my life -- a profound journey of self-discovery.

As I began “The Year of Fasting”, something unexpected happened. In January, for no apparent reason, my right shoulder began to hurt. In February, I stopped doing all upper body work at the gym. I began seeing doctors in March, but it was not until May that I was diagnosed with a “frozen shoulder” and a torn rotator cuff, which showed up on an MRI. The tear in my rotator cuff was a mystery, as there had been no single incident or moment when I experienced sudden pain. During this time, I moved from New York to West Palm Beach and switched doctors. When my new doctor saw the results of my blood work, he said, “Whatever your diet is, you are doing something right -- your blood work is perfect.” I explained my regimen of a primarily raw vegan diet and green juice fasting. He was impressed, but said he could never handle a diet like that.

The literature my doctor gave me said, “The causes of frozen shoulder are not fully understood”, and “this condition affects about 2% of the general population”. By this time, my arm was almost completely useless -- I could barely open a car door or pick up a grocery bag with it. The pain was constant and interfered with my sleep. Even riding a bike was a challenge.

An orthopedic surgeon said the torn rotator cuff absolutely must be operated on, that “this will not heal itself”, but that first the frozen shoulder had to be reversed. The literature, from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, explained that the “frozen” stage would last 4 to 9 months, and the “thawing” stage can take anywhere from 5 to 26 months. The plan was that I would then have the rotator cuff operation, and recovery from that was projected at one year. The whole ordeal could last 2 to 3 years.

It was now July and my 7th month of juice fasting. I began physical therapy three times a week and visited an acupuncturist weekly. On my fist visit, the acupuncturist scanned my body and took a reading of all my organs, then told me that in his 15 years of practice, I was the healthiest 47-year old person he had ever worked on. I shared my regimen with him, and on my second visit, he told me he had resumed juicing greens and was feeling great. I shared my regimen with my PT, also 15 years into her practice. She had just begun to adopt a raw food diet, and during our sessions, we swapped raw recipes.

The cause of my injury was still a mystery, and I wanted an answer. For many years I have worked with spirit guides through mediums and channels, and I now consulted with one of the best. Spirit explained that this is a “soul imprint”, a pattern through many incarnations, that my shoulder had been wounded in battle three lifetimes ago, and I had injured it further back in history, throwing a discus in the Roman games. Spirit said these injuries became part of my identity, that I sought pity and attention -- “poor me, look at my pain” -- and carried this energy into this incarnation. I asked what I needed to do to transcend this state, and spirit said I must release it by affirming, “I no longer need this as part of my identity.” So as the pain came up in my daily activities, I would consciously practice this affirmation.

My progress and recovery was stunning. After three weeks of physical therapy and acupuncture, I went back to the surgeon who said, “Perhaps you won’t need surgery” -- a reversal of his initial diagnosis. Two weeks later, mobility had increased 50% and pain decreased significantly, and the surgeon said, “I have trouble operating on someone who’s not in pain.” After just two months, I had regained 90% mobility in my shoulder, felt almost no pain, and was lifting weights again. Both the PT and the acupuncturist told me this was the fastest reversal of a frozen shoulder they had ever seen, and both acknowledged my regimen as the source of my recovery. The green juice fasting allowed the inflammation and fluid to consistently drain from the shoulder, sent a massive supply of minerals to rebuild tissue, and created an alkaline state for the body to heal.

Two weeks before my 4th and final visit to the surgeon, I watched as the NBC nightly news named Dara Torres “Person of the Week”. A nine-time medalist at 4 Olympic Games, the now 40-year old swimmer is making a comeback after retiring 6 years ago. She just won the US nationals, and is considered a shoo-in for the ’08 games, where she will be the oldest swimmer in Olympic history. I got chills when I saw her honored on TV, and immediately made her my exercise icon. As I cycled and lifted weights on my way back to peak condition, I told myself, “If Dara can do it, I can.” When I walked into my surgeon’s office for that final visit, Dara Torres was standing there in front of me -- she has a shoulder condition and goes to the same surgeon! So we sat in the waiting room and talked about proper fuel and proper cleansing for the human body, and I told her all about my injury and my green juice and raw food program. She said her coaches are on a similar program and are trying to get her to fuel herself this way; that she is on a similar path. When the surgeon finally saw me, he said “Get out of here and don’t come back!”

I’ve been back at the gym almost 3 months now. I juice fast an average of 9 days a month, eat a mostly raw vegan diet, and I’m packing on muscle as fast as I ever did gorging on a meat and grain diet. There was a time in my life when the idea of eating raw food or fasting for even one day was impossible. What an amazing transformation.

I’ve been blessed to learn these practices. I feel wonderful, and I want everyone to feel as good as I do. It’s not enough for me to feel good -- the real reward is in giving away the gift. I envision a world where freshly juiced organic greens are served in our public schools, hospitals, shopping malls, nightclubs, airports -- everywhere. My mission is to live it, speak about it, write about it, and create projects to make it happen. If you are not already drinking green juice every day, I heartily encourage you to join the Green Juice Revolution!

Note – I successfully completed “The Year of Fasting” by juice fasting a total of exactly 100 days.