My son was excited when he called me the other day. Now, what would a single 28-year-old man be excited about in his last year of law school?

A good grade, a win for your internal basketball team, a Seahawks score, or maybe a girl?

No, not even close. You’ll never guess, not in a hundred years. I’m still recovering from the shock.

His emotion of the moment: a juice extractor. Yes, you read that right, one of those rotating machines that separate the juice from the pulp of fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Come on, Leslie. How can that be?”

What can I say? Truth is stranger than fiction, as they say.

Yes, it’s true that my son has watched me juice since he was four years old. We both vividly remember him yelling at me, “Mom, I cut my finger!” He was my little helper: he cut carrots (and his finger) for our juice. Stitches, yes; one digit less, no.

Yes, it’s true that he still asks for juice, vegetable juice no less, when he gets home.

Yes, it is true that he is proud of himself (and I am relieved) for eating better and better.

Yes, it’s true that several months ago he asked me for a juicer and I finally decided to buy it, just last week.

And yes, it’s true that he was considerate enough (wow, he has manners after all) to call me and thank me. (He tells me he thinks of me every time he opens the door for a girl and all those times I pulled him back when he tried to walk through a door in front of her sisters and me, laugh, laugh.)

But what he could never have predicted was how genuinely excited he was to have his very own juice extractor! Go figure.

“Mom, this is my first home appliance. I tried it right away. Now I can get a lot of nutrients into my body very quickly!”

Until that moment, I didn’t even know I knew the word “nutrient.” Perhaps our children hear more than they let on.

“So what’s all the ‘ta-do’ about juices?”

We can get all the essential nutrients from juice from whole fruits and vegetables. Fiber, although necessary for digestion, contains no nutrients.

So why not eat the whole food and forget about separating the juice from the pulp? Big question.

Juicing is an excellent supplement, NOT a substitute, for a diet full of fresh whole plant foods, primarily whole, fresh fruits and vegetables.

=> Juices provide us with concentrated nutrition in just a few gulps.

We can’t eat four stalks of celery, a beetroot, beet greens, kale, a cucumber, a zucchini, and parsley in just a few moments, let alone in an entire day. Look at all that nutrition.

That was one of my juices today, and no, it doesn’t taste very good. In fact, WOW! Remember, I am a lifelong juicer every day – I drink juice for its value, not its taste, but you can make the juice you like.

Tip: A little lemon and fresh ginger make any juice more palatable.

=> Juicing boosts energy in, some say, 30 minutes.

The energy we get today comes from the carbohydrates in the whole fresh fruits and vegetables we ate yesterday. (Energy doesn’t come from meat, cheese, fat, protein bars, or coffee — oh, that hurts!)

Most foods take at least 24 hours to digest and turn into usable energy.

An exception to the 24-hour digestion and absorption: juice. The juice, without the fiber, passes through our system without a problem and gets us up in minutes.

=> Homemade juices are the best form of hydration, not water. The water has no nutrients; homemade juices yes. Given the choice, homemade juices are better for us than water.

(If you have diabetes, monitor your blood sugar levels when juicing; vegetable juice is usually doable, fruit juice often is not.)

=> Juices stimulate the immune system. Who are our disease warriors and health heroes? Whole and fresh fruits and vegetables. What better way to get a concentrated shot of nutrients than by drinking fruit and vegetable juices?

=> BIG bonus here: fresh and homemade juices reduce and control weight.

Drinking homemade juices between and before meals suppresses our appetite, satisfies us and bingo, bango, without thinking about it, we eat less. Result: fewer calories, less weight.

=> Cravings to crush juice. Juices contain the carbohydrates of whole fruits and vegetables that satisfy hunger urges and help kill cravings, that sugar and salt thing that holds most of us hostage.

Just to be clear, juicing is different than blending. A Vitamix is ​​a blender, not a juicer. A juicer specifically separates the juice from the pulp for all of the above reasons.

A blender pulverizes the food, mixing the juice and pulp. Blenders make great smoothies, but they don’t make juice.

Juices have been a part of my day for years, the perfect companion snack to the whole fruits and vegetables I consume.

And I’m not kidding you. I have proof!

The next time you come near me (if distance makes it possible and practical), notice the color of my skin – it’s yellowish, orangey – no, it’s not a tan, and it’s not even carroty, I don’t drink much juice them never again. It is from all the other vegetables that I drink that constantly help my liver to detox.

Who knows. When I see my son at Christmas, maybe he’ll have that same fun “juice-glow” too.

I don’t know about it, but I do know that he and I will continue to open doors for each other on our journey through life together.

Happy opening doors to you, my friend. Goodbye for now and remember: “Your body first, everything else after.”

By Dr. Leslie Van Romer

Addendum: If you’d like more information on the juices or juicer I like for the price (and I’ve tried at least 10 different ones over the years), feel free to email me or call my office at 360- 683-8844 or 1-800-375-3754. Katy, Diane and Mona know a lot of things!