Fennel Fluid
Makes One Glass
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Small Red Cabbage
- 1/2 Fennel Bulb
- 2 Apples
- 2 Oz. Alfalfa Sprouts
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Directions:
- Roughly slice the cabbage and fennel and quarter the apples. Using a juice extractor, juice the vegetables and fruit.
- Add the lemon juice to the juice mixture and stir. Pour into a glass and serve immediately.
Health Tip: Fennel is a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory food. Combined with apples and cabbage (which is antibacterial), it offers a deep cleanse.
(About Fennel, from The World’s Healthiest Foods Website)
Like many of its fellow spices, fennel contains its own unique combination of phytonutrients-including the flavonoids rutin,quercitin, and various kaempferol glycosides-that give it strong antioxidant activity. The phytonutrients in fennel extracts compare favorably in research studies to BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), a potentially toxic antioxidant commonly added to processed foods.
The most fascinating phytonutrient compound in fennel, however, may be anethole-the primary component of its volatile oil. In animal studies, the anethole in fennel has repeatedly been shown to reduce inflammation and to help prevent the occurrence of cancer. Researchers have also proposed a biological mechanism that may explain these anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. This mechanism involves the shutting down of a intercellular signaling system called tumor necrosis factor (or TNF)-mediated signaling. By shutting down this signaling process, the anethole in fennel prevents activation of a potentially strong gene-altering and inflammation-triggering molecule called NF-kappaB. The volatile oil has also been shown to be able to protect the liver of experimental animals from toxic chemical injury.