Wai Lana, already recognized as a popular yoga instructor, has now taken her healthy living knowledge out of the yoga studio and into the kitchen. Her book, Wai Lana’s Favorite Juices, contains tips on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, displays charts of essential vitamins and minerals, and includes more than 80 recipes for drinks, smoothies, and desserts.
Lana insists that the addition of fruit and vegetable juices to a diet brings benefits such as improved health, vitality, sleep, increased stamina, stress reduction, decreased cancer risk, elimination of toxins, improved digestion, weight loss, and a more youthful appearance.
“Fresh fruits and veggies provide essential vitamins and minerals that act as antioxidants. Antioxidants (vitamins A, C, and E) help protect our bodies from cell damage caused by overexposure to sunlight, pollutants in the air and water, toxins and additives in our food supply, nicotine, alcohol, and radiation coming from various objects in our environment,” she says. “Antioxidants rejuvenate your skin, help lower cholesterol, energize your body, and keep your mind alert.”
Through this book, readers are taught to “appreciate the connection between the food choices we make and the health we experience. Quality nutrition and self-control are both an essential part of a yoga diet and lifestyle. So whether you’re fasting, trying to lose weight, or just getting healthy, a juicing habit can curb your appetite and make a yoga lifestyle easy, energizing, and delicious.”
An appealing part of the book is the emphasis Lana places on proper nutrition for the family. For example, she introduced a diet of juices to her children while they were still young.
“Naturally, my family and yours fare best—physically, emotionally, and mentally—when bodies are properly nourished. Proper nourishment also curbs cravings for overly processed, fatty foods that produce low energy, poor health, and, ultimately, disease.”
On the recipe pages, Lana not only lists the ingredients for each drink or dessert, but also includes the benefits of the juice and the best times of year to purchase the fruits and vegetables. A “boost” option or additive, such as wheat grass or bee pollen, also can give the drink an extra nutritious kick.
“One of the fastest, easiest ways to replenish vitamins, minerals, and enzymes and undo the damage caused by poor eating habits is to drink the juice of fresh fruits and vegetables. In fact, on an empty stomach, fresh juice can be absorbed into the bloodstream and start renewing your energy within 15 minutes,” says Lana.
Not only do Wai Lana’s recipes sound delicious, but the colorful photographs of the different drink and dessert options practically pop off the page, making your mouth water. One of my personal favorite juice recipes was the Mango Milk. Blend 1 to 2 cups of milk with 1-1/2 cups of mango and in less than five minutes you’ll have a super smoothie!
Wai Lana will soon be releasing another book, Natural Kitchen. To find out more about her or her books, visit www.wailana.com.
—Austin Fit magazine, April 2004
