Sharing my experience with old pals

When I was younger, I couldn’t understand why elderly people always talked about their illness and swapped health tips like others do with popular recipes. “Not me!” I thought to myself. Now that all of us from the First-Ten group are claiming senority, I found that to be a fairly common topic of mine among friends. When and how did we get to be this way? Not to be out-done by other elderly, I’d like to share a very effective remedy that worked wonders on me. Thanks to my ancestors, I naturally have high blood pressure and cholesterol. For the past 5 years, they have been controlled by medication. Approx. 3 months ago, I bought a juicer and started on a years-old remedy recipe: celery, cucumber, bitter melon, bell pepper and green apple. I drink at least 12 oz. of the juice from these ingredients each morning with empty stomach. This week, my blood test results showed: blood pressure down to be around 100/65 and cholesterol down to be 155. With this result, I negotiated with my doctor to eliminate cholesterol pills and reduced the in-take of blood pressure medication to one every other day. If the positive results hold as I continue to drink the juice, I may be off medication long term. I am sure you have heard about this recipe and probably think it is one of those hundreds published. Since I am someone you know and it worked on me, hopefully it adds a little credibility to it. I am so excited with this out-come, I’d like to encourage my old friends who have the same problems to give it a try. The key is to be consistent. Don’t go one day and skip the next. The net you lay in the sun to dry will not catch you any fish. Prepare the juice daily and drink it as soon as it is ready. Regular exercise and reasonable diet also contribute to the good results. Gosh, do I sound like a commercial? I can’t believe I am doing this. Anyways, I’d like to hear your success story soon. Meanwhile, stay well and good health, so we can continue to play or climb!! Wenshan Chen (L.A.)

Dear Wendy: 真高興看到妳登錄上了山谷網站! 受到你的精神感召, 昨天起個早,弄出一杯乳綠色的泥漿,(顏色真美!) 出其不意,讓JR出門前,慌張的喝將下去... 今早選用芹菜較嫩的心部,細渣較少, 才第二天, 不知能維持幾天? ^_^! FM

Hi, Fung-ming: Ha, my first fan letter!!! Thank you. It sounds like you are using a blender to make the "drink", which will be as thick as paste, and a little harder to drink/swallow. Not too many people will be willing to take that for long. Even though this is the better way as you get to take in not only the juice, but all the fiber and vitamins in the skin, seeds and the vegetable meat. But the important thing is for people to be willing to take it long term. I use a powerful juicer and only extract the juice from these five items. The juice may not be as nutritious as the paste, but it is much easier to drink. You face less resistance, especially from children, younger adults, and mostly spouses. Also this specific five-ingredients juice is targeting the reduction of high blood pressure (lowering cholesterol was a surprising side benefit), and it serves the purpose beautifully. My suggestion is when Two-Dollar-and-Half refuses to swallow the paste, you then switch over to the juice format. I hope you are taking it as well. It also helps to loss weight (not that you need to). I lost 7 lbs so far and have not gained them back yet for over 3 months now. Good luck and good health. Wenshan