본인이 인생을 재부팅하게 된 계기도 바로 야채와 과일이다.
2005년 당시 성공한 사업가였던 조 크로스는 몸무게가 145키로그램에 달하는 거구로, 각종 질병에 시달리면서 매일 한 주먹이나 되는 약을 복용하고 있었다. 그때 의사는 그에게 단명하게 될 것이라는 충격적인 말을 했다.
곧 60일 주스 단식에 돌입한 크로스씨는 체중을 100키로그램 대로 떨어뜨렸고, 질병도 호전되어 결국 먹던 약도 모두 끊었다.
하지만 그보다 그는 주스를 마시면서 생각과 정신이 또렷해지고 건강해졌다.
그때의 뼈저린 경험을 통해 조 크로스는 “주스 조”라 불리는 야채주스 전도사 되어 전세계 사람들에게 채소와 과일 주스를 통해 새로운 삶을 살 수 있다고 전하고 있다.
그가 한창 전세계를 누비며 자기와 같이 만성 질병에 시달리는 사람들에게 해독(클렌즈)비법을 전파하는 과정이 “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”에 고스란히 담겨있다.
그런 크로스씨는 주스 단식은 다이어트가 목적이 아니라고 거듭 강조했다.
“다이어트는 칼로리 적은 음식을 섭취하는 것에 집중되어있다면 우리는 미세영양소를 섭취함으로 고기가 정제식품에 찌들어있는 몸을 정화시키는 것을 목적으로 하고 있습니다.”
바로 이런 해독 기능 때문에 동서양을 불문하고 주스를 섭취해야 한다고 그가 주장했다. 한국 사람의 경우 서양인에 비해 체형이 작고 비만도도 덜하지만 세계보건기구 WHO 권고 량을 훌쩍 뛰어넘는 나트륨을 매일 섭취하고 있으며, 커피와 초콜릿 등의 카페인에도 노출되어 있기 때문이다.
“주스로 해독하게 되면 내 몸이 다시 정상으로 돌아오는 느낌을 받게 됩니다. 다시 말해 온전한 사람이 되었다는 생각이 드는 거죠.”
크로스씨는 국내 건강주스 시장에 대해서도 관심을 드러내며 한국에는 (주) 헤럴드의 자회사 올가니카가 제공하는 친환경 ‘저스트주스’와 같이 100% 신선한 야채와 과일로 생산하는 주스가 있다는 말에 판매 방식 등에 관심을 보였다.
여행을 하게 되면 원하는 주스를 파는지 알아본다는 크로스씨는 올가니카가 온라인주문을 통해 신속하게 배달한다는 말에 바쁜 현대인을 위해 딱 맞는 서비스라고 말하며, 저스트주스처럼 100% 초고압 착즙 방식으로 생산하는 방식이야말로 가장 영양소 파괴가 적은 혁신적인 제조방법이라고 전했다.
<관련 영문기사>
Juice it up!Joe ‘The Juicer’ talks about how he rebooted with an all-natural juice diet
In 2005, 40-year-old Aussie Joseph Mervyn Cross decided to consume nothing but vegetable juice for two months.
At the time, he weighed almost 145 kilograms and suffered from an autoimmune disease that forced him to take the steroid prednisone for years to ease the pain. His doctors told him he would die early.
But after switching to the juice diet, Cross’ weight dropped to 100 kilograms and his health gradually improved. Eventually, he was able to stop taking medicine altogether. That wasn’t all. He said he could think more clearly and generally felt better than he ever had before.
This life-changing experience turned Joseph Cross into Joe “The Juicer,” an avid juice advocate.
The story of the cross-country road trip in the U.S. he later embarked on to promote his self-inflicted juice-fast was turned into a film, “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead,” which inspired millions of people around the world to “reboot” their diet and lifestyles. Getting people to live healthier lives also happens to be the business philosophy of Organica, an affiliate of Herald Corp. that produces one of the nation’s healthiest, all-fruit and vegetable juice brands called “Just Juice.”
Cross, who was in South Korea this week for the release of his movie, recently sat down with The Korea Herald to talk about how fresh juice changed his life.
“I say, reboot your life with veggies,” said Cross, who calls his diet a rebooting process, rather than a weight loss program because juice does so much more than just cutting down the calories.
According to Cross and nutrition experts, freshly extracted juice can cleanse and detoxify the body from macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fat and proteins. At the same time, they provide micronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Both macro- and micronutrients are essential components for good health, but meat and processed-food diets often deprive people of micronutrients.
Especially for Koreans, whose daily sodium intake is nearly double the amount recommended by the World Health Organization, the juice-fast would be a great way to detox and start afresh.“You start to feel normal again, like a complete human. Because the juice has micronutrients from plants, it can have an incredible effect on the human body,” he said.
Cross is not currently on a juice-fast, but he believes it’s a good idea to try it when the body begins to feel the lack of micronutrients.
“It would be fantastic to have 1 liter of juice a day and load all the micronutrients into our body on a regular basis. But some of us need to take a week or two off a year to reset and reboot our bodies to feel alive again, to take control over bad habits and to (go) back to mother nature,” he said.
But Cross also knows how dull life can become when one starts living on juice, which is why he tries to shake things up with funky recipes.
For instance, his “purple juice” consists of a mix of purple carrots, bell peppers, apples and sweet potatoes, while his “yellow juice” is a healthy cocktail of watermelon, pineapple and ginger. The results are tasty and vividly colored beverages.
He also released the recipe for his signature “Mean Green Juice,” made with cucumber, kale, apple, lemon, celery and ginger.
Other juice companies around the world, such as Organica, have also tried to add some fun, such as by labeling products with names like Joey’s Strawberry and Claire’s Blueberry.
“I am not asking you to quit all meat and processed foods. It’s all about finding the balance,” Cross said. “I just feel that my job is to eat plants every day to stay well. Juice is the introduction to plants. The blending, the juicing and the eating is my philosophy.”
During his trip here, Cross showed much interest in South Korea’s burgeoning organic juice market, spearheaded by market leaders such as Organica. Just Juice is delivered through online orders, which Cross found to be a convenient and innovative way for getting in touch with consumers.
He also said the high-pressure pasteurization method that Just Juice uses to maintain freshness holds the key to a healthier future of the food and beverage industry.
By Bae Ji-sook (
baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
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