Best of Budapest & Hungary

Maria Mattheisen has turned her passion for health and wellbeing into a career, becoming a culinary nutrition expert as well as Hungary's first natural juice therapist. Not long ago she proudly presented her first book titled ‘Juice – What Your Body Desires.’

In your book, you stress the importance of fresh, hydraulic pressed raw juices for the immune system. What led you to discover this?

Fresh juice in general came to my attention over ten years ago, shortly after my youngest son was born. He was only a few months old when it was discovered that he had several serious food intolerances. I was looking for options and enrolled in a nutrition school, where I was introduced to juicing. I immediately felt this was the answer I was searching for, as I was determined that there must have been something that could be done about intolerances and that they must be reversible, at least in my son’s case. I started making juices with a rather good quality masticating “slow” juicer. Once I became a juice therapist, we bought a hydraulic press for the business.

What is the difference between a juice and a smoothie? 

Juicers and blenders are made to do very different tasks. A juicer separates the liquid from the pulp. Although consuming fiber is very important, the juice itself is what we absorb and that is what nourishes our cells. On the other hand, a blender is chopping all the ingredients placed in it at a high speed, in other words liquefying them, basically doing what our teeth should be doing by chewing. There are a few ingredients such as mangos, avocados or bananas that we simply cannot juice, those can be blended with freshly pressed juice.

Is it true that there is a relationship between hemoglobin and carrot juice?

Dr Norman W. Walker mentioned that the carrot juice molecule is exactly analogous to that of the blood molecule in his book, which was published in 1936. This statement was taught to us in the juicing courses as a very important fact.

Why shouldn’t we just eat fruits and veggies?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating them, however the sad truth is that we simply just don’t do it! Juicing is a very effective and fun way of consuming at least the recommended daily amount. Unlike most forms of cooking, juicing does not destroy any of the nutrients in our produce. Juicing makes it easier to consume a greater volume of produce than we ever comfortably consume in a raw form as it removes the fiber from the produce. We could call it almost self-digested as the body almost immediately absorbs the nutrients. This saves the energy required for digestion and allows the body to rest while cleansing. Raw juice also supplies the body with water while providing all the necessary phytochemicals, enzymes, minerals and vitamins.

You don’t like to be referred to as a ‘health coach,’ a title you may use ever since you graduated from the largest nutrition school in the world, the U.S.-based Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Instead, you prefer to be called a ’Health mentor’. Can you please summarize what exactly your profession is?

Health coach is written on one of my certificates, and I am also a certified juice therapist and a culinary nutrition expert. However I do identify with being called a health mentor. A mentor is someone who offers knowledge, expertise and advice to the less experienced. In an informal way I guide my clients, provide them with science-based information, letting them make decisions regarding their own health. Having said that, most of the time we do have goals to reach, but at the end of the day, the ultimate goal is very simply their optimal health. The relation between us is open-ended. I do not take on too many clients. Just as many as I can focus on properly. They can message me, call me at any reasonable time with a question or for guidance.

Disease prevention and personal health have never been more in the spotlight than today. Do you have any suggestions on how to stay as healthy as possible, once we return to our ‘normal lives’?

When I removed the majority of non-nourishing food from my diet my physical and mental health improved, then I added the juices and some supplements, such as K2 D3 vitamins, iodine, magnesium, and the improvement was so great that I know that I never want to return to my old diet. Charlotte Gerson said in a documentary called Food Matters – which by the way was a real eye opening film – “You cannot heal selectively. You cannot treat one disease and leave two untreated”. When you nourish your cells with vital elements you cannot channel it and say oh this is going in for my eczema and not for my intestines. Whatever you put in your mouth is either fighting a disease or feeding it. So I would say avoid anti-nutritional foods, which for example contain colorings, additives. Eat healthy fats, good quality proteins and preferably starchy carbs. Regular physical activity is also key to optimal physical and mental health.

Does your new book offer the key to eternal youth?

Oh, I would not say that eternal youth exists, but you may always turn to natural juices for their anti-aging effects. Irrespective of our chronological age, we should stay healthy and biologically efficient.

The book is available in print and digital formats, with additional tutorials, videos and recipes.