Tell me about juicers/juicing

[SaltyNuts]

Never really thought about juicing. I always figured that I like fruit, so why not just eat the fruit, why bother juicing it. But lately I don't want to take the time to eat a ton of fruit. Would rather juice it and drink something on the go.

When you juice something, do you need to add water or milk or something? Or just throw in the fruit and it someone turns into a liquid?

Can one add some veggies to the fruit mix to get the benefit of veggies (that I hate) without making it taste too bad?

Any juicer recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[louis redfoot]

Never really thought about juicing. I always figured that I like fruit, so why not just eat the fruit, why bother juicing it. But lately I don't want to take the time to eat a ton of fruit. Would rather juice it and drink something on the go.

When you juice something, do you need to add water or milk or something? Or just throw in the fruit and it someone turns into a liquid?

Can one add some veggies to the fruit mix to get the benefit of veggies (that I hate) without making it taste too bad?

Any juicer recommendations?

Thanks.

imo it wastes too much food. i prefer the powdered+water variety

 

[SaltyNuts]

Thanks louis. How dies it waste food? Can't you put a whole peach in there? A whole mango? Etc? Sans the seeds of course. Thanks!

 

[dullard]

Unless you live where there is cheap fresh fruit/veggies, you can't compete on price.

The industrial companies that juice fruit/vegetables are using cheap misshapen, oddly colored, or whatever else grocery stores reject produce. You will be buying the cream of the crop that meets whatever silly standards that people have on their produce (bananas need a curve, but not too much of a curve). The end result is that you can buy V8 or similar juices for far less than you can make it yourself. Unless you can get cheap produce.

As for your specific request, if you don't have time to eat a fruit, what makes you think you have time to get out, use, and clean a juicer?

 

[SaltyNuts]

What is the "powdered+ water variety" btw? Thanks.

 

[louis redfoot]

Thanks louis. How dies it waste food? Can't you put a whole peach in there? A whole mango? Etc? Sans the seeds of course. Thanks!

it leaves too much pulp. all that fiber is good for you!

 

[louis redfoot]

What is the "powdered+ water variety" btw? Thanks.

powdered grass/beet juices/teas. google raw reserve.

 

[SaltyNuts]

Thanks guys! Let me ask a silly question. It sounds like juicing leaves the solid part of the fruit behind? I agree that sounds bad. Can't I just throw a peach into some milk or something in a blender and grind it up in that? Why leave the "pulp" behind? Thanks!

 

[pete6032]

Thanks guys! Let me ask a silly question. It sounds like juicing leaves the solid part of the fruit behind? I agree that sounds bad. Can't I just throw a peach into some milk or something in a blender and grind it up in that? Why leave the "pulp" behind? Thanks!

I juice every day, in fact I am enjoying some now. The benefit of removing the pulp is that is effectively lets you consumer significantly more fruits/vegetables than you could possibly eat in one sitting.

You seem to be confusing juicing with smoothies. Juicing extracts the nutrients are removes the pulp. Putting a peach in the blender with milk and blending it up would still have all the pulp.

One glass of a smoothie is probably a few pieces of fruit and mostly milk/water/ice.

One glass of juice for me is 6 kale leafs, half a bunch of parsley, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 apple, 1/2 cucumber, 3 stalks celery, 1 bell pepper, 2 large carrots, large chunk of ginger. Try eating all that.

 

[swanysto]

Depends on how you juice. If you use a Breville Juicer, it will leave a good bit of the fruit/vegetable behind. If you use something like a Ninja, it will take the hole fruit/vegetable and make a juice, but it will definitely have a pulpy texture. I like either way to be honest. I pretty much just down it anyway without taking the time to enjoy it. I prefer the other benefits like the energy. If you can mix it with "clean" foods, it will definitely make you feel better.

 

[IronWing]

OP, what kind of juicer you should look at depends upon what you want to juice (citrus, greens, everything else).

 

[SaltyNuts]

Thanks all! swanysto and IronWing, I definately want to try and include the pulp part. And juice mainly fruits, but including a little veggies hopefully. Is the Ninja the way to go? Thanks!

 

[Murloc]

eating easy fruit takes less time than operating and washing a machine imho.

Also it's kind of a fad and has been implicated on being the culprit for some self-diagnosed IBS cases: you don't really need to eat as many vegetables as you can when you process them and drink them.

If I focus I can eat a banana in 10 seconds. No need to wash fruit or hands in this case.
Apricots & purple plums: just split them open with your fingers and put in your moth.
Mirabelle, cherry: throw in mouth, spit stone.
Tomato: eat whole.
Fennel: cut in 4 and eat as is.
Clementine: piss easy if they're fresh, very quick on the go, available for months every year.

Still, blending seems less wasteful to me, plus it's closer to real food, it's just prechewed. The benefit of vegetables is proper shit and this prevents colon cancer, I don't think you get this as much with juicing.

 

[SaltyNuts]

Thanks Murloc. Question, you say this:

" The benefit of vegetables is proper shit and this prevents colon cancer, I don't think you get this as much with juicing."

I think this is my mistake, when I said "juicing" I didn't know true juicing means leaving the pulp behind. I mean more like other have said above - you liquefy all the fruits and the entire thing, pulp included. In that case, wouldn't you basically be getting the exact same nutrition as eating the fruit?

Thanks.

 

[louis redfoot]

yeah, like others have said... best way to go is just eat it. my favorites are clementines, blueberries, strawberries, fuji apples, grape tomatoes... all the finger foods that require no preparation. and when fresh fruit isn't easily available, canned pineapples taste pretty close to their fresh counterparts.

i have a pretty powerful juicer and blender, both are shelved in the garage.

 

[Crono]

It's not an either/or for me. I juice, blend, and eat whole fruits and vegetables all the time. Good variety.

 

[swanysto]

Thanks all! swanysto and IronWing, I definately want to try and include the pulp part. And juice mainly fruits, but including a little veggies hopefully. Is the Ninja the way to go? Thanks!

In my opinion the Ninja is the way to go. I gave away my Breville, cause the cleanup time and prep time is outrageous. The cleanup for the ninja is much easier.

And to the point of the people saying eating is much easier... yes it is. However, you can mix and match veggies and fruit and consume way more nutrients in much less time. Plus, if you don't like stuff like Kale, but like the nutritional value, you can hide the taste with other veggies and fruits. That is very hard to do with a salad, unless you drench it in oil or dressing. It doesn't hurt to do both. Eat some, and drink some. I know juicing offers me a way to ingest veggies that I would otherwise not eat without putting ranch or something on them.

 

[dullard]

Plus, if you don't like stuff like Kale, but like the nutritional value, you can hide the taste with other veggies and fruits. That is very hard to do with a salad, unless you drench it in oil or dressing. It doesn't hurt to do both. ... I know juicing offers me a way to ingest veggies that I would otherwise not eat without putting ranch or something on them.

You know you need the oil or fat in the ranch to actually absorb the nutrients in the salad. If you are drinking them, you better put some oil into the drink or you are wasting your time.

 

[dullard]

I juice every day, in fact I am enjoying some now. The benefit of removing the pulp is that is effectively lets you consumer significantly more fruits/vegetables than you could possibly eat in one sitting.

One of the main benefits of fruits/vegetables is that pulp that fills you up so you aren't eating tons of crap food. You actually want to not be able to eat so much in one sitting.

 

[MongGrel]

I do not worry bout it much myself.

The wife has gotten the old school Heavy Duty Oster Blender out lately and it seems to work well.

That thing was always a tank.

 

[pete6032]

One of the main benefits of fruits/vegetables is that pulp that fills you up so you aren't eating tons of crap food. You actually want to not be able to eat so much in one sitting.

It really depends on what your goals are. I don't struggle with weight or otherwise poor diet so eating the pulp is not a concern.

 

[Cuular]

"juicing or blending" with a ninja basically renders the fiber in the stuff useless. It also helps upset your blood sugar more.

Natural consumption of fiber with the fruit/vegetable/grain that it comes from is part of the whole balance that keeps things normal. Stripping the fruit/vege/grain from the fiber means all the carbs that would normally digest into the system slower, all hit faster. Putting more load on the pancreas and kidneys(Body uses urine to help flush out to much sugar in the blood).

 

[Crono]

"juicing or blending" with a ninja basically renders the fiber in the stuff useless. It also helps upset your blood sugar more.

Natural consumption of fiber with the fruit/vegetable/grain that it comes from is part of the whole balance that keeps things normal. Stripping the fruit/vege/grain from the fiber means all the carbs that would normally digest into the system slower, all hit faster. Putting more load on the pancreas and kidneys(Body uses urine to help flush out to much sugar in the blood).

Are you a raw food only person, or do you eat processed foods?

 

[Cuular]

I eat processed foods. But I know what I'm getting when I do it.

I am a diabetic, so I have to pay a little more attention to how I consume things to try and keep large intakes of carbs down.

Was just pointing out possible downsides to juicing. Drinking any juice versus eating the real fruit is like drinking sugar.

 

[Crono]

I eat processed foods. But I know what I'm getting when I do it.

I am a diabetic, so I have to pay a little more attention to how I consume things to try and keep large intakes of carbs down.

Was just pointing out possible downsides to juicing. Drinking any juice versus eating the real fruit is like drinking sugar.

Pointing the downsides is helpful and pertinent, however mostly people who are mixing fruits and vegetables (especially if you use a good percentage of greens to blend in) don't have to worry much unless they are diabetic, and even then you are just as likely or more likely to get a large spike in blood sugar from a large carb rich meal than you are from juice. You also don't need to chug large quantities of juice at once. It doesn't have to be "like drinking sugar".