Would like to start Juicing

mbmundt

mbmundt

Cathlete
Hi!
I've been reading alot about the benefits of juicing. I'm seriously considering buying a juicer to start juicing. Would like to know if anyone else does this and what benefits they have gotten from it and also what is a good juicer to purchase. I've been looking at Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer and the HealthMaster Blender by Montel Williams. I would like something where I don't have to cut up the fruits or veggies much before putting in the blender. It seemed with the Power Juicer you didn't have to do that.

If anyone has any experiences they would like to share with juicing and what juicer they would recommend, I'd love to hear from you.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!
Thanks!
Brenda
 
I bought a Jack LaLane power juicer a couple of years ago and returned it the next day. It took alot of produce to make a little juice and it left alot of pulp. I thought it was such a waste. I thought about getting the Montel Williams health master because it keeps all the pulp. I decided on a blend tec blender instead. It does the same thing. The health master is cheaper I just wasn't sure if it was made as well. I love my blend tec. I also forgot to mention with the juicer the commercial doesn't show you the mess it leaves behind when you juice something.
 
Thanks for the input. I talked to someone at a health food store today and she recommended the Blend Tec as well and yes the health master is cheaper. I think I might go with the HealthMaster Blender.

Have you found juicing to be beneficial?

Thanks!
Brenda
 
I wish I could say I used it everyday, but I don't. I don't see how it can't be. I will say I started to get a cold a couple of weeks ago and started making a smoothie made with grapefruit, blueberries, spinich, banana, cinnamon and honey. I never got a cold. I had one of those smoothies everyday for about a week. I was still a little tired. My body was fighting it, but I never got sick. It had to be the smoothies. It didn't taste as bad as it sounds. I liked it, but no one else in my family did.
 
Unless there's a reason you want to limit your fiber, I would recommend a really good blender rather than a juicer, and make smoothies and soups rather than juice! I have a good industrial grade Salton juicer which I used for awhile, but I was dismayed at the waste so I've stopped using it. The juicer did a great job at removing the liquid from whatever I was juicing, but still, I didn't like having to throw away the volume of "sawdust" it was creating and it was a pretty big cleanup job because of the number of parts. I'll also say the juices were delicious, but they must have been relatively high in calories and sugar, given the number of fruits and vegetables I was throwing in to make a tall glass of juice, and completely without the benefit of fiber.

My current blender is pretty good, but my dream is to get a Vitamix blender. I have a couple of friends & relatives who have them. They're expensive but awesome.

Stebby
 
Haha! I saw the subject of your post and thought "why would you want to start taking steroids?!". Funny.
 
yes juice good for you body if its natural u have to drink apple juice mangeos and banana shakes and carrot juice.
 
I heard Vitamix is a good blender as well. I think I'm definitely going to go that route because I need/want the fiber.

I thought of trying juicing (or blending) because I have a hard time getting enough servings of fruits and veggies into my diet. I thought this would help.
 
Stebby said:
Unless there's a reason you want to limit your fiber, I would recommend a really good blender rather than a juicer, and make smoothies and soups rather than juice!
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ITA!

Juices are very concentrated, and fruit and carrot juice are very high glycemic. Unless you plan to do a lot of green juices (which are a very acquired taste), IMO, green smoothies are healthier overall.

Also, I've tried many juicers (I had an ACME---not the same as Wiley Coyote, lol!--for several years, and used it a lot at one point. My favorite juice was carrot/pineapple/winesap apple), and they are all a PITA to clean. After my brief stint w/my Acme juicer, subsequent ones ended up being dust catchers. I just donated one to a Habitat for Humanity.)

If you do get a juicer, don't bother with the Jack Lalane one: it's a piece of junk, with lots of plastic parts (my old Acme was mostly metal and was built to last).

I high-powered blender is a better overall investment, IMO, both for health and for use.

I mentioned in another thread that QVC is offering a Vitamix as a TSV in January. That's a good deal.

The Montel Williams blender looks like a Vitamix/Blendtec wannabe. It hasn't been around for long enough to have feedback on how long it will last, and the price point is a bit low for it to be very high quality, IMO.

If you get a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec, both of which have a good history and are long-lasting), you can also use it to make juices by blending and straining (or blending carrots and water and straining), but again, why throw out some of the most beneficial parts of the food? I'd consider juices a 'processed' food to use in limited quantities (or maybe as part of a recipe. as Dr. Fuhrman uses carrot or carrot/celery juice as a basis in some of his soups).
 
mbmundt said:
I thought of trying juicing (or blending) because I have a hard time getting enough servings of fruits and veggies into my diet. I thought this would help.
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Smoothies (blended fruit and veggies) will definitely help with increasing your fruit and veggie consumption (and in a tasty, well-absorbed way!). It's always preferable, IMO, to eat whole foods (rather than 'extracts' or isolated elements of foods, which is what juices are), and smoothies provide all the beneficial elements of the produce (including fiber).

For breakfast today, I had a "berry-chocolate' smoothie (I usually make a quart of smoothie for breakfast and take a while drinking it):
1 container açaí-pomegranate coconut water (regular water would be fine)
about 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1 heaping Tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp chia seeds
about 3 cups (loose) baby spinach
enough water to make 1 quart

That gave me 4-5 servings of fruit (1/2 cup is considered a serving) and 3 servings of veggies (1 cup of greens is considered a serving) as well as a source of Omega=3 fatty acids (the chia), fiber, muchos antioxidants and phytonutrients, and fluids (and it tasted really good!), all in just my first meal. Great start to the day, IMO!

(I have quite a few smoothie reciipes in my blog here, under 'raw food', that you might like to check out).
 
Kathryn,

Thank you so much for all your input and information. I will have to look more into the Vitamix or Blend Tec blenders. I definitely want to go the route to get the most out of what I'm putting in my body so it sounds like smoothies are the better route to go.

Your receipe above sounds really good except for the banana. Me and banana's don't get along very well. I would have to substitute in something else. I will have to visit your blog for more receipes.

Not to ask a stupid question... what is IMO? I'm not up on all the abbreviations. :)

Thanks again for all the input/informatoin.

Make it a great day!!
Brenda
 
Hi Cathe,

Thanks so much for responding. I really admire you and value your thoughts and opinion. I will definitely check out the link you provided.

To health and happiness in 2011!!

Brenda
 
mbmundt said:
Your receipe above sounds really good except for the banana. Me and banana's don't get along very well. I would have to substitute in something else. I will have to visit your blog for more receipes.
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Hi, Brenda.
Is it bananas that are the problem, or underripe (still green on them) bananas? If that's the case, you might be able to tolerate very-ripe bananas (lots of brown freckles and no green at all on them).

Bananas add sweetness and creaminess to smoothies. To sub for the sweetness, you could use dates (good in chocolate smoothies) or another sweetener. For the creaminess, mangos have the same effect. Avocados do as well, but I'd think they would also count as a 'green' in that case, and their flavor might not blend with some others.

IMO: In my opinion (another version is IMHO : in my humble opinion, which I never use, because I don't believe in false humility.;))
 
Hi Kathryn,

Actually I can't even tolerate the smell of banana's. It makes me gag. I'll buy banana's for my husband but he'll take them to work and eat them. If by chance he does eat one at home he'll throw the peeling in the garbage outside. If we have banana's in the house that get too ripe, I have to get rid of them because of the smell. I don't know what it is but it's been like that for as long as I can remember. I'll have to figure something else out for the sweetness.

IMO... in my opinion... ahhh. :)
 
I have the Montel Williams Healthmaster.... I do like it, BUT...you have to cut up most veggies.:( I was really hoping it would be better than it is. :eek:
Good luck.

P.S. Smoothies rule :D
 
Hi Wendy,

Thanks for the info. I'm glad to get a little feedback on the HealthMaster.

All the feedback from everyone has been very helpful.

Thanks to all!

Make it a Great Day!!
Brenda
 
My DH bought me a Vitamix for Christmas and I LOVE it. You can make whole fruit juices with it.

For the life of me I cannot figure out why anyone would choose to sqeeze the juice from fruits or vegetables and toss out all of the other good for you stuff. Cathe's link showed a juicer that cost over $500! I'm seriously baffled and hope someone can enlighten me on what benefits juicing provides.
 
Elaine,

While doing some research on this. I did read that with some people it's more of a texture thing. I want the benefits of all the other good stuff so I will be using a blender. :)

Happy New Years Eve!!
Brenda
 
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