Any thoughts about juicing?
 

I just ordered a Breville Juice Fountain and a book of juicing recipes from Amazon. Hoping to improve our nutritional intake and possibly lose a few pounds. Experiences? Suggestions?

I prefer my veggies whole. They fill you up and stay with you longer. I can barely choke down V8. Good luck.

sandy

Messy and a lot of work. I agree, its better to eat whole.

I have the Breville juicer. It's not messy at all. Easy to clean or I wouldn't use it. Juicers have improved a lot. I keep my grandsons during the day and we juice everyday. They will drink the juice of all mixed veggies if I toss in an orange( be sure and peel the orange) and grapes. The fruit gives the juice a nice sweet taste. Celery is the strongest taste so we don't use that. I usually do carrots, red bell peppers, kale, broccoli, cucumber, orange, grapes and tomatoes. The pulp looks pretty but don't try to eat it. It's insoluble fiber and will cause digestive problems. You will have several cup fulls a day of pulp so no use saving it unless you start a compost pile. The juice won't taste fresh if kept so only juice what you will drink at one time. I started juicing for the kids everyday when they were about a year old. They are healthy, full of energy, can focus on tasks, rarely sick, no allergies, and fun to be around. There is no way they or I could eat all the vegetables in one day that one glass of juice holds. Their Dr. said they had a very strong immune systems. They don't catch whatever symptom is going around and I seldom do either. I think diet is the key to good health. I love my Breville.

Wanted to add that I have had lots of juicers over the years and the Breville is the best I've used. The Jack LaLanne one is less quality then the Breville, looks the same but does not perform the same. I used one at a friend's house before I decided on the Breville.

I was curious to know why you say don't eat the pulp? I thought that was supposed to be consumed as well. We normally stir in a few tbs per drink but if this is not recommended now, we will stop doing that. I just would love to know more about the reasons for not consuming pulp.

I agree although the Breville is the best I've used. You just have to remember:

"Fruit juice 'as bad' as sugary drinks, say researchers"

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/272438.php

"Monday’s medical myth: fruit juice is healthier than soft drink"

https://theconversation.com/mondays-...oft-drink-4182

"many fruit juices and smoothies contain more sugar than the World Health Organisation recommends an average person should consume in a day"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...ar-levels.html

and so on ... plenty more of this on Google. Simply you're better off, healthwise, just eating a piece of fruit.

(double post)

Thanks for the comments.

There are two types of fiber -- soluble fiber, and insoluble fiber. Recommendations to eat more fiber rarely distinguish between the two types, but it is very important to know if you are older and/or if you have IBS. This is because ingesting too much *insoluble* fiber can cause painful digestive upsets that can last several days. Most of the fiber in vegetables and fruits is of the insoluble type. Those of us who are sensitive to insoluble fiber need to limit our intake of insoluble fiber and make up the difference with *soluble* fiber -- ground up psyllium (Metamucil), ground up organic acacia, etc. As long as the juicing pulp does not cause gastric distress, it's fine to eat it; I will not add it back in because I have IBS and have no wish to be in pain for several days.

Thanks for the juicing ideas, Onebyone! I would never have thought to add an orange or grapes to a veggie drink to make it more palatable.

I think that diabetics have to be careful not to cause their sugar levels to spike from drinking fruit juice. Eating the whole fruit has the advantage of the insoluble fiber in the fruit slowing down the absorption of sugar. I'm not planning to juice fruits by themselves anyway, so I'm thinking there won't be that much fruit juice in the veggie drinks I make.

Although dh and I probably eat better than most people, we often don't get the recommended variety of veggies and fruit on a daily basis. I'm hoping juicing will help with that. It's kind of hard to know what goes with what, though, which is why I ordered a book of recipes along with the Breville juicer.

My husband did a juice only fast for 11 days for weight loss. He lost 14 lbs., stopped snoring almost completely AND had much less severe sleep apnea, had more energy and felt very focused BUT his eyesight got blurry. His eye dr. told him he should have never gone on a juice fast only because of his diabetes. I did the juice fast for 3 days (I noticed I had more energy and my breath didn't smell as bad in the morning like when I eat meat) and then switched to juicing/smoothie for 2 meals and 1 regular small meal a day-I did that for 4 days and for the 7 days lost 4 lbs. Now I make a smoothie for breakfast. I put whatever fruit I have on hand, a kale leaf, a few baby carrots, yogurt, coconut water, and powdered protein in it. It's yummy and usually fills me up for several hours. My best advice to you is to talk to your dr. BEFORE you start juicing-especially if you are going to do a fast or substitute meals with the juice.

This post has had a lot of good information. I have been considering juicing, since my DH won't come within 10 feet of a vegetable. I have a friend that juices for her family and they have a small glass of juice before their evening meal. They get their veggies in, and don't eat so much dinner.

we juice from time to time- mostly when fresh fruit and veggies season begins. We immediately noticed a huge difference.. Had more energy, more focus, felt so much better, lost weight....

Our main juice consists of lots of kale, carrots, apples... doesnt look pretty but its not bad tasting.. the apples give it a nice sweet taste..
we can juice any veggie i know i wont eat raw... ive learned i dont like tomatoes and celery... and beets only in small small quantity.. lol.. but mangos, apples, grapes seem to sweeten anything up for me to be able to drink..

yes and make ony what you are going to drink right then and now.. doesnt hold over very well..

"Fruit juice 'as bad' as sugary drinks, say researchers"


Adding fruit to your vegetables when juicing is not the same as drinking processed fruit juices.

I juice in the summer from the garden-not as a fast but as 1 meal replacement.You get tons of nutrients in a glass and because I am diabetic I juice veggies and seldom juice the fruit.I put the fruit in a blender with almond milk and mix veggies and fruit.when I drink a fresh made juice everyday in the summer I feel so much better.we grow kale and carrots and beets just to help with keeping the costs down for juicing.

Thanks to this thread, I have a much better idea of what I'd like to have on hand when my Breville arrives!

I found this website today that has good information about sugar spikes and juicing:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/hea...ood-sugar-bomb

Cannot imagine myself having the discipline to do a juice fast. Love the idea of drinking a small glass of veggie juice before dinner.

It's not the processing of fruit juices that's the bad thing (lots of supermarket fruit juice products have no added ingredients), it's the concentrated sugar that is part of fruit juice. It would be hard to find a nutritionist who recommends fruit juice over actually eating the piece of fruit whole.

See the link in the post above this one: it describes perfectly the problems with juicing.

By the way, juicing fruit and veges at home is 'processing'. It's a loaded word and can mean a lot or nothing.

It might be of interest that organisations such as the American Public Health Association are now looking at fruit juice as being a link between both obesity and metabolic disease, particularly for children.

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi...rnalCode=ajph&

A 200ml serve of some fruit juice contains as much as 25.8g of sugar (29% of your recommended daily allowance). In comparison the average cola soda has 18.81g of sugar per 200ml.

Update: Well, the Belville juicer arrive and dh did the honors of the first juicing yesterday. He tossed in 2 carrots, a big leaf of kale, 3/4ths of a red bell pepper, and 1 pear. I was a bit appalled when that produced a full glass of juice, as I was expecting to drink something more similar in size to a couple of shot glasses. But, I tasted it and it actually tasted good! I downed the entire glass with no problems. Cleanup of the machine was easy and fast. Really, the most work involved is in getting the veggies out, washing them and trimming them.

Seems like a proportion of 1 fruit to 4 veggies will be pretty good, especially if one of the veggies is a carrot. This makes the drink palatable but still primarily made of vegetables.

Regarding childhood obesity and metabolic disease, I believe those studies all involve drinking fruit juice. Most people who are juicing at home are, like me, juicing primarily veggies and adding a few fruits in only to make the juice easy to drink.

I could not have eaten 2 carrots, a kale leaf, and 3/4ths of a bell pepper in one day (even if everything was cooked) without having my IBS kick up blazes, so it looks like this is going to be a healthy way for me to up my veggie intake on a daily basis.

Prism99 why is juicing better for your IBS? My daughter suffers and I am curious.

If you scroll back a bit in the thread, you will see my explanation about the difference between soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. For lots more good info about IBS and why it's important to know the difference, I recommend going to this website: http://www.helpforibs.com/ . By following her recommendations, I have been able to control my IBS without medication (and with a lot more comfort!).

Edit: Just to be clear, juicing removes the *insoluble* fiber of veggies and fruits. It is the insoluble fiber that causes problems for people with IBS.

Here is a link to the benefits of soluble fiber for IBS:
http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/fiber1.asp

And here is a link to the difficulties that insoluble fiber can cause for IBS:
http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/fiber2.asp

Thank you!