Anybody do juicing as part of meal planning?

LyndaBSS

I'm interested in adding some juicing, not smoothies, to my meal planning. I want to get more dark leafy greens and fruits into my diet.

Anybody have experience with juicing? I'd be interested in knowing which juicer you use, too. Thanks for sharing.

concordancia

What do you have against fiber?

Joanna2012B

Personally I enjoy eating my vegetables. Juicing is very expensive and removes all the goodness out of the veggies. If you really don't like eating veg then I would suggest making a smoothie over juicing.

LyndaBSS

I must not have explained myself well enough.

I'm looking to juice those greens I don't like to eat. My diet is plant based with seafood, eggs and cheese. I want to add MORE veggies. I DON'T want smoothies.

lemurcat2

Why not smoothies?

I enjoy smoothies (I enjoy all kinds of greens cooked and in salads too), and so often have one for breakfast, especially when it's hot. I usually add frozen greens of some sort. The benefit is you get to keep the fiber.

I'm skeptical of juice because it removes the fiber and if it's fruit based it's high sugar without fiber and pretty easy to consume a lot of cals that way.

I tend to eat 10+ servings of veg and some fruit, and don't really see a need to consume more, but I also don't see any harm in experimenting with juicing although I would not make it too significant a proportion of my veg and fruit consumption.

tinkerbellang83

You get very little juice out of veg and as others have stated you lose the fibre by doing so, can you perhaps blend the greens into other foods such as sauces for your seafood or just eat more of the fruit and veg you do like.

kimny72

LyndaBSS wrote: »

I must not have explained myself well enough.

I'm looking to juice those greens I don't like to eat. My diet is plant based with seafood, eggs and cheese. I want to add MORE veggies. I DON'T want smoothies.

I tried a couple of juicers back in the day and found them a complete PITA. A lot of work for a little glass of juice. I do think the technology has changed a bit, but haven't kept up on it, sorry. I found them really messy and slow.

I use a Vitamix now to make smoothies. I know you said you don't want smoothies, but if you don't put in any protein or fat or banana, and just blend the crap out of fruits & veggies it comes out pretty juice-like. Just something to think about I throw a couple of peeled oranges in the Vitamix when I'm craving OJ and it hits the spot. Hopefully someone who juices will wander through!

psychod787

Yes! It's the chompers 2000. Cost...$0.00... as I EAT an apple....

amusedmonkey

No, because I hate cleaning the juicer (same goes for smoothies because I hate cleaning the blender). I also enjoy eating fruits and vegetables so getting nutrients is not an issue for me. I do love me some store bought tomato juice because I love it, not because I'm dieting.

Diatonic12

If you'll use a vitamix you'll lose nothing. Fiber is still there. I had a juicer and got rid of it. What a waste of produce and money. The end result was a natural sugar bomb without the fiber. You can make vege soups in your vitamix, too. You can throw everything in there, lemons, limes, carrots, celery, kale, spinach, raddichio, cabbage, anything you can think of.

LyndaBSS

Thanks everyone.

Kathryn247

I found that vegetables I don't like eating, I also don't like in juice form. (I'm looking at you, celery.)

concordancia

Kathryn247 wrote: »

I found that vegetables I don't like eating, I also don't like in juice form. (I'm looking at you, celery.)

I find that vegetables that I do enjoy eating, I don't like in juice form. Celery and carrots both come to mind.

LyndaBSS

concordancia wrote: »

What do you have against fiber?

You made me curious so I just went to my diary and checked. I did a weekly check and, whaddya know, I've met my fiber intake exactly. Phew, dodged a bullet there. 😉

lemurcat2

I like celery juiced, but I also really like it raw (and I love cooked celeriac).

Weirdly, I like tomatoes, tomato sauces, gazpacho, tomato soup, etc., but I cannot stand tomato juice.

missysippy930

I don’t do smoothies or juice. I prefer chewing my calories over drinking. It gives me much more satisfaction and I feel fuller.
Diet pop, black coffee, ice tea and water are my beverages of choice. Very seldom drink wine or alcohol either.

maureenseel1984

I don't juice because fruits and vegetables contain fiber that is good for digestion. With juicing, you get rid of the fiber and also concentrate things like sugar that is in the fruit or vegetable. I had carrot juice once a few years back and my blood sugar went berserk. I'd rather eat the carrot.

COGypsy

LyndaBSS wrote: »

I'm interested in adding some juicing, not smoothies, to my meal planning. I want to get more dark leafy greens and fruits into my diet.

Anybody have experience with juicing? I'd be interested in knowing which juicer you use, too. Thanks for sharing.

I used to juice quite a bit. I have gastroparesis and when my symptoms were at their worst—-like discussing feeding tubes worst—juices were a way to try and get at least a few calories and nutrients in. I found leafy greens weren’t worth the effort to juice. A whole head of romaine or bunch of spinach yields less than a shot glass of juice. Fruit juices were a bit more worthwhile, but the sugar hit would give me the shakes with nothing else in my system.

There are lots of interesting recipe combinations out there and many were pretty tasty. Just be prepared to spend 45 minutes cutting produce to fit into the feeder for every glass of juice. Juicing will be great if you compost though. You end up with pounds and pounds of pulp.

I used a mid-range Breville. It would overheat sometimes and the motor would shut down until it cooled enough to run again. That mostly just happened if I would try to make multiple servings. It was fairly easy to clean. Took up about the same amount of space as my Kitchen Aid mixer.

All in all, I’d say juicing can be good and helpful, but it’s a lot of work and a lot of mess for not a lot of output. If it’s something you’re really interested in, I’d suggest buying a variety of juices from a cold-pressed juice shop or website and seeing how you even like the basic combinations and if you like it enough to invest the time and energy.

LyndaBSS

@COGypsy thank you so much for your insightful response. ☺

corinasue1143

I buy juice at a store where they actually juice it in front of you. I don’t want to mess with a juicer. I usually get a celery juice or a pear juice. Just instead of a coke when I am out. I absolutely love it. But not a regular thing.
They also make a lot of good things like an “Elvis” peanut butter, cashew milk, bananas, I forgot what else. But I agree with others. For that many calories, I want to chew my food. For the calorie price of celery juice, just let me get those vitamins working quick!

maureenseel1984

corinasue1143 wrote: »

They also make a lot of good things like an “Elvis” peanut butter, cashew milk, bananas, I forgot what else.

What is this voodoo magic you speak of?

Darren225g

I used to juice with a breville , but after a while i got lazy cleaning up because it's quite a bit of work. However, i juice everyday with a nutribullet to also get the fiber, and cleaning isn't a hassle. I usually use celery,carrots,tomatoes, tumeric,spinach, and sweet peppers. Taste fine to me, but to everyone else it taste like crap, lol, but It tends to make my skin glowy and clear.

lemurcat2

Wouldn't something made in a nutribullet be a smoothie (or soup?). Juice is when you remove much of the fiber.