Juicing or extracting

amberecochran

Anyone had any experience with juicing or extracting?

popshoveit

I am just starting. I have a lot to learn. I enjoy it, but the process of having to clean my juicer after kind of takes the wind out of my sails. Plus I end up looking at the amount of produce pulp left over and think "I could have just eaten this whole thing instead..."
So far I am enjoying it though so we'll see.

amberecochran

I am using a Nutribullet so I am consuming the entire fruit, pulp and all. I have seen my mother juice with an extracting machine and it does look like a ton of work.

yarwell

cleaning isn't a big deal at least in the better designed juicing machines. Dropping the filter basket in the sink to soak straight away and wiping surplus pulp off with a finger takes a few seconds.

Juicing something like a parsnip works well with other ingredients, not sure how blending it would work.

SKME2013

I have both a juicer and a blender. Frankly the juicer was a bit a waste of money, while without my blender I could not live!

What really speaks against juicing is, you need tons of vegetable and fruits to make juice which is very costly. Secondly, you are missing all the fibre which is good for you and lastly, juices usually contain quite a bit of sugar, which comes to more than blending as you need to juice more fruits to get the same amount of fluid you would get with blending.

The blender on the other hand lets me make smoothies that are not only healthy but also filling. I have just made myself my morning spinach smoothie, with 250g of spinach (I would NEVER eat that amount of spinach daily and you can hardly get any juice out of it, so not good for juicing), some vanilla almond milk (low sugar), some left over broccoli, flax seeds, chia seeds, 6 chunks of frozen pineapple, some protein powder and usually a cup of blueberries. This will make about 1.2L of smoothie which I can sip for the whole day without ever getting hungry.

So for me, the blender wins in every respect. I have to say though...I have a top of the line blender which is not cheap! Good ones are Blendtec, Vitamix (both of which are expensive but worth every pennie) and then there is the nutri bullet (cheaper and great for smaller portions) which I used at some point.

Best of luck
Stef.

pammbroo

Just started juicing as well. I bought a Breville Juicer. Pretty easy to clean but does take a few mins. The brush they give you to clean it is most helpful. Think its more about getting into the routine than anything. That will be the challenge for me. But with everything I've read recently on the subject, either way seems to be beneficial for both nutrition and weight loss. Guess whatever works best in your budget and your schedule will dictate which way you go.

kommodevaran

I recently got myself a Nutribullet, and I just love it! I only use it to make smoothies with fruit and yoghurt, but eventually I'll try to put some spinach in it :blushing: What I think is amazing is that it's so easy to clean, and pits and seeds are just turned into separate molecules - it's completely smooth My hand blender is fine for soups, but it can't handle anything that isn't soft, an it's a pain to wash.

Juicing goes against everything I believe in, health and nutrition-wise.

socajam

I am just starting. I have a lot to learn. I enjoy it, but the process of having to clean my juicer after kind of takes the wind out of my sails. Plus I end up looking at the amount of produce pulp left over and think "I could have just eaten this whole thing instead..."
So far I am enjoying it though so we'll see.

Vitamix. Its expensive, but definitely worth the money. Finally got one for my birthday and enjoying using it. No waste whatsoever.

sistrsprkl

I have a Breville juicer and a Vitamix. I find myself using the Vitamix much more often because I don't like to clean the juicer. I prefer the taste of the juicer but like the fact that you get all the goodness from the Vitamix - no waste.

shapefitter

The high sugar content puts me off. I only eat berries, and maybe the odd avocado. I consume 70-100g of protein a day. This is what my body needs to repair itself after each workout. A high sugar/carbohydrate content is suitable for a long distance runner/cyclist. I'm afraid that's not me, and I'd only gain weight from sugary juice.

surfinbird_1981

I sold my Nutribullet, absolute garbage! We now have a Hurom slow juicer, it is AMAZING! We can make our own soy/almond etc. milk with it too.

http://www.ukjuicers.com/hurom-slow-juicer-HFSBF06-HU600?gclid=CLzz7cikur4CFbDJtAod1EsAGw

bcassill2013

How do you like the Nutribullet?? We keep trying to talk ouselves into getting one. But, not sure how much we'd actually use it. I'm afraid by the time we put enough fruit in it to make drinks taste good, it would be adding too many calories. As a rule, we try not to drink any calories.

blueboxgeek

I got my nutribullet a few weeks back and love it. I like that you get all the pulp so don't miss out on the fibre like you would with some juicers. I'd never tried a blender to make smoothies so can't compare, but my kids love to help make their smoothies so I really like that there are no sharp blades.

I have a smoothie every morning, usually 50% greens (normally spinach for me) and 50% fruit / other things. I generally add some seeds or flax in. I did one at the weekend which I loved and it was 50% spinach, frozen raspberries, chocolate almond milk and a few almonds. Was wonderful.

I have mine early, around 6,30am and it keeps me full until around 10-10:30 when I have a snack or breakfast.

My kids love their smoothies and have replaced their after dinner treat (usually chocolate) with a smoothie. Although probably the same calories (and sugars) they get lots more goodness from the smoothies and I usually add some milk in and try and sneak veggies in. Adding a little beetroot makes wicked colour smoothies for kids.

llc65

I have a juicer which as everyone says is a pain to clean and the thought of cleaning it puts me off. You also need a lot of fruit & veg. I bought the Nutribullet about a month ago and it's great. I have used it every day and there is no waste from the pulp like juicing. I make a juice each morning it takes a couple of minutes. My 13 yr daughter loves it. Getting her to eat veg and salads is a real hardship. I give her the veg ( spinach, cucumber, carrots, parsnips, beetroot etc) and instead of water she uses apple or orange juice to blend and sweeten.I have no complaints about her not eating veg or salad and she happily drinks a juice a day or makes a yoghurt smoothie.