Juicers... Are they worth it?

bumblebums

Fruit juice has the same amount of sugar, ounce for ounce, as soda.

And as others have said, you are removing the best part of fruits and vegetables by juicing--fiber. The part that helps you stay full and that slows down the absorption of nutrients to keep you fuller throughout the day.

If you like your food in liquid form, get a blender instead.

There is a big difference between the fruit sugar that comes from freshly extracted fruit juice and the highly processed cane sugar in soda. I don't think you can compare the two, not that you should have a lot of fruit juice every day. If you are diabetic fruit juice should be limited.

Oh really? Did you get that from Dr. Lustig?

JDBLY11

Y'all, you can drink juice AND eat food! No need to hate on juice. Juice is delicious!

I got a free juicer from a friend and I really enjoy fresh juice. It's a pain to clean, though. I guess think about that when you are considering how much you'll use it.

Sometimes I want a pile of veggies, and sometimes I was a tasty juice cocktail. They don't have to be mutually exclusive!

So true! When I was juicing regularly I was at the healthiest weight I have ever been. I have a Champion and it is very easy to clean and put together.

radradradradrad

The Nutribullet pulverizes the entire fruit/vegetable so you don't have any solid leftovers like in other juicers that just extract juice and remove pulp. When the pulp is removed you lose a lot of those nutrients you seek. You should check out some reviews on Youtube. As far as juicing goes, if you want/need a meal replacement and you don't mind spending a good chunk of money of fresh produce then give it a try! You can get the Nutribullet at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $100, but go online and print off a 20% coupon first and it's a WIN, WIN, WIN.

Note, I don't have the Nutribullet myself, but I plan on purchasing one in the near future and giving juicing a try, too

sweetpea03b

I love my juicer... I just rarely have time for the cleanup involved so I don't use it as much as I'd like to.... but its a good way to get alot of vitamins in without having to eat veggies all day.... esp if you're not a fan of veggies in the first place.

JDBLY11

Fruit juice has the same amount of sugar, ounce for ounce, as soda.

And as others have said, you are removing the best part of fruits and vegetables by juicing--fiber. The part that helps you stay full and that slows down the absorption of nutrients to keep you fuller throughout the day.

If you like your food in liquid form, get a blender instead.

There is a big difference between the fruit sugar that comes from freshly extracted fruit juice and the highly processed cane sugar in soda. I don't think you can compare the two, not that you should have a lot of fruit juice every day. If you are diabetic fruit juice should be limited.

Oh really? Did you get that from Dr. Lustig?

Well it is just common sense. Fruit is very healthy for you and has vitamins, minerals and antioxidants so why would freshly extracted juice be bad for you unless you are diabetic?

Putcake

We have the Ninja system - it does the "whole food juicing" - so I use fruits, veggies and liquid - usually dairy - to make smoothies.

I love using this machine! I use it almost every day. I buy a big bag of spinach and juice it all at once - and then put that in a container in the fridge. We use that liquid for the next few days to add to our smoothies. I have a fussy toddler who is not interested in eating veggies right now, but he LOVES smoothies - so that's how I sneak some nutrition into him.

My favorite combo right now is spinach juice with greek yogurt, frozen fruit (strawberry, pineapple, mango and peach) and some unsweetened cranberry juice. It's about 150 calories, and I'm getting a serving of fruit and veggie in each one.

Instead of happy hour, we have smoothie hour.

And since it's a blending "system" - the other attachments make it a food processor and a mixer. I haven't gotten that far yet - they had me at the word smoothie.

I had a traditional juicer and it was too much work and clean up. It's in my garage waiting for the next goodwill trip.

bevmcarthur

i have a Champion and i love it its a little big i like that you can also make Sherbet with it also. I also have a vitamix but use it for smoothies and other stuff but you can use it to juice also

FootballGamer58

Fruit juice has the same amount of sugar, ounce for ounce, as soda.

And as others have said, you are removing the best part of fruits and vegetables by juicing--fiber. The part that helps you stay full and that slows down the absorption of nutrients to keep you fuller throughout the day.

If you like your food in liquid form, get a blender instead.

There is a big difference between the fruit sugar that comes from freshly extracted fruit juice and the highly processed cane sugar in soda. I don't think you can compare the two, not that you should have a lot of fruit juice every day. If you are diabetic fruit juice should be limited.

Oh really? Did you get that from Dr. Lustig?

Well it is just common sense. Fruit is very healthy for you and has vitamins, minerals and antioxidants so why would freshly extracted juice be bad for you unless you are diabetic?

except its not common sense, the sugar is the same, you are referring to the nutrients not the sugar.

thomcand

Thank you all for your opinions! Some great points were brought up. I was just curious what others were thinking about juicers, not setting out to get one. I make smoothies currently and enjoy those but wasn't sure if I wanted to juice instead. I have heard rave reviews about the Ninja blender and am hoping to get one soon!!

mycupyourcake

I used to have a juicer (actually I think it is in the basement now). I juiced carrots, but then I had kids and juicing and the clean up was too time consuming. I thought a long time about getting a vitamix and am so happy I did. I blend spinach and cucumber along with strawberries or blueberries into my protein shakes every day and it is awesome. I didn't experiment with under blenders b/c I didn't want to invest in them to find that I really needed the vitamix. I also make sorbets for my kids every day with frozen banana and frozen grapes and a splash of almond milk. They love it, it has all the fiber in it and none of the added sugars and they feel like they are eating ice cream. I also sometimes sneak spinach into their smoothies.

rosieloo13

Juicers are worth it. A vitamix is not a juicer it is a blender. The best juicer is the omega vert. It is expensive but worth it. I juice veggies for dinner and when I want to detox from process foods. When I have a veggie juice for dinner I can lose up to one pound per day. I'm down 5lbs in 4 days.

castelluzzo99

I will recommend two videos you can watch (documentaries--not ads).

Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead. This is one guy who juiced for 60 days to reverse an autoimmune disease. It worked. He also lost a considerable amount of weight and looked healthy at the end of it.

Bella Vita the Movie (available from http://modernmanna.org). This is a documentary of a cleansing program where they use fruit and veggie juices, among other things.

Essentially, the idea is that fruits and veggies are high in micronutrients. By juicing, you accomplish 2 things: you get rid of the fiber that would slow absorption, and you are able to consume the nutrients in a much larger quantity of foods than you could consume if you ate the whole food.

I have a Champion Juicer. I bought it mostly because I wanted the grinding attachment to grind wheat (it was cheaper than buying a juicer AND a grinder). It's one of those juicers that will pretty much last forever. It is not going to get 100% of the juice out of the fiber, though. I think Modern Manna has suggestions on juicers.

I have found that fresh veggie juice is exactly what I need to get rid of cravings that lead to binging. So if you get a juicer and are tempted some day to eat everything in sight, juice a few carrots, an apple, some greens (spinach, romaine, kale, whatever you have), and any other veggies you have on hand (even the long stems of broccoli that most people don't eat). Drink 8 ounces, and see if the cravings don't disappear within a few minutes.

So in summary, if you get a good quality juicer and actually use it, yes, they are worth it.