Juicers (no… this is not a juice fast thread)

MarineCodie
MarineCodie Posts: 256 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I need a little bit of advice!

I finally got a juicer after about a year of debating. I've been trying a lot of different recipes and obviously love fruit juiced. If I know my juice will have a lot of fruit I always throw in big handfuls of spinach or carrots to try and convince myself it's still "healthy". I've been trying to drink one glass of juice per day just to up some nutrients in my diet. I'm slowwwwwly adjusting to the spinach/carrot taste. Yesterday I bought some romain to try. So far I have juiced:
Carrots
Spinach
Celery (won't be doing this again… belch)
Oranges
Strawberries
Lemon
Lime
Apples
Grapes (these were way too sweet)
Grapefruit
Ginger
Pear
Mango (too mushy)

Anyway, my juice is shooting my carbs through the freaking roof! Should I be overly concerned about the carbs? I know that low carb intake normally keeps me looking leaner and I don't want to be all puffy just because of stupid juice. Anyone have any good "beginner" recipes for me? (Yes, I can google but want to know what YOU think). Or maybe a mostly veggie juice that is sweetened by one type of fruit?

Thanks. :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Should've gotten a blender, juicers are kind of a waste of money. Blending allows you to consume ALL the nutrition in the fruit, including fiber, rather than just some of the nutrition, while the rest is left behind.

    And yes, juice is basically sugar water with vitamins. If you're that worried about carbs you probably shouldn't be drinking it.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member
    Should've gotten a blender, juicers are kind of a waste of money. Blending allows you to consume ALL the nutrition in the fruit, including fiber, rather than just some of the nutrition, while the rest is left behind.

    And yes, juice is basically sugar water with vitamins. If you're that worried about carbs you probably shouldn't be drinking it.
    QFT. Yeah, could never figure out why someone would want to take the fiber out, when the cleanup causes inflammation for 99% of the population.:happy:
  • MarineCodie
    MarineCodie Posts: 256 Member
    Boy, thanks so much for your HELPFUL tips!

    Also, thanks for asking if I own a blender. Here, I'll help you out, "Hey, do you own a blender". "Why, yes, I do."

    My question was specifically about juice and recipes.

    This reminds me why I rarely post to these forums.
  • wanderlusty
    wanderlusty Posts: 11
    Hi!

    I was lent a juicer this past weekend and have been giving it a go. I friend turned me onto the "Reboot with Joe" website, which has lots of recipes on it for juices, smoothies, and other things. So far I've only tried the juice ones, but really like them.

    http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/category/juice/

    This is the one Im making tomorrow: http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/immune-boosting-juice-recipe/


    Btw, I hated celery in my juice too. That wont be happening again for me either.
  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
    I enjoyed the juices I made, but have also come to think maybe I should blend instead to keep the fiber. That aside, here is how I would lay out my cutting board for the days' juice when I did it:

    Daily staples:
    1 cucumber (lots of water content, little flavor. Helps reduce how many other items you have to add for juice quantity)
    1-2 pearl onions (sneaking in vitamins with little flavor change)
    1-2 cloves of garlic (gives it a spicy punch and lowers cholesterol)
    1 lemon

    Added to the daily base was various combinations from any of those in the list below (usually just 2):
    1/2 beet
    2-3 carrots
    1 inch cutting of fresh ginger
    1-2 apples
    10-12 grapes
    1 navel orange
    1-2 key limes

    I tried juicing my greens, but I actually enjoy a nice fresh, leafy salad, so I saved those to eat raw. I only quit juicing because cleanup was such a pain.
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
    The advantage of a juicer over a blender is that you give your system a rest. The juice is much faster digestible than a blended juice and your body gets a break from having to digest food all the time. The nutrients from a juice go into your cells within 15 minutes of consumption, while digesting a blended juice takes much longer.

    The "trick" with juices is to use just a very small amount of fruits and a huge amount of vegetables. I use a lot of kale/ spinach, one carrot, a beet, some ginger and perhaps half an apple. The more fruits the more sugar.

    I sometimes blend and sometimes juice, depending on what I am after.
    Stef.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    The advantage of a juicer over a blender is that you give your system a rest. The juice is much faster digestible than a blended juice and your body gets a break from having to digest food all the time. The nutrients from a juice go into your cells within 15 minutes of consumption, while digesting a blended juice takes much longer.

    The "trick" with juices is to use just a very small amount of fruits and a huge amount of vegetables. I use a lot of kale/ spinach, one carrot, a beet, some ginger and perhaps half an apple. The more fruits the more sugar.

    I sometimes blend and sometimes juice, depending on what I am after.
    Stef.
    Your system gets plenty of breaks, you don't need to juice for that purpose.
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    I use a blender as well. I usually blend the following:

    Spinach, frozen fruit ( pineapple, peach, strawberry ), whey protein powder and water. Sometimes I add a bit of ginger for an extra kick. Cucumber is a good addition.

    I have also used frozen mango and frozen berries too. An apple maybe. I tend to use more spinach and stick to less than 70g of fruit. Most times, I have it as a meal hence the addition of protein powder to keep me full
  • EATNCLEAN21
    EATNCLEAN21 Posts: 9
    My go to favourite is spinach with kiwi, the kiwi gives it some sweetness and it actually tastes great, hope this helps.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Boy, thanks so much for your HELPFUL tips!

    Also, thanks for asking if I own a blender. Here, I'll help you out, "Hey, do you own a blender". "Why, yes, I do."

    My question was specifically about juice and recipes.

    This reminds me why I rarely post to these forums.

    While you did ask for recipes, you also asked if you should be concerned about the carbs in juice. You got good answers to that question.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    The advantage of a juicer over a blender is that you give your system a rest. The juice is much faster digestible than a blended juice and your body gets a break from having to digest food all the time. The nutrients from a juice go into your cells within 15 minutes of consumption, while digesting a blended juice takes much longer.

    This is silly. Slower digestion means no blood glucose spike and no following blood glucose crash that can often signal hunger. Slow digestion is a good thing. If you are so nutrient deficient that you need them immediately you really should go to the ER.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    The advantage of a juicer over a blender is that you give your system a rest. The juice is much faster digestible than a blended juice and your body gets a break from having to digest food all the time. The nutrients from a juice go into your cells within 15 minutes of consumption, while digesting a blended juice takes much longer.

    The "trick" with juices is to use just a very small amount of fruits and a huge amount of vegetables. I use a lot of kale/ spinach, one carrot, a beet, some ginger and perhaps half an apple. The more fruits the more sugar.

    I sometimes blend and sometimes juice, depending on what I am after.
    Stef.

    If your body is digesting it faster, doesn't that mean you will get hungry faster as well?
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    The advantage of a juicer over a blender is that you give your system a rest. The juice is much faster digestible than a blended juice and your body gets a break from having to digest food all the time. The nutrients from a juice go into your cells within 15 minutes of consumption, while digesting a blended juice takes much longer.

    This is silly. Slower digestion means no blood glucose spike and no following blood glucose crash that can often signal hunger. Slow digestion is a good thing. If you are so nutrient deficient that you need them immediately you really should go to the ER.


    :laugh:


    True! The only time I can think where this scenario makes *any* sense is if you are Type 1 diabetic and your blood glucose is low. Fruit juice is the best response to save an ER trip. but otherwise....
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    I'm enjoying a smoothie right now. I have recently gotten into adding veggies to my smoothies and I'm really liking them. I'm still in the experimental phase but I usually use a mix of:

    - Cucumber
    - Carrots
    - Spinach
    - Berries
    - Apples
    - Celery - regulates blood pressure
    - Fresh lemon juice - it helps mask the strong celery taste.
    - A small amount of natural yogurt for the probiotics.
    - Freshly grounded chia and flax seeds.

    I'm not concerned with carbs, but if I am planning on having a heavy carby meal like pizza I do not make this drink. Also this drink takes care of all of my fruits and veggies needs so I don't consume anymore for the day.

    I have a Ninja which is really great, but there is still some pulp. I was considering buying a juicer, but I realized I didn't want to get rid of all of the good fiber etc. At the same time I didn't want all of the pulp because I did not like the consistently.

    What has been working for me is blending all of the veggies first. Then I strain about half of the pulp of the veggies then I blend all of the fruit and add the veggie juice and pulp together. It is a little involved, but it is very worth it to me. It feels great drinking a healthy smoothie on an empty stomach and getting all of these nutrients in my body. Followed up with a warm bowl of steel cut oatmeal really set me up for the day!

    I bought a lot veggies from the farmer's market last night so I'm looking forward to trying some new combinations this week with items like rainbow chard, kale and beets!
  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
    I usually end up juicing a cucumber with spinach and carrots. Add a lime (lemons are too strong for me) and then one other type of fruit if I want a sweeter flavor. I never juice fast, I just enjoy a glass or so daily, so for me I consider juicing the equivalent of taking a vitamin rather than worrying about the fiber, carbs, etc.
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
    I generally do celery (I know you don't like it), cucumber, carrot, spinach and one apple or orange. I looked up a ton of recipes on Pinterest. I don't really think about the carbs as I am doing it for the nutriants so it doesn't bother me. I am horrible at macros anyway lol.

    Best of luck. I juice about 4 days a month simply b/c I hate to clean the thing lol. Also I don't do it as a fast but as an addition. I generally will sub out breakfast (which I don't always eat) for a juice.
  • Ginja_Ninja6
    Ginja_Ninja6 Posts: 12 Member
    I juice two medium carrots, a large yellow or orange pepper (or 4-5 of the small sweet ones you buy in a bag), 1 apple, a whole lemon (peeled) 3 stalks of celery,a small cube of ginger, and one tangerine. It's very tasty!!! I drink it in the morning as a "wake me up and it's too freakin early to eat anything solid" type of thing.

    I find it easier to get the extra stuff in because I eat a lot during the day... I can't physically fit that much more food in my stomach. Plus, I eat a ton of fiber and don't want anymore than what I am already consuming, so that's why I juice once a day as an added supplement. Plus, I use the pulp to either give to my chickens, mix carrots pulp in with the dogs food, or add it to soups sometimes as a thickener... I also do not take any multivitamins, so I find that juicing is a nice way to get extra stuff in that normally I would miss out on.
  • lysslax
    lysslax Posts: 64
    I really like carrot, apple, ginger. It's pretty simple but I like the taste and the ginger gives it a little kick. Once in awhile I'll add a beet, but honestly I find that beet juice gets old pretty fast.

    Another one I like is cucumber, apple, lemon, and kale.

    I don't love to juice greens like kale or spinach because it takes SO much to make a tiny bit of juice...but I do in once in awhile.
  • Ginja_Ninja6
    Ginja_Ninja6 Posts: 12 Member
    There are a ton of recipes online for different combinations for juices that actually taste good... I usually try to do mostly veggies with one apple and usually a lemon or lime to offset the bitter veggie flavor... carrots, however are sweeter when juiced, so adding those will help with the sweetness.
  • kickivale
    kickivale Posts: 260 Member
    There always seems to be a dogfight when anyone says they WANT to drink juice :/

    That being said, my favorite recipe is this:

    bunch of kale, stemmed.
    handful of spinach
    some parsley
    a couple of smallish cucumbers
    half of a large apple (i prefer Fuji)
    one lemon

    Sugar is sugar and carbs are carbs. Ok, we have all gotten the message to watch our intake.

    But there are days where I am low on vitamin A, C, K fiber, potassium, flavonoids, antioxidants, etc etc etc the list goes on.
    I would have to eat a lot of "stuff" to complete my DV, or I can just have that juice.
    And if you're using a masticating juicer you get all of those nice enzymes your body will thank you for :)


    For me it's not about my numbers as much as its about how I feel. And a green juice a few times a week makes me feel fantastic. Actually fantastic.

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