My knowledge of all things healthy eating are vast. My execution of preparing and eating all those things healthy is often limited.
Our family joke to this day is that we grew up eating “sticks, twigs and roots.” If it surrounded whole and raw foods, my mom was on top of it, and that included drinking my daily glass of carrot juice..
Honestly, my memories of that are less than stellar, but with my nearly “legally blind” sight status, my mom knew that carrot juice was considered a miracle juice. With the benefits of absorbing all those vitamins right into my system, it would be gold mine for my body, not to mention that she actually improved her eye site over the years by drinking carrot juice every day.
The benefits of juicing are numerous. We’ve been told for years to eat our five fruits and veggies a day, but it rarely happens. With juicing, you can achieve that easily, plus the vitamins and minerals are absorbed immediately and you do not need to wait for the digestive process, thereby losing many of the important vitamins and enzymes in route. Enzymes are destroyed by heat. That’s why it is so crucial to cook at temps less than 114 degrees, because all enzymes are destroyed above that temperature.Since fruits and veggies are juiced raw, every single enzyme and nutrient is viable and absorbed when you drink the juice.
So yes, I now understand why my mom made me drink it, even though it’s a memory I have suppressed. 🙂
Last year, I picked up a brand new, never seen the light of day, juicer at a yard sale. This Juiceman Juicer brand runs $69-79 in the store and I knew that I wanted to experiment before I invested in another one (which I highly suggest…many different health benefits based on the juicer you choose.)
I was thrilled with how well it worked, but I realized one aspect immediately, juicing is really expensive. If you order fresh juice at a “fancy juice bar,” do not complain. I can attest to the fact that the cost is extreme, but fortunately, I had just purchased about 200 pounds of wholesale produce (post to come).
While carrot juice is relatively affordable (ten pound bag of organic carrots runs around $6), my kids do not want to drink straight carrot juice. (And since this brings me back to my childhood, I stop at forcing a few gulps on them.) But get this, when I juice carrots, broccoli, pears, and apples all together, they gulp it down.
I can’t even begin to tell you how heavenly it is, but again, just to get one glass, I needed ALL of that produce times two because…..
there is SO MUCH WASTE from the pulp that is being left behind.
This is where I go back and forth on the Pros and Cons of juicing – the cost.
Did you know that a lot of the nutrients are trapped in indigestible fiber that our body can not assimilate?
For example when you eat carrots raw, only 1% of the available beta carotene is assimilated because many of the nutrients are trapped in the fiber when you eat a raw carrot, but when it’s juiced, removing the fiber, nearly 100% of it can be assimilated.
Yet, besides the cost, maybe it’s having all these kids, or maybe it’s because I am not eating all the raw fruits and veggies that I need, but I NEED that fiber to help me in other areas…(although now the chickens are getting it, so in the long run, I’ll get it too.)
My conclusion?
I am convinced on the benefits of juicing. I’m HIGHLY convinced and have been contemplating a juice cleanse for awhile now to eliminate a lot of the toxins that have built up in my system (we all have them, by the way.) But, I can not wait to invest in my Vitamix or Blendtec either because I will get a lot of the health benefits without a lot of the pulp waste. Now, they are do different health birds – Juicing vs smoothies, but both have their role to play in getting our family back on track with our raw fruits and veggies.
So for now, I am going to go enjoy my glass of carrot/orange juice, and realize mothers always know best…and yes, it is really, really good.
What about you…Have you contemplated juicing before? How do you get your five servings of fruits and veggies every day?
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This looks so delish! I have not juiced before but may have to start.
Yes and No. We have a juicer, but I do not use it as much as I would like for the very reasons you listed.. the expense and the fact that no one around here likes straight carrot juice. My husband has come up with some great combinations..but so expensive! But.. I agree that it is definitely worth it.
While I really do enjoy a good green smoothie (PB mint chip…my 3 girls slurp it right up), I haven’t juiced many veggies yet. Will have to try the carrot, broccoli, pear, apple blend sometime soon! Also, I recommend you keep your eyes peeled on Craig’s List. We recently acquired a BlendTec (basically does the same things as a VitaMix) for less than half price, and it only had 19 units (minutes) of use logged on it!! Within 2 days, we doubled that!
I have tried it and still contemplate it to get all the great benefits of veggies that I will not otherwise get. I have just been trying to justify (or swallow) the cost of a vitamix.
My doctor recommends it but as of now, I still have not done it. My best friend juiced a lot after she was diagnosed with cancer. She swore by it and maybe it helped her live a little longer – not sure. She died of breast cancer in 2005 at age 43.
We did the juicer thing a year ago Christmas and bought all the married kids one too. I agree, it is very expensive, but everyone loved the juice. Guess I will have to start again. My friend brought over a green shake she does with her Vitamix that was pretty awful but healthy, but I don’t want to invest in that too. We brought her over our version of a green shake – vanilla ice cream with limade concentrate. Her teenage kids laughed and laughed and said we could bring one over anytime.
Thanks for the list of pros and cons. I’ve been thinking about getting a juicer, but I’m starting to think the cons outweigh the pros.
I haven’t done juicing. I think it is something I would do a lot of at first, and then tire of it. A friend of mine has a juicer and she incorporates the pulp into other foods like soups and meatloaf. That’s one way to still get the fiber.
@Linda, That’s what I do too. I’ll turn that pulp into carrot & apple muffins or bread, soup, freeze it to make stock later, or if all else fails, it goes into the compost heap. I love the meatloaf idea though…
We have used that same juicer for about 8 years now and while it’s not the best it does the job. My husband loves carrot/apple juice (the ONLY way he will ingest carrots!). I take about 6 carrots and one apple and juice them together. I also like celery/apple juice. Sometimes I will add some spinach or a beet.
What a bargain you got on that juicer! And the juice looks absolutely delicious 🙂
We have apple trees and I love taking them over to my mom’s to have them juiced!! A carrot and some celery added every now and then is refreshing as well. Oh, but fresh apple juice is so YUM!!!!! I hope to get my own juicer soon. 🙂
We’ve juiced for years, and I’ve blogged about it a few times, too. Right now we are using the Omega 8006 Nutrition Center juicer and love it! I have a review about it on my blog 🙂
P.S. Adding a wedge of cucumber regularly is really great for your skin!
I’ve thought of a juicer, but never got one. I love to do green smoothies with my stick blender to get extra veggies in with my smoothie.
Been thinking ’bout getting a juicer, but it’s not in the budget at the moment…
My kids love when I juice…..actually they love when THEY juice! They think it’s a great toy! They do love the finished product, for the most part, if we choose our combinations wisely! I believe there are recipes, for soups and muffins, using the “pulp” that is left behind…..just a thought! 🙂
We have that exact Juiceman Jr. We haven’t used it in awhile…I need to pull it out!
We love our Vitamix. (Our old blender wouldn’t even blend a milkshake without smoking.) I cringe at the idea of throwing away 3/4 of the veggies/fruit – and have a hard time believing it’s truly healthier, as a general rule, to be eating only this part of the fruit or vegetable. Fruits, especially, are designed to contain fiber so that the sugars digest more slowly. (Fasting, cleansing, etc. on occasion is a totally different issue, IMO.)
BTW, we love seeing the Packers cups in your photos. 😉
I admit … I have never tried juicing. It seems very expensive. I wonder if you could freeze the pulp in cubes and add them into stews, soups, pasta, breads, etc to incorporate more nutrition there?
We got a juicer for Christmas this year and you’re so right! It’s expensive but SO good and good for you.
We only do it once in a blue moon because I just don’t have the $$$ to make 11 glasses of fresh squeezed. (I do use the pulp to make breads and muffins)
PS This is my first time playing along with your recipe meme 🙂
I tend to juice only when my apple and pear trees are in full production, then the juice is free. I don’t really think about it the rest of the year…
wow…how wonderful to have fruit trees 🙂
Thank you for hosting Tasty Tuesday!
I seriously need to get back to juicing. I love carrot juice with one granny smith apple. Thanks for the reminder of how great this is for us.
I had a mom that juiced for me and my brother as kids. We didn’t like the taste of straight carrot either, but she would also do lemons and apples, to make sweet stuff- yum. As for the waste product, you may want to invest in a more recent juicer, because they have come a LONG way, and I know from experience, because my moms juicer left behind the same stuff, but now adays, they have juicers that pulverize the entire veggie/fruit and use it all with barely any waste. She also used to use the pure juice as ingredients to pasta suaces, etc. so we didnt taste the nasty stuff all the time. 🙂
yes, you are so right…that is why I mentioned investing in one that is higher priced, but $5 was hard to pass up at a yard sale. I didn’t realize that some had barely any waste…that is awesome. 🙂
Thanks for hosting today, Jennifer!
My mother-in-law does a lot of juicing but I’ve never done any! I think I would like it! Thanks for sharing Jen!!
Beautiful fresh juice! What a healthy and delicious choice…thanks for hosting!
I recently started juicing and love it! I started a series on juicing for newbies because it’s so hard to get information that is meant for everyday moms. If you are interested come on over and check it out.
http://gettinhealthycheap.blogspot.com/2010/07/juicing-for-newbies.html
Thanks for the recipe linky! 🙂
I don’t have a juicer but was addicted to green smoothies a couple weeks back. At least they are a good thing to get addicted to! I didn’t like cleaning my blender so much though….
This was perfect timing for me! My juicer I just got as a wedding present is sitting in the sink to be cleaned. I used it for the first time yesterday. I put in carrots, peaches, blueberries and spinach in it and it turned out pretty tasty. I was thinking about using the pulp of the carrots for carrot-apple muffins, but I was worried that they might be a little drier because the pulp is drier than straight shredded carrots.
I would love more recipes for juicing!
I have never juiced, but we do make a lot of smoothies.
Thanks for the carnival.
I tried my first glass of carrot juice on a recent vacation and it was actually really tasty! You’re mix of carrots, broccoli, pears, and apples sounds so good…would love to try a glass. 🙂 Sometimes the natural sugar content is so high in juice, we eat tons of whole fruits and veggies with the fiber. We also love making all sorts of smoothies. Maybe someday we’ll invest in a juicer and enjoy fresh juice at home too. Great find on a $5 juicer!
Thanks for hosting! I love getting inspired by all the great recipes and photos each week. 🙂
I used to juice a LONG time ago, before kids. Then I got rid of it and never got one again. I’ve been tempted to get a nice one again but they can be so expensive!! I have seen so good recipes and I KNOW I would love the juice as we eat a lot of veggies. So maybe someday…
The idea of juicing sounds good, just not cost effective. I wonder if there’s any way to use the pulp?
Did you get a vitamix? My husband has seen it at Costco when they Demo it. he says it’s amazing ☺
P.S.- Go packers
Yum, yum, yum! I used to drink/juice carrot apple juice all the time and completely forgot about it. I am dragging my juicer out!
My husband bought me a Vitamix for Mother’s Day 3 years ago. It is used at least once a day and sometimes several times a day. Especially on these warm Georgia days, we love our smoothies!
Never juiced and honestly don’t plan to. We eat tons of veggies and fruit so I’m honestly not worried about our daily intake. We have an acre sized vegetable garden and our kids can eat a whole apple in 20 seconds flat. I’m grateful to have children that enjoy healthy foods.
How funny that you post this because just yesterday I was thinking “I really need to do a juice fast.” I have a juicer atop my cabinets that is just collecting dust. I LOVE to do it, but yeah, it can get expensive. It is definitely worth it, though.
Now I feel guilty. I have a Vitamix and love-love it, but I don’t use it like I should. We love smoothies! I do try to make them healthy. I should try to hide a carrot in them once in a while! The biggest reason I love my vitamix is because it grinds up even the strawberry seeds! Not a one to be found. Amazing.
No guilt allowed. 🙂 We do what we can do as moms, and the juice is going to offset my french fries. 🙂
Joey – my parents have been using/selling juice plus since it came out..was it 15 years ago? You’re right, it’s wonderful.
I don’t care for the taste of carrots, so I usually add a few granny smith apples to the carrots when I juice them. Their taste is strong enough that it is like drinking orange-colored apple juice!
Also, there are recipes for carrot muffins, etc. that will allow you to use some of the pulp (You’d have to make a TON of muffins to use it all!) but it does help me feel less wasteful…..
You just reminded me that I have a almost new Champion juicer in my garage. I love juicing, just got out of the habit. The pulp can be used in other dishes, I’m sure you know. What a blessing your parents were to teach you about healthy eating. I grew up on bacon fat in everything, and a balanced meal for us was a meat, potatoes, and lima beans for the green. You’re amazing to do all you do. Love your blog.
oh Gail – a Champion is a really great one. 🙂 I just drank my carrot, apple and grape concoction. It was mainly carrots but just enough fruit to make it yummy (it offset my french fry addiction….haven’t started my juice cleanse yet…lol)
I second the use of leftover pulp, no need to waste
I esp. use carrot and celery as a base for Bolognese sauce – just add tomatoes and ground meat (if you like) or stews.
or good for pets, just add to the dog’s rice and meat for added vitamins
btw try juicing oranges! It comes out soo smooth and silky. love ti
Your post is really a good one. thanks for sharing.
OK, you know I can’t resist commenting on this post, and since we are friends, you wont take it the wrong way!! I get 17 vine ripened, pesticide free, raw fruits and veggies everday for $1.38 a day and my kids get it FREE!!! I love my Juice Plus!!! I’d love a Vitamix too someday!