Juicer: Making your own juice?
 

I recently purchased a juicer and was wondering what are good combinations (or recipes) from a nutritional aspect? Palatability is a plus, but I'm really looking at some healthy recipes or places to find them. Also, do any of you mix supplements (such as whey) into you juices?


Thanks,

Chris

Juice in general isn't very healthy. It is pretty much just sugar water and you eliminate all fiber. You are better off with the whole fruit. But, it sure beats soda. My favorite concoction was carrots, apples, red grapes, and pears. At least with the carrots you get some beta carotene. And beliteve it or not, the carrots really made it taste good.

I failed to mention that I did buy the juicer to juice various vegetables. I'm not a big fruit juice fan. I'm looking forward to using carrot juice. I use to drinkt the V8 splash that had carrot juice in it, but it was still too much sugar.


Chris

How about a blender? Throw the entire fruit in a blender, and you get all the benifits, an easy way to get your 5-10/day

Don’t drink too much carrot juice; you can fairly easily get too much beta-carotene. Your skin can start to turn orange while becoming very photosensitive (you burn easily). Furthermore, the antioxidant effect of low dose beta-carotene switches to a pro oxidative effect when BC levels exceed the levels of the supporting antioxidants (Vit C, E glutathione, etc).

If you smoke or drink excessively, consume even less.

might as well just drink a soda. It has the same effect on your body.

That seems a gross oversimplification. I'll take fresh squeezed (any fruit) juice over HFCS soda every single time. Not to mention the (at least trace) vitamins in juice.

[QUOTE=Enthalpic]Don’t drink too much carrot juice; you can fairly easily get too much beta-carotene. Your skin can start to turn orange while becoming very photosensitive (you burn easily). Furthermore, the antioxidant effect of low dose beta-carotene switches to a pro oxidative effect when BC levels exceed the levels of the supporting antioxidants (Vit C, E glutathione, etc).



Thank you for that piece of information! I am red haired and fairly complected and I've noticed two things over the past few years. I started eating more of the beta-carotene rich vegetables which gave my face an alarming (to everyone but myself) slightly orange tinge. I dismissed this cosmetic blemish as benign, easily reversible and an indication to I had a higher levels of free radical scavenging to offset my high level of physical activity. I also noticed my skin burns if not with a visible redness, a very uncomfortable sun injury sensation at far shorter than previous exposure times. Mystery solved I hope!


As for the juicing I've had mostly disastrous results attempting to "juice" fruit and vegetable mixtures with a conventional blender with results varying from oatmeal textured unpalatable cocktails to laughable (what else can you do) kitchen catastrophes. I'm going to research a juicer, one that will both preserve nutrients and enzymes while actually creating something reasonably pleasant tasting!

I've been drinking homemade vegetable juice for years although not with too many variations. Celery juice is my mainstay and cucumbers juice well. Carrot juice makes for nice juice because its sweet so I don't have too much of it. Beetroot juices well and is sweet like carrots.

Celery juice is quite palitable although I wouldn't call it a taste sensation. The leafy greens can be VERY bitter so cut them off it there too much for you. Add some carrot juice to sweeten it and consume it fresh.

Do you have a centrifugal juicer or an impeller type?

Regards, Anthony

I dig apple+carrot+beet+celery, I know it's got apples in there, but the sweetness isn't too overpowering. Believe it or not, the celery flavor is really really good.

I have a Breville JE900. I assume it is an impeller type. To be honest, I just purchased and was referred to this juicer. So, I'm still learning about it.

I do understand the importance of fiber that you lose in the various juices. I enjoy the kitchen and thought about using the left over pulp into different recipes (especially breakfast ie. omelets). Has anyone tried this before?


Chris

We once turned a baby orange by giving it a lot of carrots. It was initially alarming but we were told it was harmless.

Will the machines juice meat and poultry to add protein to the drink? If not, what about juicing legumes?

Impact on insulin reponse in the body is the same. thems the facts.

Yes, but "insulin response" isn't the only "effect on the body"... so equating the two is indeed a
gross oversimplification.

I'm not fammiliar with the Breville JE900 model although I did have a Breville juicer that was the centrifugal type. A centrifugal juicer has a stainless steel mesh basket on top with teeth on it that shreds the vegetables which are then centrifugaly thrown at the mesh with the juice going through the mesh and down and the fibre going over the basket and out. The impeller type maybe I should have better described as a "screw" type where a slow turning screw crushes the vegetables to liberate the juice.

Centrifugal juicers are fast but loud and they don't handle the leafy parts well. Screw type juicers are slower but much quieter and they can juice leafy vegetables and wheatgrass quite well.

Apart from the technicalities the major benifit from juicing say celery is that by removing the fibre you are concentrating the nutrients and making it possible to consume MUCH more celery than you would otherwise eat. 1 glass of celery juice uses a quarter of a celery maybe and there is NO WAY you are going to consume that much whole celery in one go!

Regards, Anthony

No it certainly does not. Fruit does not have phosphoric acid or caffeine. The combination of phosphoric acid and caffeine leaches calcium from your teeth and bones. Fruit juice does nothing of the sort. Soda has no nutrients beyond calories from the sugar. Fruit juice has plenty of vitamins and antioxidants. Fruit juice shouldn't be a staple, but is perfectly fine as a healthy snack when you want a sweet drink. You just can't have 6 cups a day.

Liquidiser type blenders destroy certain enzimes (something to do with the heat or friction generated by the blades).
THe best types of juicers are machinating blendedrs. These have rollers which mash the fruit/veg. they do it slowly to ensure the enzimes survive.
You can also reintroduce the pulp to the juice.
Why,I hear you ask.
Well, obvioulsly the pulp is full of good stuff, and basically, it saves you the chewing, so you can get more into your system.

It seems to me that cooking with heat or even microwaving creates more heat than the blades of a blender. Does this make sense?

What I want is a mixture of things so I use a blender. For my breakfast I drink about 20 ounces of the following: 3 oranges, 1 banana, acai pulp (Sambazon brand), some juice like pomegranate, ground flaxseed. I blend that and then introduce some ice cubes that get crushed in all this.

I figure I am getting vitamin C, potassium, omega 3 fat and fiber, antioxidants. What I am not getting is protien and other vitamins.

Sorry, perhaps a better way of putting it is the high friction and oxydization (I believe) kills certain enzymes which are important.

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off the top of my head..

carrot apple is a standard.
kiwi, pear, brocoli, spinach
orange grapefruit
tomato carrot apple spinach
carrot celerey(may help you sleep better)


yeah, i just mix and match. also, dont EVER drink beat juice straight. it can make you un able to talk for a period of time and can even raise your heart rate. mix it with something always.

I am sure it will be fine. Enzymes aren't that fragile. We homogenize all kinds of things at work(a lab) and the proteins don't denature. But then again, some do. Moderation in everything. It really is fine. You can drink juice. Just don't go replacing all whole fruit in your diet with juice. Really, juice should be considered a healthier dessert item. A treat. I wouldn't worry about the loss of some enzymes. Just imagine what those poor enzymes go through in your stomach acid.

The pulp is just fiber, it is mechanically is good for your colon, but it also slows the absorption of nutrients. That may be desirable depending on the circumstances. But fresh vegetable juice made at home is something out of this world. I do juice fasting, and it saves your body so much digestive effort. Within 5 minutes of finishing a glass, I can feel it in my veins. My eyes get bright instantly. Compare that to the few times long ago when I had a smoothee when fasting... sluggish, naseated, tired.... It just takes the body a lot more energy to process.

Also, when I juice fast, I am having the juice of 20-40 vegetables a day, depending on my activity level. Try drinking that much smoothee.

EDIT: Missed this quote, sorry for restating

To the OP, I have read in some sources (never can tell who to believe) that vegetable and fruit juice shouldn't be mixed (ostensibly since fruit juice tends to have a more "flushing" effect on digestion, and vegetables tend to be more "nourishing"), with the exception of carrot-apple.

I like to do this one:
6-8 carrots
1 apple
1 celery stalk
makes about 16 ounces.

You can use a lot of the less "tasty" varieties of apples. They are often cheaper at the store, and add a bit more "character".

I also did that one above with a big thing of broccoli on top, was great.

How long did you do your juice fast for? I have been curious about juice fasts, I was wondering if you could eloborate on how yours went, and if you followed a plan or just had a juice whenever you felt like it?

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Never heard of juice fasts. Am I right in assuming you drink nothing but juice.
Like the poster above, I'd be interested in knowing more.

Not quite, there is a reason that a person that hypoglycemic can not drink a can of soda but can have an apple.

Also evolution has made the body learn to process the sugars in fruit juice. HFCS has not been around that long and so the body does not process it the same way.

Are you also of the same group that believes that if you eat no carbs (no bread no vegitables, no pasta) and only eat protein and that you canhave all of the fatty bacon and read meat that you want that because you lose weight that it is a healthy diet? I ask because usually people who make comments about fruit juice also believe that the atkins diet is healthy.