Juice Juice Juice

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A few weeks ago, we watched the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, which is about an overweight, unhealthy guy named Joe who decides to go on a 60-day juice fast to transform his life.  It’s a really interesting (and inspiring!) movie, and by the time the credits rolled, I was on Amazon, browsing juicers.

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I wanted to do a review of the juicer we purchased – and share my favorite juice recipe – because we really have became a juicing household.  Our juicer is ALWAYS running!

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After much research, I decided to purchase the Omega J8004.  I decided to go for the Omega for several reasons.  First of all, not all juicers are created the same.  Some are centrifugal juicers and others are masticating juicers. A centrifugal juicer works by grinding the fruit and veggies to a pulp and then spinning the pulp at a very high speed, which separates the juice from the pulp.  A masticating juicer ‘chews’ up the fruit and veggies at a lower speed with no intense spinning motion.  Centrifugal juicers are usually louder and less efficient; they are also cheaper. 

 

The Omega is a masticating juicer (let the dirty jokes begin….).  See the inside of the Omega?

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The fruit and veggies get pushed into that piece and then the juice is separated from the pulp through that screen.

 

The pulp comes out the end and into one bucket; the juice goes in the other.

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The Omega is really efficient at getting the juice out; but sometimes, I run the pulp through the machine again and get a TON of extra juice out.  But twice is all it takes.

 

Other bonuses about the Omega:  it comes with a TEN YEAR warranty!  Yes, it is a very pricy appliance, but with such a good, long warranty, I felt it was worth it (I feel the same way about the Vitamix blender). 

 

It is also extremely quiet.  It is so quiet that the first time I turned it on, the Husband said, “Turn it on!” and I was like, “I already did!”  I really like it’s quietness because juicing takes a while, and if it was super noisy, I would probably be less inclined to juice.  It is very easy to take apart and clean.  I do wish it was black instead of white – as you can see in my pictures, the juicer gets dirty really fast and it’s hard to keep tidy. 

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Of course, I did not go on a 60-day juice fast like Joe in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  Well, actually, out of curiosity, I attempted a 5-day fast (I’ve heard how people who juice fast experience this sudden surge of energy and kind of wanted to see if it was true or just a placebo effect).  I lasted all of 6 hours on juice alone before freaking out and shoving a chocolate bar in my mouth.  Will power – I lack it.  However, as an experiment, the Husband went on a 4-day juice fast, and my brother-in-law Nick did 2.5 days, and they both did say they felt better than ever on it.  In terms of whether juice fasting is healthy for a non-distorted eating individual, I really can’t comment (it’s definitely up for debate), but I can say that juice alone is not enough to sustain me (at least emotionally!).

 

While juice fasts are not for me, I have been juicing very regularly.  I have one or two juices a day five days a week, and I love it!  I do feel healthier when I juice. After all, fresh-pressed juice is an easy way to ingest a lot of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Juicing alone wouldn’t fulfill all of your nutritional needs, which is why there is so much debate on how healthy juice fasts really are in the long-term.  It depends on what you’re juicing, but juicing can be very high in calories, (natural) sugars, and carbs.  And, of course, when you juice a fruit or veggie, you’re getting a lot of it’s goodness, but you’re also taking away the fiber, which is an important part of a healthy diet.

 

For someone like me, who truly struggles to eat the recommended 5 fruits + veggies a day, juicing is great.  I eat many whole fruits and veggies, but juicing helps ‘top’  me off.  (I recently heard on NPR that some public health officials are considering increasing the recommendation to 7 fruits and veggies a day for women and 9 for men – yikes!).

 

So – bottom line. I love my juicer, I think it’s definitely worth the price tag, and I really enjoy daily juicing.  I think it’s a great boom to my diet and helps me achieve a more balanced lifestyle.  Juicing can be expensive (all those fruits and veggies add up) but I know it’s good for my body, and I feel like it’s worth the time, effort, and money.  Discovering juicing feels a bit like discovering smoothies – life changing!  Or at least…. diet changing. Smile

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On to my favorite recipe…. All of this into one glass!  I could never, ever eat two oranges, an apple, a lemon, a bunch of spinach, and four beets in one sitting!  But I sure can drink it!

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My Favorite Juice

(inspired by a recipe on RebootWithJoe.com)

 

Two oranges, peeled

One green apple

Big handful of baby spinach

Four small beets

One lemon

 

Yum.

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Oh, I also like to add fresh herbs from our herb garden into my juices.  I especially like adding spearmint, parsley, and basil.  It just adds a little something-something.

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Do you juice? What’s your favorite recipe? What juicer do you own?

{ 88 comments }

 

  • Elizabeth May 24, 2013, 12:15 pm

    I lurve juicing! We had a juicer that was partially superglued together, leaked and sounded like a jet about to take off. If you juiced beets it looked like a murder occured…. we got rid of it. I want a new one SOOO badly! I love love love juice. My favorite from a juice bar near us is carrot, ginger and pineapple.

  • Nikki May 24, 2013, 12:29 pm

    Thanks for sharing this review. Definitely sounds like juicing is a good way to get some vitamins. Like drinking a green smoothie — you just feel like the most healthy person alive drinking it (and it’s so good!) Question I have though — what do you do with all the extra pulp? I’d hate to waste that much food!

    • Caitlin May 24, 2013, 12:41 pm

      You can put them into baked goods (I hear) or casseroles and pasta. I have been putting them in my flower beds – seems to help the plants!

      • Nikki May 24, 2013, 1:10 pm

        Ahh — good call on gardening with it. That’s a great idea!

      • Nina May 24, 2013, 5:41 pm

        I have heard of dehydrating them into crackers, but that would require me to get a dehydrator haha 🙂

  • Stacey May 24, 2013, 12:39 pm

    I love the concept of juicing, but have never done it. I really love my fruits and veggies, but have to watch my intake because of the fiber… so this would be a good option for me. However I seem to have a hard time wanting to shove a beautiful apple through the machine… haha. I feel like I’m wasting it — do you experience this?

    • Caitlin May 24, 2013, 12:41 pm

      I know what you mean!

    • Nina May 24, 2013, 5:42 pm

      I feel like I waste greens sometimes because you get so little juice. I prefer to blend those into smoothies. Apples on the other hand… They produce so much juice and enhance the flavor so much!

  • Lauren @ The Highlands Life May 24, 2013, 12:45 pm

    I have never juiced but have friends that swear by it. To be honest, it’s actually a little bit intimidating. Especially when mixing all those flavors. I think that’s why I’m not a big smoothie person either. Flavor and textures can throw me off.

  • Ciarra May 24, 2013, 12:56 pm

    I love to juice! It’s so yummy and you do feel pretty darn healthy afterwards, which is always a good thing. My fave juice combo right now is celery, kale, cucumber, apple, ginger and lemon. The lemon really livens up the juice and the ginger gives it a nice little punch. It is the prettiest green color to boot 🙂

  • Beth @ Mangoes and Miles May 24, 2013, 1:05 pm

    I didn’t know that they were considering raising the recommended amount of fruits and veggies. That’s really interesting!

    I don’t think I could ever do a juice cleanse. I’ve never tried it, mainly because I’m 99.9999% positive I’d fail. I like food way too much to not eat it! This recipe looks so good. I like how all of the ingredients are pretty common; I hate when recipes call for some obscure fruit!

    • Nina May 24, 2013, 5:43 pm

      I’ve done a juice-till-dinner cleanse that was much, much easier 🙂

  • Jaime May 24, 2013, 1:08 pm

    I juice every morning! I have the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro juicer and love it-plus it’s only $60! My favorite combo is kale, celery, cucumber, parsley, rainbow chard, lemon, and green apple.

  • Rachel May 24, 2013, 1:12 pm

    I love that you’re juicing! I’m actually one of the RebootwithJoe dietitians and I lead the 15 and 30 day juice Reboots. It’s amazing the changes that people feel. But we make sure they’re not healthfully and safely when we lead the groups (via webinars and 24/7 support on each group’s community site!).

    One thing to note is that although the insoluble fiber is taken out… the soluble fiber stays in the juice! On average, about 30% of the vitamins, minerals, and calories are lost during the juicing process – but that means that most of the nutrition stays in 🙂

    Keep it up and Juice On!!
    Rachel

    • Rachel May 24, 2013, 1:13 pm

      Oooh!! I mean they’re done healthfully and safely (take out the ‘not’ in that sentence!). Hah.

      • Rachel May 24, 2013, 1:14 pm

        And one more thing: You can save the pulp and actually bake it into breads or use it to make fresh veggie broth!

        • Live Love Yum May 27, 2013, 8:18 am

          Rachel, I’m curious about the Reboot juices…I’ve seen them and had a few myself. But they are predominately fruit juices. Even the green juice is still over 55% fruit juice. Fruits are still high in sugar and sending a steady stream of sugar into your body all day while forfeiting protein/healthy fats doesn’t seem that healthy to me either….?

  • Christina May 24, 2013, 1:16 pm

    I have never actually Juiced, but just got a vitamix and have been blending. We get smoothies from the grocery store and they add beets to them. I was told they just cut them up raw, not even peeling them. Do you cook your beets? Peel them?

    • Caitlin May 24, 2013, 1:24 pm

      i buy the pre cooked ones from trader joes because they require minimal prep for juicing!

      • Alex May 27, 2013, 5:38 am

        I LOVE adding beets to juices – but you don’t need to buy those precooked ones. The whole point of juicing is to get nutrients from raw produce… I just scrub my beets, chop them into quarters and put them in (I have a Breville and it can handle the peel, etc, no problem). I also add the beet greens for extra green.

    • Nina May 24, 2013, 5:38 pm

      They’re good raw! Just rinse them off since they’re root vegetables.

  • Laura May 24, 2013, 1:20 pm

    There was a competition at work to eat as many servings of fruits/veggies as you could get in so a girl on my team brought in a juicer and we juiced every day at work. I loved it! It wasn’t cheap though. I’d like to get a juicer but I think the husband wouldn’t be pleased if I brought home yet another appliance! haha

  • Angela May 24, 2013, 1:22 pm

    I want a juicer so bad!!!

  • Ginger May 24, 2013, 1:29 pm

    Too funny, I attempted this very same thing on Sunday that just passed I had high hopes on completing a 5-10 day juice fast (I recently just watched the documentary) breakfast went well, then lunch then emotionally wasn’t happening and had to fry up an egg. Juicer still sitting on my counter, going to give your recipe a try. Thanks for the post! Glad I wasn’t alone 🙂

  • Sarah May 24, 2013, 1:44 pm

    I love to juice! I make a daily juice for myself, my husband, even my dog*!

    I have a formula:

    Base (cucumber, celery, romaine) + Greens (spinach, kale, chard, parsley, cilantro etc.) + Sweet (little bit of fruit to make it tasty) + Bonus (lemon and/or ginger usually or herbs sometimes) = Juice!

    *Nope, I’m not kidding about juicing for my dog My husband doesn’t like the foam that our centrifugal juicer creates so I just scoop that part off of his and give it to the dog. Win win!

    • Paj May 28, 2013, 12:21 pm

      My dog likes to lick my juicing glasses clean too! lol
      Just be careful never to give him/her a taste if you use grapes.

  • mollie May 24, 2013, 1:47 pm

    we just watched this documentary last friday night, and bought a breville juicer on sale on amazon that same night! we are going to the farmer’s market tomorrow morning to load up on goodies, and will try to replace dinner with just juice for a week- although we’re starting monday, after this glorious memorial day weekend 😉 if it goes well, i’m hoping to attempt the 5 or 10 day juice cleanse. fingers crossed!

  • Jennifer May 24, 2013, 2:11 pm

    I love juice! I was also inspired by the documentary but a fast is not for me – throughout the winter I did add one juice a day, though. One of my very favorite ingredients to add is fennel! Combined with apple or pear (especially pear) and some greens, to me it is absolutely delicious. We add the pulp to our compost pile, but I may try your idea of just tossing it in the garden to save a step!

    • Nina May 25, 2013, 7:09 am

      I think compost is the way to go 😉

  • Helene @healthyfrenchie May 24, 2013, 2:15 pm

    I love juicing! As a kid, fresh carrot juice was a favorite.
    My MIL gave me a juicer when we lived in Scotland and I ahve been wanting to buy one sine moving to Canada.
    In the summer, it’s so refreshing.
    I’m not a fan of smoothies at all but I love juice. My favorite combo when going to a juice bar is apple, carrot, celery and lemon. So nice and easy to recreate.
    I’m just holding off until I find the right juicer for hte right price.
    I also hate how messy juicing is

  • Liza May 24, 2013, 3:16 pm

    It’s better for you to just eat the veggies and fruit, not juice them. You lose some of the nutrients when you juice. And you are drinking calories that would be much more filling if you ate them instead.

    • Claire May 24, 2013, 6:48 pm

      Totally agree.

    • Nina May 25, 2013, 7:08 am

      Like Caitlin said though, if you’re struggling to eat them anyway, why not juice them. The amount of fruit and veg you can get in a juice for a ‘meal’ is 10x more what you’d chew and eat in a normal meal, salad or not.

      • Emily May 25, 2013, 11:00 pm

        It’s catch 22 on this. You lose the fibers you need by juicing, but the fiber blocks a lot of the micro-nutrients you need. juicing gives you a supercharged nutrient dense drink. there are pros to both, so we do both in our house. up to the person (: I personally use the pulp every time for something else after juicing, for smoothies, cobblers, apple sauce, etc or my mom’s chickens.

    • Anne May 25, 2013, 10:07 am

      I agree. Better eat the real fruits+vegetables. And to have all the benefits of your daily 10 portions of fruits+vegetables, you have to eat the fiber also… A lot of the antioxydants are in the skin, no ?

      • Nina May 28, 2013, 7:22 am

        You’re still juicing the skin! And like previously stated, Caitlin was having trouble eating the ‘daily 10’. Juicing is a way for her to get those lost veggies and fruits. It’s like telling someone drinking 2L of coke a day switching to soda water that their switch isn’t good enough and that they should be drinking purified well water only. We all do what we can.

  • Emily May 24, 2013, 4:17 pm

    I havent been on your blog in a few weeks and decided to check in, so Ironic to see this story! The omega is actually the juicer I was looking into, right now we have a different one. I just started juicing when we moved into our new house last month, and I saw this documentary on netflix as well. Glad to see others getting healthy ^_^

    Also, for any interested, our favorite juice recipe I came up with recently (makes 1 large pitcher):
    1 watermelon
    1 red bell pepper
    3 gala apples
    handfull carrots
    1 cucmber

    it is light and refreshing and we almost always have it in the house, its our and our friends fav. don’t knock it till you try it (=

  • Dana May 24, 2013, 4:46 pm

    I have the same juicer and I love it. My fav recipe is collards, cucumbers, lemon, and mint! I’ve never run the pulp…good idea!

  • Linz @ Itz Linz May 24, 2013, 5:29 pm

    I have the Bella NutriPro juicer and really like it! I bake breads with all the leftover pulp!

  • Nina May 24, 2013, 5:37 pm

    I have the same juicer, in black. I mostly juice carrots, beets, lemons and greens. So many greens. There’s a green that grows prolifically here in FL called gynura precumbens that goes into most of my juices. I love that through herb teas like nettle, rasp leaf or red clover (among many others!) and juicing, I’m never wanting for vitamins and minerals.

  • Nina May 24, 2013, 5:40 pm

    One important thing to note about this juicer and ones like it is how small the fruits and veg need to be chopped. Other juicers (like the ones used on Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead require very little prep, whereas this one requires almost equal time prep to juice!

  • Karen @ Runner Girl Eats May 24, 2013, 5:46 pm

    I don’t juice and could never last more than 4 hrs on a juice cleanse lol but I would like to try it out one day. I use my smoothies to help get me to my daily fruits and veggies now though.

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat May 24, 2013, 7:04 pm

    I adore my juicer too! I actually did a series (with lots of recipes and 2 videos!) that you can find here if you like: http://eat-spin-run-repeat.com/2013/03/11/juicy-tidbits-104-making-green-juice-in-a-blender-video/. In the videos, I how I made the same juice in my Vitamix as I did in my juicer.

    I have a Jack LaLanne Power Juicer Deluxe, which is a centrifugal juicer but I still love it (despite it being a bit less effective and more noisy than the masticating type!) I found it on Kijiji for half of its retail price and jumped on it right away. Some people don’t like the fact that it takes a while to clean, but I don’t really have a problem with it and I know that some masticating juicers are much more difficult to deal with!

  • Amber K May 24, 2013, 8:25 pm

    I don’t own a juicer and I could never have only juice. I went crazy being on the “mush diet” after my dental surgery last year. I could have more than liquids, but I wanted NOTHING more than to be able to chew.

  • Sarah @ Yogi in Action May 24, 2013, 9:08 pm

    I love juicing! I try and juice at least 3 times a week- so delicious. I don’t think I could do a juice cleanse though- food is so delicious.

  • Dennis May 24, 2013, 9:56 pm

    In reality, serving sizes are fairly small for fruits and vegetables – 85g of fresh spinach (1.5 cups) is half of a salad I have with as lunch or a side with dinner.

    I think it would be easier to engage just in eating the whole foods in a cooked or prepared way – seems like satiety would be higher than drinking the extracted juice. If preparation time is a problem, batch cook and just prepare a lot at once – two pounds of carrots, a bag of kale, etc.

    I saw the documentary – wondering if a lot of the positive results were simply from switching from a diet high in sugar and processed junk food to consuming a very nutrient dense diet.

  • Tamara May 24, 2013, 11:56 pm

    Just curious- do you use the pulp for anything? I’ve juiced before and have tried using the pulp in salads or veggie burgers. Do you have any good suggestions?

    • Carolyn May 26, 2013, 6:28 pm

      Our pulp feeds the worms in our worm farm. 🙂

  • Alex May 25, 2013, 1:30 am

    Nice! Yep I’ve been juicing for 5 years now. I have done 8 juice feasts so far and am preparing for my next 7 day juice feast in June. My stomach has some serious compromise and is very sensitive to food sometimes, but I can always count on a juice to help ease the pain. Hope you have fun experimenting with juice combos!

  • jennifer May 25, 2013, 1:34 am

    You inspired me to watch fat sick and nearly dead with ur post from a few weeks ago . I was very inspired by joes story too and purchased the juicer he used in the documentary. I am very happy with it. I think my fav juice so far is 4 carrots and two Apple and some ginger. I am on day three of my juice fast , aiming for five but I am just happy I am giving it a go. I was surprised by the emotional rollercoaster the first day but I am so happy I made it through. It has been a learning experience and not as hard as I thought it would be. I remind myself while I am drinking the juice that it is helping to heal and clean my body. Thanks for inspiring us every day! Jenn

    • D May 25, 2013, 1:27 pm

      How does one accomplish the juice fast? There is no protein and the calories are so low…I worry it would not be a good thing ? Or would result in weight loss (that one might not wish to lose — and it would only be muscle and water since essentially only drinking juice and sugar)? Thoughts? I am very curious.

      • Caitlin May 26, 2013, 6:35 am

        I have read there is protein (from plants!) in green juices. So there isn’t NO protein (although there isn’t a ton).

      • Nina May 28, 2013, 7:24 am

        There is protein in plants, of course. Everything has some protein. It’s not like we’re a country deficient in protein; giving our digestive system a break every once in a while is a good thing.

  • Tracy May 25, 2013, 8:33 am

    When I bought my Vita Mix, the guy said that is fabulous as a juicer. I’ve been wanting to try it. Has anyone tried it?

    • hush May 25, 2013, 10:53 am

      I have the same question – can I do this with the Vitamix I already own (and love)?

      • Lacey May 27, 2013, 6:09 pm

        It can work….just not quite as well. You always need to add some super juicy fruits to the blender or some water to help the blender get going. You then strain through cheese cloth to get your juice.

      • Nina May 28, 2013, 7:25 am

        Yep. Ashley at Never home maker I’m pretty sure uses her vitamin as a juicer.

  • Ja @Ja on the RUN May 25, 2013, 9:39 am

    I love that documentary too! We got inspired and looked for juicer on Amazon. I actually made a review about the juicer (Breville) we got on my blog. 🙂 My husband made a video of it. So far it’s good! 🙂
    However I just juice to add vegetable intake to my diet. I can’t do 60 days juicing too like the guy in the documentary. But I am seeing changes and I like it! 🙂

  • Molly @ RDexposed May 25, 2013, 11:18 am

    To get all technical and annoying, sugar is a carb. So saying that juice is a lot of sugar and carbs is redundant. Plus you do get some protein when juicing the vegetables.

  • Emily@2:DESIGN:CENTS May 25, 2013, 12:41 pm

    Juicing is the best! Totally worth the investment. I have a Breville and I try to juice 3-5 times per week. I used to do it everyday but it started to feel like too much and I wasn’t craving it. If your in a food slump or rut I would definitely try it.

  • Kris May 25, 2013, 1:53 pm

    No, I definitely do not juice. I think it’s much better to get the necessary fiber from eating whole fruits and vegetables, plus juice is in no way filling to me, and the sugar often puts me into a state of wanting more sugar or food. I would say if anything I try to avoid juice, always opting for whole.

  • Alex @ Raw Recovery May 25, 2013, 3:14 pm

    One of my friends has that same juicer and she made a great “sherbet” with it for dessert for a party one time. She used frozen bananas, oranges, and pineapples and put them through the juicer. The result was a bunch of frozen fruit curls that she mashed together. It was so refreshing!

  • Christine @ BookishlyB May 25, 2013, 4:13 pm

    I love juice, I do, but you miss out on really essential fiber when you do so. And considering something like 9 out of 10 Americans don’t get enough, it’s really important people rely on the real deal first and foremost.

  • Carolyn May 25, 2013, 8:05 pm

    We juice (with our masticating juicer) almost every day. And, if we don’t juice, we have green smoothies – fav recipe for green smoothie is spinach, kale, frozen banana, an orange, raspberries, blueberries and flax seeds. Add enough water to get it going. Delish! I find the smoothies way more satisfying and filling than juice.

  • Cathy May 26, 2013, 12:19 am

    Yum!! I’m gonna have to try that recipe!
    We already had a juicer when we watched that movie, but we defiantly started juicing more afterwards! We have the jack lalanne juicer and it works great.

  • Mary May 26, 2013, 2:35 pm

    Geez, how do you keep that little screen clean? I have a Breville centrifugal juicer with a giant fine mesh basket the pops out. I’ve read that the easiest way to ruin a juicer is to not take care of the screen filter, so I scrub that thing immediately. Does it come apart or go in the dishwasher?

    • Caitlin May 26, 2013, 8:10 pm

      It comes with a brush!

  • Mikella May 26, 2013, 7:46 pm

    I started juicing in March and do it pretty regularly (though, not every day). Do you generally do blends or individual juices? Do you have any other good blends to share? My boyfriend and I are still playing with blends and struggle to find ways to mix in veggie juices that still taste good. We have fully adopted a wide variety of strictly FRUIT blends, though. I’d love more options to factor in some vegetables!

    • Nina May 28, 2013, 7:27 am

      Carrots, ginger, and beets help veggie blends taste good, and cucumber is nice too.

  • Michal May 26, 2013, 8:08 pm

    I’ll have to watch that documentary. I realize that you’re getting a lot of calories via the juice, but I have a difficult time imagining feeling satisfied from just liquid. But maybe it’s a different kind of satisfied and you get used to it feeling different?

    • Michal May 27, 2013, 7:06 pm

      I was just reading the description and it says you can also make nutbutters with this juicer! Have you tried that? My blender can’t handle nuts, so that’s a super-exciting possibility to me.

  • Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) May 27, 2013, 1:03 am

    I just juiced tonight actually … I used an orange, a grapefruit, 1/4 yellow pepper, 1 small beet, and two mini cucumbers. It was delish!

  • Simply Life May 27, 2013, 7:45 am

    We have a juicer which definitely gets its use! I always hear great things about the vitammix but what does it do aside from just a general blender? I’Ve been curious to hear from someone who loves theirs what it is used for! Thanks for the new juice idea!

  • Lauren @ Chocolate, Cheese and Wine May 27, 2013, 10:09 am

    I saw Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and I was super inspired to look into juicing, too. I never ended up buying a juicer but I would love to try juicing at some point.

  • Samantha May 27, 2013, 11:12 am

    I would love to do regular juicing, but it’s just to expensive for us. My boyfriend and I are both students and it’s just not in our budget. Plus, I feel more satisfied with eating the actually fruit so I probably wouldn’t do it too much.

  • Fern May 27, 2013, 8:11 pm

    My Father-in-law has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and I am trying to get him on to juicing. I have been looking for a juicer that will preserve the goodness as I have heard some of the do heat the juice to much and destroy the nutrients. Thanks for sharing the ins-and-outs of this one. Will have to get him to give it a go.

  • Lisa @ Vitadeventure May 28, 2013, 12:44 am

    Ode to juice! I first started juicing after watching “Crazy Sexy Cancer” a few years ago, but I will never do a juice cleanse/fast- for me it’s not necessary- I’m of the “if you’re eating great most of the time, your body doesn’t need a cleanse” fan base.
    That said, I love to start my day using my Breville Compact Juicer, which was 99 dollars and is perfect for our family of two- and my combo is the same
    -head of romaine
    – 1/2 head of kale
    – 1 beet with greens
    – 2 sticks carrots
    – 4 ribs celery
    – 1 cucumber
    -1 lemon
    – 1 inch cube of ginger

  • Paj May 28, 2013, 12:17 pm

    I bought a juicer after seeing that movie too! I don’t fast either, but incorporating juice into my diet as a snack or sometimes breakfast has been really beneficial for me: lots more energy, glowing skin and my sugar cravings have really subsided.

    Lemons are too strong for me to juice, but I add cucumber and lime to almost everything and they add a subtle “clean” flavor to anything else I throw in that day.

  • K @ Finding a skinnier me May 28, 2013, 9:51 pm

    YAY! Thank you for posting about this, I watched that movie and immediately wanted to juice but haven’t figured out a real solid way to do it without starving or feeling deprived. I am glad I am not the only one that would shove a chocolate bar in her face. Great information!!!

  • Catherine @ Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth May 29, 2013, 4:57 am

    Like everyone else, I caved and bought a juicer the same day that I saw “Sat, Sick, & Nearly Dead!” I went with the “Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juice Extractor” and am soooo happy with it! I have used friend’s juicers before and always had to run the pulp through an extra time to extract all of the juice which I thought was extremely time consuming. I love that my Breville extracts ALL of the juice the first time through, saving me time and money on produce! Juice on! xo

  • Johny James May 29, 2013, 11:14 am

    I prefer blending – I believe there is goodness in the pulp.
    My blender is the Vitamix Super 5200 which is quite expensive, but I think it is worth it.
    I make smoothies and my favorite consists of:
    frozen banana
    almond milk
    almond butter
    spinach

  • Ali May 30, 2013, 12:47 pm

    My mom has that same juicer so I’m going to tell her the tip about putting the pulp through a second time – thanks!

  • Maggie May 30, 2013, 6:38 pm

    I love my juicer except when I have to clean it. :o) I do a 5 day juice twice a year. I make sure I don’t do it during marathon training as the lack of calories would not be a good thing.

    When I do it, I am slightly hungry all the time. However I noticed that I seem to have better mental focus and mental energy, which is an extra benefit.

  • Vicky June 27, 2013, 10:33 pm

    Because of your post I went out and got the J8004! My favorite juice is a bunch of kale, and apple, and a few chunks of pineapple. The runner up is one pineapple, an apple, spinach and some mint!

  • Hillary July 7, 2013, 9:44 pm

    Did you research the Bella nutripro at all? If so, why did you decide against it?
    Thank you.

  • KaraHadley January 12, 2014, 7:42 pm

    I’m looking into upgrading from my super old juicer and am trying to decide between a masticating and a centrifugal juicer. I’ve read a few places that masticating juicers have trouble with things like pineapple, cucumbers, or mangoes. Have you experienced this at all? Also, how does your juicer handle the thick stems of kale? I end up juicing a lot of those stems because I save them from when I eat kale (because I’m cheap and also save apple cores for juice), and want a juicer that can handle that stuff.

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