On juicing…
There has been a lot of internet buzz in the new year about the glory of juice and merits of juicers (and $200 blenders, but that’s another post).
I have a confession.
I don’t get juicers.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fruit. I love fruit in liquid form. I love fruit in juice form. But if I’m going to drink my fruit, I want all of it.
Thus, I make smoothies. Every morning, I throw a banana, some berries, some yogurt, and some OJ in my $20 blender. Breakfast is done in less than a minute.
I rinse the blender with hot water and wash it once a week. Cleanup is done in less than a minute.
So why oh why would I invest time and money into a juicer that doesn’t even give me the fiber and vitamins found in my fruit’s peels?
I mean, juice is delicious. I understand that. But if you spend $5 on produce for a couple days of juice, you still have to supplement it with some sort of breakfast, right? My fruit and yogurt smoothie is my breakfast, alongside a cup of coffee. Do you juicers also pick up a box of cereal?
It all seems… expensive. And wasteful. And time consuming.
You can keep your liquified kale, your de-solidified pears, your pulverized apples, and your dairy-free beverages. But feel free to tell me what I’m missing. Because I simply don’t understand.
I completely agree. Leaving all that good pulp and other stuff behind seems so wasteful to me! And yes, my $40 blender is working just fine. I don’t need to drop $200+ on a juicer. That’s just craziness.
I don’t get it either. But then again, I also don’t get the obsession with a lot of food fads.
THIS. I use an immersion blender to make my daily smoothies and I rather enjoy my seeds and pulp that are leftover in there. Gives me something to satisfy my stomach with!
I don’t juice very often (Maybe twice a week, if I have the time) for all the reasons you’ve documented. The two (or many one) times that I do juice are because I have an iron and vitamin A deficiency and there is no way I can eat 3 bunches of spinach and carrots in a day! And those are the only two vegetables I actually juice with one apple and an orange to offset the taste. I feel really bad throwing away all that post juicing pulp… An interesting breakfast smoothie recipe that sustains me through lunch time is: banana + raw oats + some milk + yogurt + berries. And I don’t even need to buy cereal! ^_^
I’m so glad you posted this. I actually debated buying a juicer, but decided against it. I think I want to be the kind of person who would use a juicer, but in reality I’m not. I don’t really care for drinking my meals, so smoothies don’t typically do it for it me either. I’d rather eat the kale and apples and berries in their whole forms. I guess I’m just not trendy.
YES.
I bought a juicer off craigslist that was still in the box for $40. juicers don’t have to be expensive. And when I do juice, I don’t juice fruit (hello sugar overload!) but rather vegetables, such as cucumber, spinach, kale. I will add half an apple just to add some sweetness to it and some lemon. We also have a small garden, so I get most of my juicing produce from there (like spinach, romaine and kale). To me, juicing is a great way to get LOADS of vegetables into my diet. I like to have one in the morning, then I have “breakfast” around 9. Juicing helped me get to my lowest weight in over a year. That, combined with some other dietary changes, has really helped me feel the best I’ve ever felt.
Some people just have too much money so they don’t know what to do with it. $200 blender is an outrage. I don’t need it for my healthy daily juice. Love your blog though.