Can we talk about juicers?

sarawifenow · April 2015

I have come to the disturbing realization that I drink WAY too much soda! (Like 4-5 cans a day!) I'm trying to eat a little better and cut out sugars (for the most part) to get a few pesky pounds off. My friend was telling me the other day that her cousin is really into juicing and only drinks water and various juices that she makes herself. I really like the idea and want to give it a shot. Does anyone have any experience with juicers? What brand do you use? Do you have any recipes?

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2015

Juicing often leaves you with with just as much sugar as soda, ya know.

sarawifenow · April 2015

lolo883 said:
Juicing often leaves you with with just as much sugar as soda, ya know.

I did not know this. Thanks for letting me know. I still think that sugar from fruit and veggies might be better than my Pepsi! Haha

chibiyui · April 2015

I gave up soda for Lent, since Easter I've only had maybe 1 soda a day or no sodas a day. Progress.

Anyway, I know nothing about juicers. I try to buy the less sugarery juices at the store.

LondonLisa · April 2015

Juicing often takes all the good parts of fruits and vegetables (such as fibre) and leaves you with the glucose (sugars).

I quit drinking diet coke a few years ago. The best way is through black coffee or tea when you need a pick me up and drinking carbonated water when you want something cold and refreshing.

I often take a whole lime and squeeze the juice into a cup and fill the rest with sparkling water.

Try it for a month, and you will be over your soda addiction. If I even have one Diet Coke now, it really makes me feel ill.

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2015

Yeah juicing generally leaves all the sugar of the fruit but none of the fiber. You'd be better off blending, which leaves the whole fruit, but that's more of a smoothie than a juice. Or just squeezing a lemon into your water.

sarawifenow · April 2015

I had not even thought about smoothies. Any good recipes for that? Just looking for ideas.

amelisha · April 2015

Yeah, juicing is a crock, in my opinion.

Sugar is sugar, whether you're getting it from fruit or from Coke. Yeah, you do get some micronutrients from the fruit but you're way better off actually eating it and getting the fibre etc., instead of just the sugar.

I think there's some benefit to drinking primarily vegetable juice IF you can't get vegetables in your diet any other way, but it's still not ideal.

sarawifenow · April 2015

So many thoughts I had never had! I'm glad I asked the question. Maybe juicing isn't the way to go.

[Deleted User] · April 2015

Another idea if you want a sweeter drink is fruit infused waters. You can play with different combinations - citrus fruits, berries, mint, cucumber, etc. It's a nice way to mix it up instead of just chugging plain water all day.

LondonLisa · April 2015

Also remember with smoothies, it is SO easy to pack on the calories. Yes, they may be from apples, berries and yoghurts, but you can easily drink 450 calories in a smoothie. Especially when you start to have them WITH meals instead of the meal in and of itself

Think about it this way, would you normally have 2 apples, 1 banana, 300g of berries, a 300 mls of yoghurt, some honey and maybe some oats as a snack?

They also go up astronomically when you add frozen yoghurt which is basically just ice cream. Or commercial yoghurts (like yoplait) instead of natural or greek yogurt, which is basically just sugars.

sarawifenow · April 2015

Ya'll are opening my eyes big time! I like the idea of the fruit flavored water.

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2015

sarawifenow said:
I had not even thought about smoothies. Any good recipes for that? Just looking for ideas.

I don't really use recipes, just toss things into the blender. A few fruits, splash of water, then fill it up with spinach and/or kale and blend away. A little citrus or pineapple goes a long way to masking the "green" taste. Oranges and blueberries don't blend well. Strawberry mango pineapple is good, or strawberry banana with orange juice.

LondonLisa · April 2015

sarawifenow said:
Ya'll are opening my eyes big time! I like the idea of the fruit flavored water.

Just make sure it is the actual fruit flavouring it (like the 1 whole lime juice, lemon juice from an actual lemon or a handful of berries crushed) and not premade "juice flavourings". That is basically sugar water.

sarawifenow · April 2015

LondonLisa said:

sarawifenow said:
Ya'll are opening my eyes big time! I like the idea of the fruit flavored water.
Just make sure it is the actual fruit flavouring it (like the 1 whole lime juice, lemon juice from an actual lemon or a handful of berries crushed) and not premade "juice flavourings". That is basically sugar water.

I could be like Gwenyth and get 7 limes this week!

wandajune6 · April 2015

An old roommate used to keep an infuser pitcher in the fridge at all times. She would toss in random fruit - sliced strawberries, citrus, etc. Apples and bananas don't work and she's occasionally smoosh the fruit a bit to release flavor (think grapes or blueberries).

For a pitcher, she used an iced tea brewing pitcher but there are now lots of infuser pitchers and water bottles on the market.

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2015

I used to do sliced lemons, limes, and fresh mint leaves (crushed a bit in your hand) in a pitcher, and just keep refilling it as it went empty. Yummy yummy.

[Deleted User] · April 2015

sarawifenow said:
I had not even thought about smoothies. Any good recipes for that? Just looking for ideas.

I do the same as lolo. I like doing a frozen banana for a base (I'll buy a bunch and slice/put in baggies to have ready to go in the freezer), add in some frozen berries or sometimes frozen pineapple, peaches or mango. I use water or unsweetened almond milk as my liquid. I top it with a couple handfuls of spinach or kale.

hellohkb · April 2015

I do enjoy both juices and smoothies but I don't own a juicer. I find that I feel much better after I drink a smoothie in the morning (I have a lot of joint pain and my Dr is thinking I am getting arthritis. Some fruits are an anti-inflammatory) so I just have a blender (a Magic Bullet and a really crappy $19 one).

Juices are supposed to give you more nutrients at a quicker pace (because you don't have to digest the pulp or whatever), but I don't really believe that. I'm actually drinking a cold press juice from a company called Suja right now. 19g of sugar, but they're all from the actual fruit and veggie, NOT from concentrate like Naked and Bolthouse Farms drinks- Stay away from those! Although I treat myself to one every so often because I love the Blue Machine from Naked. Sambazon and Suja are actually my favorite fruit and veggie drinks that you can buy from the store. You can typically find them at Pathmark or Target. Hell, they're even at Costco now if you have a membership.

Personally, I prefer a light smoothie. I'll take a handful of berries and a handful of kale, spinach, whatever and add in another fruit (such as a banana or some pineapple) and mix it with water, green tea, or coconut water. So much lighter than a smoothie with milk or yogurt and it feels refreshing to drink. The consistency is more like a juice and you still get all the fiber from the pulp!

If you're looking for something to drink while you eat a meal, I would really recommend a flavored water or a carbonated flavor water like PPs have mentioned. I love plain old regular water so I don't really buy them, but my mother does and loves them. She gets them at Kmart where they often have sales on them. Whenever I go to her house I may have one. They're really good to eat with a meal because you still get a flavor but not a lot of the crap that may be in a soda, you know? Do you like tea at all? Green tea has been one of my favorite things to drink lately and it's a good break from water or juices. Green tea can be a bit bitter so I think any tea would be a nice switch from soda.

There's also "detox" water. It's basically water with fruit and veggies in them to give it a taste. For some reason Pinterest labels them as detox waters even though yes, science has proven there's really no way to completely detox your body.

dolewhipper · April 2015

Do you guys taste the kale or spinach in your smoothies? I love to make smoothies with some almond milk and frozen mixed berries. Curious about tasting the spinach/kale in there.

lyndausvi · April 2015

I think I'm weird. I do not like juice (eta - or smoothies). Sometimes I will have some cranberry juice if I'm out for breakfast. That's about it. OJ in the morning puts me in a sugar low. I don't mind cran-apple, but not enough to spend the money to keep it in the house.

I'm boring when it comes to beverages. I pretty much just drink water. I love chocolate milk, but even just cut that out a little. I have a sprite about 1-2 times a month. Again, if I'm out to eat. I do not buy them for the house.

I do not drink coffee either. Sometimes I drink tea. But not very often.

Of course, I do like alcohol.

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2015

dolewhipper said:
Do you guys taste the kale or spinach in your smoothies? I love to make smoothies with some almond milk and frozen mixed berries. Curious about tasting the spinach/kale in there.

Not as long as there's something "bright" in it. Blueberry banana or banana peanut butter, yes I taste it a little. Anything with pineapple, lemon, lime or orange I can't taste it at all. I would add a squeeze of lime juice with your berries.

hellohkb · April 2015

dolewhipper said:
Do you guys taste the kale or spinach in your smoothies? I love to make smoothies with some almond milk and frozen mixed berries. Curious about tasting the spinach/kale in there.

Personally, I don't. Especially if you mix with a lot of fruit. There are also some fruits that are super overpowering with their taste. I swear, you could add one tiny banana to a huge smoothie with a bunch of other stuff and the banana would be one of the strongest flavors.

PamBeesly524 · April 2015

The thing I love about smoothies is you can so easily add in things that are good for you, with almost zero change in taste. I have a smoothie for breakfast every morning, and my go-to one is coconut water, spinach or kale, almond butter, chia seed, flax seed, banana and raspberries. So yes, there is a bit of sugar with the fruits but it's way better than the carby bowl of cereal I used to eat every morning. Or the muffin I used to get at work for 2nd breakfast. Not to say I don't miss them!

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2015

kikilamp said:
The thing I love about smoothies is you can so easily add in things that are good for you, with almost zero change in taste. I have a smoothie for breakfast every morning, and my go-to one is coconut water, spinach or kale, almond butter, chia seed, flax seed, banana and raspberries. So yes, there is a bit of sugar with the fruits but it's way better than the carby bowl of cereal I used to eat every morning. Or the muffin I used to get at work for 2nd breakfast. Not to say I don't miss them!

When I was TTC lots of places recommended fish oil, but I can't stomach the pills. So I snipped them open and squirted them into a smoothie. Problem solved!

hellohkb · April 2015

lolo883 said:

kikilamp said:
The thing I love about smoothies is you can so easily add in things that are good for you, with almost zero change in taste. I have a smoothie for breakfast every morning, and my go-to one is coconut water, spinach or kale, almond butter, chia seed, flax seed, banana and raspberries. So yes, there is a bit of sugar with the fruits but it's way better than the carby bowl of cereal I used to eat every morning. Or the muffin I used to get at work for 2nd breakfast. Not to say I don't miss them!
When I was TTC lots of places recommended fish oil, but I can't stomach the pills. So I snipped them open and squirted them into a smoothie. Problem solved!

That's a great idea! I started taking aloe vera juice to settle my acid reflux but I can't handle the taste so I also threw those in my smoothies. I didn't even think to do that with supplements. Thanks for the tip!

Kahlyla · April 2015

UO or just weirdess: I really hate the word "smoothie". Like, on par with "panties" hate.

sarawifenow · April 2015

@kikilamp that sounds wonderful! Do you just eyeball everything or do you have a breakdown you follow. Also do you do frozen raspberries?

Casadena · April 2015

One of my favorites is sliced granny smith apples and a cinnamon stick in a pitcher of water. I would just refill the pitcher until the apples started turning brown (usually 2-3 days). YUM!

sarawifenow · April 2015

So I just texted H and told him that we are making smoothies and drinking flavored water and then we should go on a run after dinner tonight and maybe I could try to do some yoga in the backyard in the mornings and...

He called me and said that he thinks I just had word vomit. Haha I love that man.

hellohkb · April 2015

Kahlyla said:
UO or just weirdess: I really hate the word "smoothie". Like, on par with "panties" hate.

It's kind of a weird name. I don't even know what else to call them, though. Blended fruit drink?

Can we talk about juicers?

Re: Can we talk about juicers?

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