M.B.
My husband did juicing for 30 days and felt great after! I can send you some recipes if you'd like:)
Where to get started? I know I need to buy a juicer and fruits and veggies but what else? Just as a cleanse? How long? Can I juice for a year? Kick starting super healthy life .... again.
PLEASE NO COMMENTS ABOUT DIFFERENT DIETS. THIS QUESTION IS ABOUT JUICING - dont waist your time nor mine explaining anything other than jucing...i know about other diets. Doctors made me a meal plan, I KNOW. This is how to get started with juicing.
Can you tell I have asked a few questions on here before? lol. Thank you ladies for all the help.
*** Apparently this is still confusing. I know how to eat healthy I want to know how to juice healthy.********
My husband did juicing for 30 days and felt great after! I can send you some recipes if you'd like:)
You know, I have wondered this myself, but I just am not a big juice drinker ... however I have seen parts of an interesting documentary regarding juicing called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. Could be an interesting place to start along with a nutritionist well versed in this life style.
In regards to juicers, the Nutribullet is AWESOME..................... and it's now sold at Target.. even better, because if you don't like it, return it... I used to use one of those bigger juicers and there was a lot dismantling and clean up.. with the Nutribullet... it's all so easy... It comes with two attachment, one for juicing "extracting" as they call it. another for grinding.. should you want to grind flax seeds or nuts..
This juicer is even easy enough for a child to work. My 11 makes his own juice and smoothies... and as mention, the clean up is so easy..
Hey, you may want to check out Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix or Hulu. The man teaches people how to begin juicing. I remember one lady does it even when she's not cleansing.
We have a Breville juicer and love it. It's hard to make a bad combo of juice. We pretty much throw in a bunch of kale, carrots, cucumber and an apple and have a lovely juice. Sometimes we do more with oranges..like orange and carrots alone. Then there are days we go more fruity and do pineapple, cucumber, celery and a handful of spinach. You really can just throw in a bunch of things and see if you like it. I try to avoid juice that is primarily fruit, because it gives me a sugar rush feeling..similar to how alcohol sometimes effects me. The veggies are better for me.
I haven't done straight juicing diets, but I did enjoy Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, which talks about juicing fasts and recommend that for inspiration. We juice for our daily vitamins.
If I were new here I would think you had quite the attitude in your question, but given that I've posted before, too- I get it!! :-)
I got a juicer for Christmas, so I'm a rookie, but I love it. We juice as supplemental only (I like to eat!). I have the Omega juicer and it's awesome. If this helps, it's a low-speed juicer which is meant to keep more of the enzymes in tact when juicing. It's quieter than my blender by far. One other thing I'll say is that my hope was to make a bunch of juice and keep it in the fridge to have over a week. It doesn't last very long at all, so plan to basically juice as you need it and plan to consume it. Without preservatives it doesn't stay good long (makes you wonder what IS in other juices!).
And a juicer like mine really makes juice. Some are more like blenders, which we didn't want. This is actual juice. Most juicers have demos on youtube so you can watch them in action, this is what I checked out first.
I checked out some juicing books from the library which helped a ton. Many of the books broke down recipes by what you are wanting to do- fasting, cleansing, fighting colds, antioxidant, etc. So you'll get tons of ideas in there to fit your goals. Would definitely recommend a book. My juicer didn't come with recipes, which I thought was weird.
I can't answer for how long you can juice if you are doing a cleanse (though the books talk about it). For us since it's supplemental, it is year round. Though I look forward to summer to be able to take advantage of seasonal (cheaper!!) stuff!
I hope I helped a little. I'm afraid of going off topic with you! :-)
A few things to think about-
if your goal is weight loss, be sure to remember that juice as a supplement is still caloric. you will get fewer calories, and more fiber if you attempted to eat the 3 apples, pear and three carrots you put in a 4 oz cup of juice.
if you are going to be juicing exclusively, make sure that you have adequate protein in your diet.
think about your own taste preferences. If you lean towards sweet or lean towards savory. if you prefer fruity over nutty, or spicy.
Some of our favorite juices are -
apple, pear and carrot.
apple, beet, carrot.
mango, orange, pineapple.
strawberry, banana, peanut butter.
cuccumber, kale, celery and mint.
tomato, basil, cuccumber, celery, and tabasco.
lemon, lime, grapefruit and cherry.
apple spinach carrot
watermelon, cherry tomato, ginger.
the sky is the limit.
We use juice as a supplement, we water down our juices and that of our DS. At the end of the day we don't want him getting used to things which are "too sweet".
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
My neighbor is a CHHC (Certified Holistic Health Counselor). We are starting the same thing as you and she is having us read the book "Clean" by Alejandro Junger, M. D. You might try this book to get you started as she said it is the most gentle and the easiest cleanse and maintenance she has seen/tried. You can also check out my neighbors blog at jennifermurata.com
You can search her blog to find some info.
The juicer should come complete with recipes, if that's what you're looking for. I have been juicing for years. It isn't a big deal: it is just the juice I drink in the morning. Juicers come in all sizes, from a small appliance to something that practically needs its own table. I used a JuiceMan Junior for years. Now I have a Waring Pro Juice Extractor, because it happens to be what Target carried when my JuiceMan Junior died. I started juicing because I heard it would improve my skin and prevent me from getting frequent colds, but I have been doing it now for over 10yrs because I like the taste! I use 3 or 4 carrots (depending on their size), a pear, a handful of strawberries and a handful of grapes. This is a recipe I developed after some experimentation, and I stuck with it because I like it. You can stick just about anything in that juicer, you'd be surprised! Hope this was helpful.
I don't know if you're juicing exclusively or supplementally, and that makes a difference. Supplementally, check online for recipes (just google it) for tasty stuff. You already know which foods are good for you and good for what, so it's a matter of playing with the combinations. At my house, we like Honey Crisp apples with everything. I put them with my sons pears. Last night we were out of pears, so I threw in a carrot.
I don't think that it's a good idea to consume only liquids long term if it's not medically necessary. All the motions that it takes to process food need to be maintained. You want your parts to atrophy because you're not using 'em. I can't speak to your specific dietary concerns, but juicing goes well with eating raw, and experimenting with raw recipes might be fun.
What kind of juicer did you get? I purchased a Jack Lalaine one and sold it last night to purchase one that will juice EVERYTHING.
Go with JUST organic veggies and fruits. If you have one (like I did) that takes all the pulp out - it's VERY expensive cause you have to juice at least double to get the same amount of juice - what a waste - and you're tossing the fiber - also a waste!!
I tried different things - made it taste a bit different each time. ALWAY use kale and spinach just because they're so good for you. I bought the cheapest organic apples I could - being mixed with everything you can't tell the difference in them anyway. And I usually used a bit of lemon - just because I like lemon.
There are usually recipes included and they were okay - I'd try each of them once and don't go for ALL of it, just do a little so you can try it and see if you like it. If you don't like the taste, just add something that you do like the taste of and try it again. WRITE in the book whether you liked it or not and add notes as to how you changed it!!!! I'm over 50 and need all the notes I can get - remembering doesn't come easily - although after juicing for weeks, it's getting better!!!
You'll start noticing how adding one certain thing will change the taste and then you can start experimenting. I bought a hardback book at Sam's club about juicing recipes and it has in it about what it each recipe specifically "covers" as far as "problems" go - anti inflamitory, lowers blood pressure, that kind of thing.
If I haven't gotten specific enough, let me know - not sure I answered your question...... there's also a wealth of info on the web. Oh, and you can Juice forever - as long as you want. My Chiropractor has been juicing for almost 10 years!!! Good Luck
*Sigh* the trend on mamapedia now seems to be rude sounding disclaimers in the question. If you don't want other people's opinions you will have to do your research yourself. It's off putting when it's a race to see who can be rude first. Take what you need from the questions and throw out what you don't, it's as simple as that.
We juice regularly. We don't do juicing as a cleanse, but often our breakfast meal is just fresh juice. My favorite is carrot apple juice, but there are many great combinations. Carrot, spinach, beet (in small amounts), parsley, oranges, grapefruit, apple, pear and berries all have different health benefits and don't be afraid to try strange combinations!
I have a Champion juicer and if mine ever breaks down (regularly juicing for 10 years with the same juicer) I will definitely buy another one. It's amazing and comes with great recipes.
Another thing- buy organic. If you don't want to do all organic fruits and veggies, consult the Dirty Dozen list. The last thing you want to do is give all those pesticides easy access to your body's cells.
I consider getting a juicer every so often.
There are sites that compare the various types.
Find them and carefully read the reviews.
From what I've read, you need to decide what you intend to juice.
Machines that do fruit/vegetables well will not do well with wheat grass.
The second most important factor is - how easy it is to clean.
If it's a tremendous bother to wash the thing, you are going to quit using it.
How much counter / cupboard space will it take up - various models are bulkier than others.
There are a lot of things to consider.
And some of the machines can run several hundred dollars (like $200 - $500), although there are other models which are not as expensive.
There are many juicing recipe books.
Do your research, match a good machine to your particular needs and you should be happy with it for a long time.
http://www.juicer-guru.com/compare-juicers.html
http://www.harvestessentials.com/juco.html
http://www.everythingkitchens.com/juicercomparisonchart.html
If a real doctor made you a meal/juicing plan then s/he should have answered all of your questions, especially re how to do it safely and effectively and for how long.
My sister and her husband are big juicers:) they do it year round and use it as various meal replacements and as a booster to their regular diets.
Since that is part of their goal, they keep thinkgs like ginger, kale and other "super food" type ingredients.
They also get recipes from their favorite juice bars to re-create.
Again - they use it as a supplement and replacement.
I believe they do a cleanse for a few days every few months also.
Hope that helped. I don't juice, but I am very intrigued by it and ask my sister a lot of questions:)