Thread: Juicing for adding more fruits and veggies to your diet

I recently began making strawberry, banana and yogurt smoothies as a way of getting more fruit in my diet. They are delicious, btw. And now I'm thinking about getting a juicer to add more fruit and vegetables. I'm thinking about carrots, cucumbers, apples and a few leafy greens.

I have read a lot of reviews about masticating vs. centrifugal juicers and the price range is huge for the various brands. I don't want to spend a lot of money, especially because I don't know if I will stick with it.

Do you use a juicer? What type and brand is it? What do you like and dislike about it? Or maybe you decided to go with a blender instead.

Doing the simpler, cheaper option of just eating the fruits and vegetables just doesn't work for me, so I'm willing to try juicing.

Smoothies are an awesome way to add more fruit and veggies to your diet!

I stopped using my juicer because I hated seeing all the wasted pulp and fiber that was left behind. We've been drinking green smoothies for breakfast for some time, and I decided (after almost burning out my blender) to get a Vitamix (refurbished, so not quite as pricey as a new one). We love it. We use enough fruit to add sweetness but concentrate on nutritious greens (kale, collards, watercress, etc) and vegetables like cucumbers. It's nice to start the day with big handfuls of green.

I only use the juicer for carrot juice, because I love it. Still hate the pulp left behind, but next time I make carrot juice, I'll try making the pulp into carrot pudding.

I am a huge fan of juicing myself, and my juicer is one of the simpler ones. I didn't feel like spending a lot, and it does the job. I only use it to make veggie juice though, because fruit juice is fairly useless and has a lot of sugar in it. Fruit is nature's way to get us to take our fiber. When we get rid of the pulp, we through the good part away! So I eat all my fruit instead of wasting it on juice.

Vegetable juice is another story. It contains a lot more nutrients and very little sugar. We'd have to eat a lot of veggies in order to take those nutrients in, so juicing is a good alternative. Carrots, beats, celery, etc. are all great. I like to switch it up! Juicing is a great alternative for those who dislike the taste of veggies or simply want to increase their intake.

Hi Bintbeled and Ines,

Thanks for posting. Which Juicer do you use? What do you like or dislike about it? Is it easy to clean?

Originally Posted by milagros

Hi Bintbeled and Ines,

Thanks for posting. Which Juicer do you use? What do you like or dislike about it? Is it easy to clean?

Mine is Compact juice fountain by Breville if I remember correctly. It cost me around $100 and the clean up is super easy. There is nothing I can think of that I dislike about it. I read lots of reviews online before I purchased, and I was very pleased with the result. Good luck to you Milagros!

Originally Posted by bintbeled

I stopped using my juicer because I hated seeing all the wasted pulp and fiber that was left behind.

This is the reason I rarely use my juicer. I know, they give you all sorts of ideas of what you can use the pulp for, like putting in muffins. Well, I don't bake muffins. So I was just eating the pulp with a spoon. Then I thought-- if I'm eating the pulp, why don't I just eat the whole fruit or vegetable?? Although juice is nice too.

(Of course, now that I think of it... when I had my goldfish, I should've done some juicing and then given her some of the pulp as a snack! It would've been just right for an itty-bitty fishie)


I have the Jack LaLanne juicer and I like it. It's easy to clean... I'm just extra-lazy and hate doing it. :) I think it's more expensive now than it was two-three years ago when my partner got me mine at Costco, though.

I bought the Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer Pro. I agree it's easy to clean and I like using it.

I've only used it a few times so far. I've tried various combinations of carrot, apple and celery. I don't like the celery so much, so I will only use small amounts of it. But carrot and apple juices are delicious, together and separate! I am growing my own organic tomatoes and will try tomato juice next. I will have a big bunch soon, can't wait to try it. The waste doesn't bother me, at least not yet. I keep thinking about all the vitamins I'm getting from the juices.

I'm looking up more recipes now so I can try different juices. Love it!