I briefly tried juicing a few years ago to see what all the fuss was about. As the title declares, I am NOT into juicing. This is my two cents, so take it what it is worth. Some people love juicing because they enjoy the taste. Other people love it because they have certain GI issues that require them to be careful with fiber. However, there’s a lot of pseudoscience surrounding juicing and it may not be all that it’s cracked up to be.
Reasons why I’m not into juicing
- Juicing strips out the fiber. According to my nutritionist, fruit and vegetable fiber is crucial to promoting healthy gut bacteria. By stripping out the fiber, we are missing out on gut health improvement.
- I prefer blenders. You can make a smooth concoction with a high quality blender while still maintaining all the components of the whole food.
- It produces A LOT of waste. When I tried juicing, it would take massive quantities of fruit and vegetables to make just 2 ounces of juice.
- It is not cost effective due to the waste factor.
- It is scary. Seriously. The juicer is sounds like a plane taking off as it violently separates liquid from fiber. One time I tried juicing kale somehow it came shooting back out at me at roughly 240mph. It was terrifying. And yes, it was also hilarious. My older son, who was 5 at the time, giggled in delight as I dodged kale bullets.
- Most likely, there is not anything “magical” about juicing. Most of the touted benefits are anecdotal. Logic tells me that if a food is beneficial, why would stripping away some its components make it become more beneficial?
- It is gross. Pulp is gross enough in orange juice. Now, consider what celery pulp tastes like… Spoiler alert, it’s horrendous. Unless that’s your jam. If it is, juice away ya nasty.
Has anyone else tried juicing? Love it? Hate it?
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Statements on this site are not meant to be taken as medical advice. These statements reflect my personal experiences having mild-ish post-viral POTS and ME. Due to the wide spectrum of these diseases, comorbidities, and everyone being different, your experiences may be very different than mine.
Note: If you post a comment, this site does NOT have a feature to notify you of responses to your comment. I have not found a good solution for that yet. However, I usually respond to every comment in a timely manner, so be sure to check back.
3 Comments
I totally agree! The point of veggies & fruit is to get the fiber along with the nutrition in my eyes. Also, if the ingredients are in the starchy side, wouldn’t that be inviting a sugar crash when the starch is gone out of you system. I can just see those Kale bullets! LOL!
I’ve only tried juicing once. My brother-in-law made beet juice which wasn’t too bad tasting as he added a few yummy fruits to it. But he neglected to tell me it would turn my urine blood red! Needless to say I panicked when I went to the toilet assuming I was hemorrhaging internally. 😱 Everyone got a good laugh when they explained the colorful side-effect of drinking beet juice. Personally I prefer smoothies. I can whip those yummy things up in my Ninja blender in no time.
LOL