Benefits of Juicing (Plus Tips & Tricks)
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A few months ago, I wrote about how juicing vegetables had become my unfrugal obsession. I’m happy to report that I’m still juicing regularly and that we are enjoying it more than ever. Juicing gives us energy and makes us feel amazing…especially when we do it almost every day. Since we became vegetarians, we are eating a mostly plant-based diet anyway, but juicing just adds that extra bit of fuel that our bodies need to feel super awesome. My skin looks great. My hair is shiny. I basically look amazing. Believe it or not, juicing has also made me humble.
The last time that I wrote about the benefits of juicing, I got a ton of emails with questions.  At the time, I didn’t really have any advice for anyone since I hadn’t been juicing for that long. Since it’s been four months, I feel like I finally have some juicing insight to share! ***Make sure to check out my new post with updated juicing recipes!!!
My Hot Juicing Tips
Here are some of the fruits and vegetables that I enjoy juicing on a regular basis:
- Cucumbers- Cucumbers have an amazing amount of juice in them. The juice by itself is pretty bland, but it creates a great juice base to add to.
- Bok Choy- This is another vegetable that I juice on a regular basis. It has a ton of water in it and creates a great juice base. It’s pretty gross by itself so I only use it with other fruits and vegetables.
- Pomegranates- These are definitely a juicing splurge! I usually buy 2 or 3 of them at a time and juice half of one in each batch of juice. They are $2 each at the grocery store so I use them sparingly.
- Carrots- I put carrots in every batch of juice that I make. I love the taste and it compliments every fruit and vegetable combination that I have ever made.
- Beets- I love juicing beets! The juice has a very rich flavor. It can definitely be an overpowering taste so keep that in mind.
- Romaine lettuce- Lettuce has a surprising amount of juice in it and romaine lettuce creates a tasty juice base.
- Grapes- I love juicing grapes. They make almost any combination taste great!
- Apples- I juice apples in almost every batch. My kids like the added flavor and they have quite a bit of juice in them.  I also like plain apple juice.  It tastes way better fresh than it does if you buy it from the store.
My least favorite juicing ingredients:
- Pineapple- It’s too mushy to create very much usable juice.
- Mango- I love mangoes but they don’t juice well at all.
Keeping Costs Down
In my opinion, the benefits of juicing far outweigh any negatives. However, juicing can be expensive if you don’t have a strategy to keep costs down. Luckily, there are some methods you can employ to make juicing as inexpensive as possible:
- Buy fruits and vegetables that are on sale.  At my grocery store, the produce department usually has several juiceable items on sale. I typically juice whatever is on sale and I use other ingredients sparingly.
- Create a juice base out of something cheap.  Since we eat a lot of broccoli, I always save the big stalks for juicing. They create an inexpensive juice base out of something that I used to throw away.
- Don’t always buy organic.  I just peel most of the ingredients instead.  Some fruits and vegetables cannot be peeled so I occasionally buy the organic choice. These items include strawberries, raspberries, and grapes.
- Use leftover fresh fruits and vegetables. My kids rarely clean their plates so I always juice the leftover grapes or carrots that they don’t eat. I just rinse them and keep them in a bag in the refrigerator then throw them in my next batch of juice.
- Juice fruits and vegetables that are about to expire. I always try to juice fruits and vegetables that are nearing their expiration date. This way nothing ever gets wasted.
- Make sure to check out my post on frugal juicing recipes!
More Hot Tips
- Rinse your juicer right after you use it and never wait to clean it. The fruit and vegetable particles are almost impossible to clean if you let them sit. To avoid a problem, clean your juicer right after use.
- Don’t make too much.  Juice doesn’t stay fresh very long so it’s better to drink it shortly after it’s made. Try to make an amount that you can drink within a few hours time.
- Take preventative measures so that your kids don’t make a mess. Juice can be very messy and my kids love to slosh it everywhere. I have learned to make them drink it in the kitchen and only from a straw. This minimizes clean-up.
- If your juice doesn’t taste that great, add a few apples or a lemon. Adding a lemon makes almost anything taste great.
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I’m going to go with crazy hippie. I’m probably dating myself, but juicing is one of those fads that comes around every couple of decades or so. I still remember Jay Kordich pitching The Juiceman Juicer back in the early 90s.
I am NOT trying to be trendy, silly. Just trying to find new ways to eat and drink nutritious foods!!! =)
I love the tips. I’ve never tried juicing, but we’ve been trying to eat a little healthier recently and this would definitely be a cool thing to try out. Sounds like a great way to reduce waste as well.
Yes, definitely! The one thing that still goes to waste is the juice pulp, but I am going to start composting it soon!
Compost your juice pulp and use it to grow your own veggies! There is power in those fresh nutrients! I am also new to juicing but have seen a big difference in my energy levels and it has even lowered my blood pressure! Next step for me is to grow some of my own favorite juicing veggies.
Thanks for this great primer. We received a juicer as a wedding gift and I haven’t got around to trying it yet. And I’m very glad to know that cucumbers work well in juice. They’re abundant (and cheap!) here in the summer.
I love juicing cucumbers. It’s hard to believe how much juice is actually in them!!!
Juicing is definitely something I would like to give a try sometime. We have a lot of smoothies here, but have never done the whole vegetable juicing. It seems like it would be a great “healthy” activity.
My kids love smoothies too! They think it’s ice cream.
I want to juice so bad! Right now I have smoothies almost every day, but there’s only so much vegetable goodness that can be packed into a smoothie before it starts to taste funky.
I’m getting married in June and my fiancé and I asked for a juicer as a group gift from his sisters, we’re so excited to get it!
That sounds awesome!!! I hope you like it.
Still haven’t gotten on the juicing bandwagon and probably won’t. Mostly due to laziness. I would just rather eat some carrots raw than deal with getting multiple things dirty that I would then have to clean..
With the summer just around the corner you should be able to get some stinking good deals on produce from farmer’s markets which will make your obsession that much more affordable!
I hope so! Last year people had so many cucumbers that they were giving them away!!!
Ooh, I never would have thought to use bok choy, but it’s a good point about using veggies and fruits with lots of water. I’m a newbie and make mostly fruit smoothies, but I’m going to give this a try.
Let me know how it goes!
I think that sounds like a great way to get veggies in your diet. I do think you’re probably a crazy hippie. If your next post is for how to tie dye shirts, I’ll know it.
I actually love tie dye, lol
I would love to try juicing but we don’t have a juicer. I don’t want to spend a ton of money on one that I might not like, or might not work well.
Can I ask what brand or model of juicer you all have? I need a good recommendation. They are an expensive investment!
I have a Breville juicer — we spent a good amount for it but there are a couple models that will likely do the trick for less. You can also do what Holly did and collect gift cards to Kohl’s, Macy’s or Amazon to help offset (or completely cover) the cost of one! My mom has a Waring Pro but I wouldn’t recommend it — it gets overheated easily, bumps around on the counter and chucks fruits and veggies at her when it’s feeling ornery. Hope this helps!
I have an Omega Mega Mouth Juicer. I used Kohls gift cards from Christmas to buy it. Otherwise it would have been about $175. It’s one of the cheaper juicers….but I think it works great!
I think it’s a great way to get fruits and veggies in your diet. Though, I could not imagine what our kids would do with the juice…I think we’d be getting our walls repainted. 😉
My kids only drink it with supervision!
I obviously don’t think you’re a crazy hippy because I don’t consider myself to be one, either. 🙂 We also use carrots and apples in every batch and we’ve recently introduced beets into the mix, too. My husband juiced an entire beet initially and I had to choke down the juice — not a fan of that earthy flavor! We cut it in half and the taste is now perfect, plus it gives the juice a much more appetizing color. I basically try to juice as many veggies as possible since I don’t have trouble getting fruit into my diet. We like celery, kale and radishes in addition to the veggies you listed. Juice on!
I’ve never tried radishes. I’ll have to do that!
I blend a few chunks of fruits with ice, water or frozen yogurt in the morning, we eat healthy otherwise and I don’t really like vegetable juices, not even tomato, so that is a no, although cucumber just to get more juice sounds interesting.
Cucumbers are my favorite to juice!
This sounds amazing! I make juice right now using a small blender but it could definitely use some more veggies!
Go for it! =)
Right now I use my average blender for a basic smoothie which is spinach, almond milk, banana, and protein powder. But I just bought a much better blender and want to start making more vegetable based drinks. My big fear is I hate the taste of most raw veggies, so I’m hoping the fruit can cut the taste. And I don’t think you’re a hippy. Most people wait too long before they start to take care of their health.
That smoothie recipe sounds yummy!
I don’t juice, but I blend a fruit smoothie for breakfast. Just raw/frozen fruit and orange juice. I find it healthier than my normal hot cereal.
I’m sure it is. My kids love frozen fruit smoothies.
Have you ever seen the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead? It is all about this guy Joe who was extremely unhealthy. He started juicing and lost a whole person in weight. My wife and I watched it and she has been juicing ever since.
Yes, we saw it. Loved it!
“Believe it or not, juicing has also made me humble” – LOL! Those are great tips for juicing – I agree with not always buying organic if you’re on a budget. If it’s peel-able, I generally do without, but if I use the skin then I try to buy organic when possible.
I buy organic when it’s on sale. If not, it’s hard to pay so much more.
I’m enjoying the juicing love. Like a lot of the other commenters, we tend to do more smoothies (regular blender/ mason jar technique). We do mostly fruits with spinach and any leftovers and it is a nice tasty treat. The Mason jars make cleanup a lot simpler!
I have seen people use mason jars! Glad to know that works!
We love smoothies, especially if they are fruits. It’s the veggies that are tricky. Can’t get the kids have some if they don’t like the flavor.
I put some fruits in with the vegetables in order to hide the veggie taste!
I have not juiced, but I do eat a lot of vegetables anyway. I am not a vegetarian, but vegetables and fruit are a mainstay at my house. Glad it is working out well for you.
Thanks Grayson!
I love juicing and smoothing (I’m from Cali – what did you expect?). It can be costly, but I agree the health benefits make it a good splurge in my opinion. 🙂 I used bok choy and wouldn’t have thought it had a lot of juice, so I’ll have to give it a try! I like kale, although it doesn’t generally give a ton of juice. Thank goodness for cucumbers, apples and celery! Smart idea to save your kids extra vegetables, Might have to borrow that idea!
I totally wish we had a juicer! I’d be using that darn thing every day! 🙂
I used to do it every day. Now I do it about every other day.
After coming into some extra cash from a night of babysitting, I decided to treat myself to a juicer. I figure if I focus on getting healthier it will reduce future medical bills. High upfront cost with a bigger future payoff.
I’m a complete rookie in the juicing world so these tips really help! Thanks for sharing them.
Sweet! I will be posting my favorite juicing recipes in the next month or so!
I’ve never juiced before…will have to try it out with your tips! I’m a pseudo-aesthetic eater, so I might be doing rainbow juice before I try any crazy juice.
Haha, yeah. Some of it looks pretty nasty!
Glad that you’ve been having good luck juicing! One of the guys at the office brought a juicer to work, used it precisely once and didn’t clean it properly. So it looks like it still has tiny bits of dried carrots in the strainer. It has not made the best impression on me.
Yeah, you have to clean it right or away or that’s what happens!
I don’t think you’re a crazy hippie! My dad bought me a juicer last year and I’ve only used it a few times. I am going on a week-long no grain diet and will be juicing a lot this week. One thing I don’t like juicing is celery. Even just using half a stalk makes the whole thing taste like celery.
I’m not big on celery either.
Great post! I just got done with the mean green juice fast, and it was wonderful!! I try and do a similar thing at least a couple of times a year because it feels so great afterwards.
I am afraid that I would be a super huge bitch if I did a juice fast…..maybe one day =)
A couple people here at the office “juice” I have to admit it isn’t for me but then again you can’t knock it until you try it right?!
Hey, you never know….you might love it!
Apples and pears make a good juicing base. They create a lot of volume and they’re fairly sweet so you can really add in the leafy healthy stuff. Try Swiss Chard in your juice as well. Way yummier than kale. Celery and spinach are also great to add in. Glad you’re enjoying it!
I’ve never tried swiss chard. I definitely will!
We love doing fruit smoothies but I don’t think we could juice vegetables. Although my kids struggle eating veggies as solids, so who knows? Might be worth a shot.
You should try it! My kids drink a ton of veggies without even knowing it!
I’ve never thought of juicing, but I suppose it would be a good idea for me. I’m a juice drinker, but don’t care too much for raw vegetables. Thanks for sharing, I really like Green Goodness made by some health food brand it’s got wheat grass and bunch of stuff that sounds gross. But it’s good.
Juicing is simply awesome. Healthy and fun, even though slightly more expensive depending on fruit.
We haven’t tried juicing, but we do make smoothies sometimes. We buy nonfat plain yogurt and a big bag of frozen fruits from Costco. They have a couple frozen fruit options, but we like the one with berries most. Toss a banana in there with the yogurt and berries and it’s delicious.
The other thing we did with our first son and are still doing with our second is to make all his own food. Mrs. Bonner steams veggies, purees them then scoops them onto a cookie into a dozen or so servings and tosses the sheet into the freezer. After a few hours you can pop them off the sheet and put them in a container in the freezer.
I’ve also heard kale and chard make a good, healthy base for juicing as well.
I would also add that a key point to remember is to buy a juicer that is easy to clean as well as use. If you buy one that’s difficult to clean, it’s going to prevent you from using it regularly. I love my juicer!
I’ve recently invested in a nutria-bullet and it has been amazing. You can throw in full handfuls of spinach or broccoli and it liquifies it. This way there’s a lot less waste, and you get the benefits of the skins and other layers that don’t make it through the juicer!
Congratulations for finally finding your way to maximize your health! I have been juicing for the past 3 years and I can say that it really helped me a lot when it comes to managing my diabetes. I have been using my ever reliable Juicepresso. I am currently working with one of the authorized re-sellers of the Juicepresso in Australia. For any assistance and further information on this product please visit us at http://www.feelgoodstore.com.au/premium-coway-juicepresso-cold-press-slow-juicer-in-black-limited-stocktake-sale-until-sold-out/ We have a sale going on!
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Thank you for your hot juicing tips Holly! Just like you, juicing have impacted my life in an amazing way. It’s absolutely fabulous to start a day with a refreshing and nutritious juice, my fave juice at the morning is consist of grapefruit, carrot and some ginger, just enough fiber to sustain you until your first snack and it’s It is super quick and convenient. I gave up cereal a long time ago.
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