Juicer/Blender

Kerryite wrote: »

• Do people feel that juices (e.g. carrot/apple/banana etc) deliver good nutrients, even though you lose some of the fiber?yes, but much better to eat the fruit
• Any appliance recommendations (juicer or blender)?they are all th same thing really, find one you like and can afford
• Are they difficult to clean?usually yes
• Is there a lot of waste? Or a lot of fruit/veg needed to produce the juice?in a juicer yes, with a blender all gets used, cept the skin. but you get a lumpier drink
• Do people find that they're a bit of a phase, and you can get tired of making them (which I want to avoid if I pay a bit for one)?yes, its more hassle to get the thing out, juice a fruit, clean it and put it back. they usually go the way of the sandwich toaster very quickly
• Generally, which are more versatile? Juicers or blenders?they both do what they say on the tin, blenders can blend more than smoothies tho. soups etc
• Would people recommend particular mixes, or recommend (e.g.) a smoothie with yogurt for protein over a juice as a recovery drink?see below
• Etc, etc... basically any useful information would be appreciated!

I'm very much at the early stage of thinking about this, so any hints or tips would be great. just eat the fruit
Many thanks!

While im a big fan of blending I do it a lot. I still recommend that you simply eat the fruit.

Sure you can blend a smoothie if you want but considering the hassle you will get bored fast.

I put in a lot of prep for mine, I have a fridge full of punnets of fruit and a freezer of bags of sliced frozen fruit, so when I want a smoothie I just take hand fulls of what i need.

in the long run just get into the habit of eating fruit and veg.

however:
If you're like me and can do both then
milk, peanut butter, greek yoghurt, and berries for flavour makes a good high protein drink

apple, celery, slices of lemon is a good energy for workouts.

spinach can be added to most smoothies for extra veg and it wont affect the flavour too much.

freeze bananas and blend them on their own it makes an almost ice cream like desert, add berries or peanut better for taste and you have a healthy tasty ice cream.

I know it's not for everyone and plenty dismiss the idea out of hand - I personally think juicing is a great way to get more fruit and veg into your diet, particularly if you don't like eating too much of them.

The juicer takes a bit of maintenance - it's 10-15 minutes work per batch of juice. A juice for me is 2 Apples (they go in whole), 1 carrot (peeled), 1 lemon (grate off the skin if they are waxed lemons), 6 sticks of celery, 1 cucumber, 150g of spinach. Just shove the lot down the tube. The cleaning is the tricky part, but it's part of the routine now. Takes 5 minutes or so, just make sure you clean before you drink the juice otherwise the pulp will dry in and it becomes nasty to clean.

I don't like most vegetables and I'm hopeless at eating them. I am trying to eat more but there is no way in hell I will ever eat that much in one day, but by jucing I'm getting most of the nutrients. The above makes two glasses of juice, each about 95 calories. I doubt there are many alternative snacks under 100 calories that deliver the same micronutrients (bar eating the stuff of course, which is obviously better). And it's delicious.

When I started off I was jucing just apples and lemons (which makes the most delicious juice imaginable). I'm gradually trying to cut down on the sugary fruits that are going in and using more greens.