Juicing at home: our family’s story
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Fit 4 Life, Healthy Living, Recipes & Kitchen Tips, The Journey of Motherhood
A few months ago, our family was hit with sickness. Everyone except Trent had a runny nose, which then led to ear infections. And although Trent was spared ear pain, he had his own share of problems because he was fighting pneumonia. We were a pretty sad bunch. While vegetating on the couch one afternoon during this time of sickness, we saw an infomercial for a juicer.
We didn’t have to be convinced that the benefits to juicing are extensive, but I will highlight some of the major benefits here:
-You know exactly what is in the juice.
-You know it is fresh and the vitamin/nutrient content is at its peak (nutrients are lost as soon as the juice begins to age).
-Because it is lacking fiber, your body does not need to spend energy on digestion and is instead able to allow the tissues to receive the beneficial enzymes, vitamins and minerals more quickly through the blood stream.
In the past, I allowed my kids to drink a lot of store-bought juice. Because I was careful to buy 100% juice while steering clear of the vibrent rainbow colored juice cocktails, punches and juice drinks, I really didn’t see any problem.
However, I have since changed my thoughts and believe that fruit juice purchased in the store is not nearly as healthy as I had once thought. Here are some of the reasons why:
-Store bought juice is often not organic therefore I believe that the pesticides used on the fruit are passed on in a more concentrated form though the juice.
-The juice has been pasteurized meaning it has been heated up to a temperature of 185-201.2 degrees. This heating process greatly diminishes the natural nutrient content found in the fruit.
-The juice is old: meaning it was made, then bottled and then has been sitting on the shelf waiting to be bought, which once again, reduces the nutrient content.
-In addition, it is my understanding that at least in the beginning many juice companies used their lower quality fruit for juicing since the visual blemishes are not seen. I don’t know to what degree this has changed over time but I like being able to see the fruit I am going to drink.
Alissa Hamilton, author of Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice, states: “In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn’t oxidize. Then it’s put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets stripped of flavor-providing chemicals, which are volatile. When it’s ready for packaging, companies such as Tropicana hire flavor companies such as Firmenich to engineer flavor packs to make it taste fresh. People think not-from-concentrate is a fresher product, but it also sits in storage for quite a long time…”
Nutritionist and blogger Lauren from Diary of Nutritionist says in her blog post “How Healthy is that Juice?” that, “After the pasteurization process, the brightly packaged juices, the ones that can sit for an eternity on the shelves of every market, are about as rich in nutrients as a pack of “natural” gummy worms. And that ain’t saying much. In other words– we are left with sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. Fructose, the kind of sugar that is found naturally in fruit and vegetables, is fine in moderation when consumed R-A-W. This is because the live enzymes and nutrients that chaperon the sugar, offer the body much needed nourishment, and help the body to break down and assimilate itself, all the while, nourishing the body. Fruit and vegetables juices, that are freshly pressed, are quite possibly one of the most hydrating, nourishing and healing drinks you can consume.”
For these reasons, I now offer water or raw milk to my kids when they are thirsty as default options. They do still drink bottled juice on occasion, but it is no longer a standard option.
We already own (and LOVE) a Vita-Mix and although we eat (and drink) a lot of fresh fruit, we don’t consume enough vegetables on a regular basis. The idea of drinking our veggies seemed doable however with the help of a juicer so we started an investigative search to determine the juicer that would best suit our needs. We were pleased to discover some helpful YouTube videos that compared and contrasted several popular juicer brands and finally decided on an Omega VRT 350 (although if you are looking for a less expensive alternative I would suggest going in with a friend or family member and taking advantage of the current buy one get one free special offered on the Jack LaLanne website (one juicer costs about $99.99 plus shipping)). Since our juicer arrived, we have transitioned into a new routine. In the morning our kids take turns feeding the fruit and veggies (currently we have been doing a combination of apples, oranges, strawberries and carrots) into the juicer. Having been a part of the process, they are excited to enjoy the fruits (and veggies 
) of their labor. As the growing season progresses, we will enjoy experimenting with more juicing combinations and I will transition into offering easy and delicious homemade popsicles made straight from the juicer or Vita-Mix.
Where I get my produce:
-Carrots (I buy the large 10 lb bags of organic carrots at Costco): $5.49
-Apples (when possible I buy organic apples from Azure as that seems to be the best price but when I run out I also buy from Costco): $1.00/lb-$1.25/lb
-Oranges (non organic from Costco): $8.49-8.99 for a box
-Strawberries (frozen from Costco): not sure on the price, sorry (however, I realize that berries are a food that if at all possible should be eaten organically so we are extending our garden this year to include some strawberry plants).
A bonus is that our new chickens love to eat the fruit pulp produced when we juice each day!
Want a reminder about which foods are best to buy organic, read here.
What about you? Do any of you own a juicer? What brand did you buy? What do you like about juicing? What are your thoughts on store-bought juice (feel free to disagree with me)?
Believe it or not I had intended to write about a homeopathic ear oil when I started this post but I ended up going in a different direction! You can look for the ear oil recipe next Monday .
Heather Ledeboer
I am a Christian, wife, mom and the owner of Mom 4 Life. I have a passion for helping moms and encouraging them in their journey through motherhood. I invite you to journey along with me!
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I just stopped and got my kids a fresh squeezed apple juice from Pilgrims today! A Vita-Mix is on my Christmas wish list!
Laura recently posted..Welcome Baby E!
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mom4life Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
@Laura, The Vita-Mix is awesome, I am sure you will love it!
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SOPHIA Reply:
February 11th, 2013 at 10:23 am
@Laura,
Please check out my new veg & fruit smothie called Savse Smoovies. It is crammed full of raw vegetables and fruit, there is absolutely nothing added, no sugar, coloring or preservatives.
Most importantly, it has not been pasteurized, so it preserves all the nutrition and minerals inside, the bottle is therefore crammed with goodness. We have used a method called High Pressure Processing (HHP) to give it the 20 day shelf -life.
Please let me know what you think?
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As always, your timing is impeccable. Since you mentioned juicing earlier this week I’ve been thinking more and more about it. I wish I had an extra fridge int he garage to store all the bulk produce. I just don’t have the room in my current set-up. My MIL gave me a Jack LaLanne a few years ago, and even though its not the best, I’m sure it’s better than nothing. I like the idea of sneaking some greens in for my kids every morning too.
You just keep staying one step ahead of me and paving the way, I like this system
A vitamix is on my Christmas list too… and 4th of July list… and Father’s day list…. you think J would like a Vitamix for Father’s day?
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mom4life Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
@Kira @ Kissing the Joy, oh good I am glad I can pave the way for you;). Have you tried looking on Craigs List for a fridge? I have seen some pretty good deals (like free) from time to time;)! The Jack LaLanne works pretty good, that is awesome that you already have one! It takes a bit more time to clean than the one we have but it still gets the job done. And yes I think J would LOVE a Vita-Mix for Father’s Day (think of all the homemade ice cream you could make him, he would love that:)!
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Hey Heather, where are you getting your raw milk? I checked out the Natural Heritage Farms in Cocolala, but so far away…Also, if you already have a Vita Mix, why get a separate juicer? I thought that that is what it was?
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mom4life Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
@Jamie, we get our raw milk from a man at our church who lives out by us in Athol. He works in Post Falls though so several people pick up milk at his place of work if that is more local for them (others also get it from his car at church on Sunday). I will send you his phone number via email. He was just saying on Sunday that they have ample milk now so if I knew anyone else looking for milk to let them know he has some. As for your Vita-Mix vs. Juicer question: we got the juicer with the main long term goal of getting more veggies into our diet. For example, I can blend up 1 carrot in a smoothie in my Vita-Mix but I really can’t include a handful of carrots and have it still taste good (at least to me). However, juicing a handful of carrots works great. The smoothies from my Vita-Mix have a lot of pulp which makes some ingredients more or less ideal for juicing.
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Awesome!! Thanks for sharing!! We bought a Breville Juice Fountain, but are thinking of getting an Omega – regular kind, I can’t remember the model – because they do greens better. I would love to have this one though! Our kids love the fresh juice too, and my convictions are the same as yours!
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mom4life Reply:
December 5th, 2011 at 8:23 am
@Alisha, I saw the Breville on the movie “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” is that where you saw it too:)? We are very happy with our juicer. I love the compact size so we can leave it on the counter. It does a good job with greens too but I do have to be careful with some stringy items like beets and put part of it in followed by another hard item such as a carrot and then a little more and so on rather than the whole thing at once (otherwise it can get backed up). Glad to hear you are juicing it up!
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Hi Heather, Thank you for your post about juicing – I have recently become aware of how good this is and with the arsenic in apple juice – it’s scaring me and I want my children to be healthy. I also thought 100% juice was good. I have two boys – 6.5 and 4. I have never had juice from a juicer like this – is it really thick, do you water it down for your kids?? Do your children drink it easily? Is there a juicing book or site that you really like?? Thank you for your help!!!
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mom4life Reply:
December 16th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
@Michelle, Good questions (and good for you for looking into this option)! I don’t water down the juice for my older kids who are 8 and 5 but I often do for my 2 year old. The thickness of the juice seems to depend on what I am juicing and I believe it would also depend on the kind of juicer you own. When I juice softer items like strawberries it seems to have a bit more thickness to it but it is still a nice smooth consistency and we don’t mind it at all. The kids all LOVE the juice and will ask for it if I don’t make it. There is a fascinating movie called “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” that we got off of NetFlix http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/ that highlights the story of an obese man who went on a 60 day juice diet and what it did for his health. I bet you would find it interesting and inspiring as well. I found that he has several juice recipes on this website http://jointhereboot.com/reboot-program/recipes/juice-recipes/ The main ingredients that we often use is a base of oranges, carrots and apples plus whatever else we have on hand. Recently we have found that 1-2 handfuls of spinach or kale added in is mild enough to be totally palatable by all members of the family. I get the spinach from Costco in the larger plastic container and it is organic which is also nice. My goal this year is to play around more with adding in new veggies and starting Jan 2 a friend and I are doing a 2 week juice and veggie diet. Want to join in with us:)?! Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Thank you so much for the info Heather!! It was so helpful!! I ordered my juicer last night – got an Omega 8003!!! Cannot wait for it to get here.
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mom4life Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
@Michelle, ohhhhhhh that is VERY exciting!!! When it comes and you have time to play with it please let me know if your family comes up with some veggie and/or fruit combos that you love so we can try them too!
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[...] We purchased our juicer earlier this year and it is now a regular part of our morning routine (the kids really enjoy helping out too). To read more about why we decided to start juicing and the kind of juicer we purchased read “Juicing at home: our family’s story.” [...]
I too saw the movie, http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/ and it truly inspired everyone in my family! I bought the Omega j8006 ($300.00), and was not impressed with the low volume it produced. It is very slow and would be fine for 1 person, but not for a family of 4, or we would spend 24/7 processing vegetables and fruits through the small 1″ feeder. Not practical for my family. I’m looking at the Breville models now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So hard to make sure which one will be the right one. We are so very ready to get juicing!!!
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mom4life Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 7:49 am
@Paula, I think I found something that will be really helpful for you. Take a look at this YouTube video http://youtu.be/CKT3JVXbhIg it shows the Breville vs. some other options (including the Omega 8004 which is like the one you have and the Omega VRT which is the one we have). Take a look and let me know if it is helpful! Good luck:).
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[...] me pass on a little life lesson taught by my adorable son. If you choose to let your children help you juice, make sure there are no marbles nearby. The result is not a healthy [...]