Fat, Sick & Nearly dead, film

[Bang!Zoom!]

That was pretty good. I was really touched by the trucker story, best part of the film.

 

I've watched many of the films on health like this, and it's interesting when one compares back and forth with Gerson therapy.

 

I always walk away feeling silly for having a centrifugal juicer, and feel a bit like a loser for not having the right kind.

 

Does anyone out there have a strong opinion on the type of juicer? I won't be getting a 2K dollar juicer anytime soon, and wonder just how much I'm ripping myself off all things considered.

[Mynyel]

I don't have a juicer. I laid it down for the Vitamix. Love it. It is more versatile and doesn't waste any of the fiber :)

 

Now if I just used it more than a couple times a week. It is hard in the winter when it is cold to want a smoothie. It is getting warmer though and we are all thinking smoothies here!

[PollyOR]

This comparison chart might be helpful.

[momofsbandeg]

After watching the documentary about it.

We bought the Breville Ikon Multi-Speed Stainless Steel Juice Fountain. It is around $200. We like it. We take a plastic shopping bag and line the pulp container for easier, less messy clean up.

 

Here's an amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BJE510XL-900-Watt-Variable-Speed-Extractor/dp/B000QBFFU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334432405&sr=8-1

[Jennifer3141]

I loved the movie and we have a hard time juicing in the winter too.

 

As fas as the "right" juicer goes, we have a fancy Breville one and the argument about the heat destroying all the goodness kind of cracks me up. Number one, nothing stays in there long enough to get much heat at all; number two... you're telling me that the .000008 of a degree it might get heated up destroys all the benefit of juicing??

 

I knew that for DH and I, ease of use and being able to be popped in the dishwasher was most important for us in a juicer. Juicing is messy!!

[Bang!Zoom!]

I enjoy movies about this stuff right before a fast. I'll be starting tonight but a new type of fast I've not done before, and that's a whole green basic rather than a fruit type. I love fruit ones, but I think that would be a bad idea considering the reason why I'm doing this one (mouth/dental) - my thoughts are that the less acid/sugar in my face the better the healing will go.

 

So this is a new one for me.

[Chris in VA]

I am looking at a juicer, too--

I looked at a Breville, but then discovered Consumer Reports deemed the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro Juicer to be a Best Buy. It's number two in their rankings for centrifugal juicers--Breville is One.

Best part is it's $59 at Walmart Online.

 

I'll be going with that one.

[Isabella]

Basically, you're still getting OODLES more nutrition with the greatly increased intake of greens/veges etc, so the minute amount more nutrition that can be extracted with the 'better' juicers, is really neither here nor there (IMO!).

 

We have a slow masticating juicer (didn't cost 2k though- I've never seen one for that amount.), but DH told me to get the 'quick and easy' type. We got the Breville Juice Fountain. DH said that unless it IS quick & easy to do, we're not going to stick to it. I thought that was absolutely true. So now it takes me about 3 minutes to make a juice for 4 of us, rather than about 20 minutes with the slow one. I can throw carrots, apples, celery stick etc in whole, and only need to peel oranges and lemons, etc. With the slow juicer I'd have to cut it all into little chunks so it wouldn't overload the juicer. The opening is about 1/4 that of the Breville, so that slows it down, too.

 

So weighing it all up, I don't see that there's much difference. Yes, probably a little, but not to say that the 'slow' ones are vastly superior!

 

And we DID see huge benefits in energy, skin, health, and weight reduction, so it must have done some good!:D

[Bang!Zoom!]

Had a good laugh while stocking up today and shopping.

 

There I was in the grocery store, and a lady wanted kale and there were only 3 bundles left. I was going to buy all 3 when I heard her say "oh no!"..so I offered her first take, we struck up a conversation, and turns out she's just starting tomorrow herself for the first time ever.

 

She scribbled down her email for me, I told her I would send her words of encouragement, getting through the first week the first time is always the hardest. :)

[deannajo]

I am looking at a juicer, too--

I looked at a Breville, but then discovered Consumer Reports deemed the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro Juicer to be a Best Buy. It's number two in their rankings for centrifugal juicers--Breville is One.

Best part is it's $59 at Walmart Online.

 

I'll be going with that one.

 

I have this one - bought it several years ago, and I've been pleased. Sometimes the pulp can be a bit wet, but you can strain it with a nut bag if you wanted. Its not as effective at juicing leafy greens though..I don't think any centrifugal juicers are. I've read that you can run the leafy greens in the blender with a bit of water and strain them with the nut bag, but I definitely do not want to be messing with two appliances for my juice :D I've thought about using the Vitamix for all my juicing needs, but I like the juicer. Its quick. I don't have to strain anything unless I want to because it does a pretty good job.

[acurtis75]

I have the jack Lalanne Power juicer. It works fine and is relatively easy to use and clean. I'm sure $2,000 one would be spiffy but I'm not willing to spring for that. We really got serious about juicing in early March after watching the movie and feel a lot better. We also watched Knives over Forks and Food, Inc and are moving to a more whole foods and plant based diet. We're not going totally vegan but are trying to limit dairy & meat to under 5% of our diet. It is a bit frustrating trying to completely re-learn how to feed my family but I'm working on it. The 100 Days of Real Food blog is a resource I've been using a lot as well.

[PrincessMommy]

resurrecting this old thread and wondering how everyone is doing in the past 3-4 weeks?

 

I used to own an Omega 1000 juiced faithfully. Then I got out of the habit got preggy with #6 and gained a lot of weight. After he was born I started doing low carb and lost all the weight and my health improved. However, now that I'm Eastern Orthodox the fasting suggestions are not compatible with LCing. And we fast a lot! LOL. Hubby and I watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" last night. While I agree with much of what they say about whole foods, I just can't put eggs, cheese and protein into the same camp as sugars and processed flours. We weren't too impressed with Dr. Furhman (sp??). But, the life stories were very inspiring and, since I've done juicing before, it's not so scary. I know about the withdraw period, etc. etc.

 

The problem is, as with any lifestyle change, is keeping it going for the long term. I'm probably going to do something that looks more like the Primal Diet, although I'll juice (I don't know if juicing is aloud in the official Primal diet). I really prefer juicing to eating *a lot* of veggies anyway. Except for the first week I always found juicing quite satisfying. Even then I don't want to become militant about it. If one of my kids wants to make me a tasty dessert I'm not going to thumb my nose at it and say I can't eat it.

 

Now I have to start looking at new juicers. I gave mine away after not using it for nearly 8 years.. :glare:

[PrincessMommy]

I have been juicing for almost two months now. I have the Omega 8500 masticating juicer and love it.

 

I try to juice everyday but wind up about 4 times a week. My "usual" juice is a apples, few carrots, few celery, couple handfuls of spinach, and an orange. I need to use my recipe book more and branch out. I can't do kale...ew. That's the only thing I've hated so far.

 

We usually have our juice as an after dinner snack but I'm going to try to do a lunch juice also.

 

When I juiced faithfully I did so for breakfast. At first I was STARVING but eventually I would be satisfied until lunch (or after). The thing is, the other meals were just like normal - lots of bread, processed foods, carbs, ice cream. I still lost about 10 lbs, but my health wasn't much improved. LCing made opened my eyes to some of my long-term health issues that were directely related to eating. That's why I'd like to marry the two philosophies together and see how it helps me.

 

I never liked kale (or cucumbers) in my juice either - yuck.

[JenC3]

We finally picked up a juicer, the Hurom slow juicer $359, love it! Quick to clean, I just rinse the parts in hot water and set on a towel to dry. Dry pulp I've reused the very dry pulp for recipes.

[SwallowTail]

I desperately need to get one of these. Gah, I asked for the wrong thing for Mother's day.

[regentrude]

Can somebody explain to me the benefit of juicing as opposed to just eating the fruits and vegetables as they are? It seems to me that you'd forgo a lot of the nutritional contents if all you consume is the juice.

What am I missing?

[trafal]

The main idea seems to be that you can consume more nutrients contained in the juice than you could possibly eat. I am new to juicing / vegan eating/green smoothies etc. I have been doing a lot of reading and I have watched several of the more popular films on whole foods that have come out in the past year or so.

 

I juice very morning for breakfast. I juice 6 kale leaves, 4 carrots 4 celery ribs, 1/2 lemon, 2 apples, 1 cucumber, and a small piece of ginger. There is no way I could eat that much food. I also understand that theoretically the nutrients in the juice are much more accessible to the body because it is not expending energy breaking down the food.

 

To me juicing makes sense. I feel better. I have not seen the empirical data to support juicing in the same way as the data supports a vegan diet in general. I am specifically referring to The China Study and the cardiac vessel research done by Caldwell Esselstyn at the Cleveland Clinic.

 

I have very personal reasons to pursue a healthy lifestyle. This morning I returned from a pre-op appt because I will be having cataract surgery on June 1st at the age of 46. I am also being monitored for glaucoma and if the pressure in my eye doesn't decrease after surgery then I'll have to start treatment for glaucoma. Have my poor choices contributed to my vision problems? I don't know for sure but I think it is possible. can the nutrients in juicing and a vegan diet prevent any further vision loss? I don't know but it seems worth an effort. After all, if vessels in the heart can regrow and this has been demonstrated with radiographical imaging then maybe juicing/ vegan foods I do know that juicing is better for me than the venti mocha at Starbucks that used to be my breakfast of choice.

 

Some of the claims of the pro- juicing folks seem a far fetched to me but even so I think this is a healthier lifestyle than the typical American diet that so many of us consume. And if conventional medicine doesn't have much to offer you then I think it is worth a try. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence. I have an acquaintance with a special needs child. I know lots of people in this community because I have a 13 yr old with cerebral palsy. Her 16 yr old son went on a vegan diet. He has a metabolic issue that prevents him from breaking down protein the way most people do. Within a year he had grown 6 inches and spoken for the first time- ever. Now, she could have been exaggerating or lying to me about certain aspects of his diet but I saw him grow over the course of that year and I heard him talk. He said ,"Hello", to me . It was quite really remarkable. So, I plan to keep juicing, keep educating myself, eat more raw foods, avoid animal products, and hope for the best. I didn't mean to write so much but this a subject near and dear to my heart.

[JadeOrchidSong]

I am looking at a juicer, too--

I looked at a Breville, but then discovered Consumer Reports deemed the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro Juicer to be a Best Buy. It's number two in their rankings for centrifugal juicers--Breville is One.

Best part is it's $59 at Walmart Online.

 

I'll be going with that one.

I might buy this.

I watched the movie a month ago and started making smoothie with my Blendtec for dh for lunch once a week. Now this seems cheap enough that I can just buy it.

However, I see that you can juice 4 kale leaves, 4 carrots, plus lots of other things for breakfast alone. Does it become expensive now that you have to consume so much more than you do without a juicer, and especially if you choose organic?

Someone please help me understand the cost. Thanks!

[PrincessMommy]

I might buy this.

I watched the movie a month ago and started making smoothie with my Blendtec for dh for lunch once a week. Now this seems cheap enough that I can just buy it.

However, I see that you can juice 4 kale leaves, 4 carrots, plus lots of other things for breakfast alone. Does it become expensive now that you have to consume so much more than you do without a juicer, and especially if you choose organic?

Someone please help me understand the cost. Thanks!

 

The movie broke down the cost during the segment with the truck driver. Prices of course vary by location. I remember the per month for organic was about $240 and the regular veggies in the grocery were cheaper - have no idea how much cheaper. But, that was when he was on the juice fast and eating nothing else.

 

Kale and carrots are not that expensive. I've noticed that apples are pretty pricey in my area these days.