Juicers, Any Good ?

[hoolagirl]

ds used to get fresh fruit blended for breakfast, but has progressed to 'proper' cereals. However finding it hard to include all the fresh fruit and veg i think he should be having (he only eats when he is hungry, unlike mummy )
Before i spend £99.99 on a Jack Lalanne Juicer does anyone else have one? are there any cheaper but just as good? Don't mind spending that if its for the benefit of my ds, but obviously wouldnt mind something cheaper or are juicers rubbish??
Views please for a constantly worried about ds's diet first time mummy.

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I used to have a juicer and to be honest it was a total pain. Cant remember the make I think I got it from john lewis.
cleaning it was a real chore and there was tons of fruit mush,there always seemed to be a crack or crevice that you couldnt clean.
Sticky and stinky yeukk!
DD is a fruitaholic and even prefers fruit to icecream, she has milk @ 8am then some toast or cereal for breakfast then fruit after that, (hollow legs?)
IMNHO it's not what they eat at one meal that matters or even one day, as they are bound to have fussy days or be a bit off color from time to time.
we try thinking about what she eats over a few days/week, and satisfy our concern over her balanced diet that way

They can be brilliant but they are a bit of a chore and I must admit mine spends more time inside the cupboard than out. But then I am very lazy.

One thing I remember from the book that came with it is that you have to be careful with young children - juices are very concentrated and can overpower young digestive systems. They should be given in moderation to under 3s and must be diluted by at least half.

I wouldn't get one for a child's benefit - fresh juices can be quite overwhelming on the digestive system as pip says, and do not contain the necessary fibre etc. that fresh fruit and vegetables provide. Plus some ingredients such as carrot could actually be dangerous in excess (vitamin A overdose?)

Juice can only count as 1 portion towards your son's 5 a day however much he drinks, and it's also best to encourage water as the staple drink while they are young

If you are into the idea as an adult I would recommend it, although it can be expensive as it does take a lot of fruit or veg to give a relatively small amount of juice. Also cleaning the juicer can be a PITA. When dp and I were into it we noticed all sorts of health benefits and really enjoyed the different flavours.

For your ds I would try different ideas to tempt him though - don't know what age he is but a mini fruit salad was popular with my son age about 1, sliced up veggies to dip in a sauce, soups pureed to whatever consistency he likes. Juice can only count as 1 portion towards his 5 a day however much he drinks and it's also best to encourage water as the staple drink while they are young. HTH and sorry if we have destroyed your great idea. If you do get one you can save the pulp left over from juicing and use it in desserts, sauces or soups, which would be useful and nutritious for your ds too.

Sorry for repetition - I will never make an editor

I just use a moule to blend soft fruits like berries and banana with a bit of milk or yoghurt for dd and ds. Much easier - and cheaper.

Fresh juice is nice, but you don't get the fibre from the fruit and veg involved. Everyone should be eating their fruit and veg, not drinking it.

(Fresh fruit smoothies are a bit different, as you get all the fruit in them.)

Thanks everyone, think i will leave off buying one for just now, I didn't know i could overdose himhe is only 11 months old. Will just persevere with whatever it is im doing

Juices can be quite exciting even for adult digestive systems. Beet juice certainly is.

Funny, I was bidding on a juicer on e-Bay earlier on tonight, got outbid though. If you still fancy the Jack La Lanne one there are loads on a buy-it-now of around £59.99.

Galaxy has one on the For Sale section Mrs Spoon, a bargain at £20...

NQC, we used to have the strangest effects from juice when we were serious Juicers. Getting up several times in the middle of the night to wee after cucumber juice was a memorable one. Plus some really TMI things to do with sex....

I noticed that one Franny, the one I was bidding on tonight was one I have seen demonstrated a few different places, it is a really fantastic juicer with a commercial grade motor, I'm keen to keep a look out for another one of this brand.

Is the TMI part good or bad? Might convince my DH yet!

Go on, tell us then ISawFranny... (sorry, I said I was lazy though!)

Come on at least let us know if it was a positive side effect of juicing?

You can't fill us in on the TMI aspect then Sally?

LOL! Let us know!

Ooh, sorry, wasn't being coy, just busy...

Well, ahem, it had the advantage of making certain things (ok I mean spunk) taste really pleasant, and we had a theory it made orgasms more intense as well.

Great at first, lovely juice, healthy and wonderful.
Then you get sick of having to clean it. Also, no matter how well you clean it the mesh clogs up and the thing becomes less and less effective.
The honeymoon period is soon over.

I have two mothballed juicers at the back of my cupboards.

Why did you stop drinking it then? The juice that is.

Spidermama don't know if I am just taken in by the sales spiel on the juicer that I am after but apparently the mesh bit has no rough bits (like a grater) and cleans really well.

The drinking questions are for Franny BTW.

We used it so much it started leaking. And it was terribly hard to keep clean, especially under the rim. The juicer that is

We often consider getting another but we have since gone over to organic fruit and it would cripple us to get through the amount of fruit and veg we used to use when juicing. It was fab though and made a great start to the morning.

LOL!

That's what I like about the one I had my eye on in e-Bay, it produces 90% juice so hardly any wastage.