I was wondering what people here thought about getting a juicer to juice fruits and vegetables? Some people say that it's more nutritious to drink fresh juice from fruits and vegetables, than it is to eat fruits and vegetables. Is it true that cooking foods can kill off some of the nutrients that are in the food? Can juicing really give a person more energy like people say?

Jack Lulane seems really healthy, especially for his age. I know that the argument could be made that he's just trying to sell his brand of juicers. But he had been juicing for years and years before his own juicer even came out on the market. Which brands of juicers do you recommend? I've heard a bunch of good things about the Vita-Mix, but it's expensive.

Yes cooking food does destroy some of the nutrients. If you cook them long enough I believe you can even destroy all of the nutrients. I've thought about getting a juicer too and just haven't wanted to spend the money but one day I will. What I have been doing lately is just using my blender to do fruits. I definately get more energy as soon as I drink one. I put 1 banana, 4 strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, 1 peach cut up first, 1/2 cup yogurt plain or any kind, 1/2 cup milk blend all of this and then add 4-6 ice cubes one at a time until smooth. I don't always put all of those fruits it just depends what I have on hand. I try to put a little of each though if I have them all so I get tons of different nutrients. It wakes me up more then caffeine does. I've been having one every day. Sometimes I put a little ice cream instead of the yogurt. The booklet I got with recipes for smoothies said I can put carrots in there but I have to shred them first. I don't know if they would get smoothe or not I haven't tried it yet. You can put whatever fruit you think will blend and soft veggies too if you make a veggie one.

Oh and if you try this be sure to put one ice cube in at a time. If you jam all of the ice cubes in there the motor on the blender will struggle and might get burned out. I have ruined a blender that way before but that was making margaritas. Also pulse the blender when the ice cubes are in there it works better to chop them up. If you have a blender that you can pulse like that.

Concerned Male,

I have done the same thing that Kari described, and the drink has turned out really well :) . It also gave me more energy and made me feel better. When I drank them too fast, though, they had a tendency to make me feel a little bloated at first... ;)

Ditto on the ice cube thing. I have discovered that one, too, though I realized it before I ruined a blender :p .

~Colleen