Juiced

I live in a country where fresh fruit and vegetables are available in abundance, but I am painfully aware that I consume very little. With she who must be obeyed working, I tend to eat alone at Thai restaurant chains, or roadside restaurants; where the food is tasty enough, but mainly sugary, processed crap with a smattering of vegetables. As for fruit, I occasionally purchase some, although it seems I only do this for the subsequent enjoyment of watching it rot in the bowl. Time for an apple? Too late, it’s mush.

I know that the lack of decent food is not good for me; if nothing else it probably explains why my immune system gives up the ghost and presents me with man flu whenever I get even slightly damp. Longer term, who knows what collection of delightful afflictions await me if I don’t sort out my diet.

Now, I have. When I called together the contents of my fridge for a photoshoot this morning, I was shocked at the abundance of good food contained therein; a stark contrast to the usual half consumed chocolate bar and the tube of super-glue which normally rattle around the vacant space:

The reason for the sudden and dramatic increase in my food/veggie stock can be seen hiding in the middle of the shot. It’s a juicing machine, and not just any old juicing machine; no sir. It’s a Hurom slow/cold press juicer. Normal juicers fling the contents at high speed across the machine. This generates heat which kills off healthy enzymes and provides less juice. The slow juicer gently compresses the produce, give you more juice of better quality; and you can store it for longer should you need to.

I became a juicing expert at some point last week. I chanced upon a post by Richard Barrow (well worth following on Twitter to keep abreast of what is happening/things to do in Thailand), extolling the virtues of juicing. There then followed several hours descending down the rabbit hole with Google, absorbing several sites including Reboot with Joe, Jason Vale and assorted other sites extolling the virtues of dropping the contents of an orchard and vegetable garden into a juicer.

At the end of my research I not only convinced of the value of ingesting veggies and fruit in liquid form, I was somewhat disgusted with myself for living with such an appalling diet for so long.

The next day I was off into town and most surprised to find that Central had exactly the juicer I was looking for; although less surprised than the young man who clearly had no idea about the machines he was meant to be demonstrating. I gave him a quick summary of the major features of each model, before offering my credit card for a shiny new Hurom 500. Then down to the food market to buy a few goodies to stick in my new toy.

Back home and bananas, oranges and apples were dropped into the welcoming hole at the top of the machine. At the bottom of the machine there are two chutes. One expels what remains after the pressing, the other produces wonderful, thick juice. My banana/orange/apple surprise tasted extraordinary. Bonus good news, the juicer is really easy to clean.

The web is awash with juicing recipes; but so far I have just chucked things together that look like they might work. My pre-Chinese Grand Prix juice ingredients were beetroor, carrot, tomato and celery, with a lime thrown in to give it a tang. I thought the resulting colour would be interesting, and it was:

It tasted as good as it looks, provided you think it looks great. More goodness than I would normally ingest in a week, in one glass.

I plan that at least one meal a day will be juice; and for my other meals I have resolved to eat better. At some point I intend doing a 3 day juice fast to clean out my system.

Now if you will excuse me, I have some kale, avocado and cucumber that are just dying to get together.

Comments 🔗

2013-04-14 | Craig says

Good move, suspect that the greens and other vegies will be be better for you than loading up on Fructose. 3 times a week SUP or Windsurfing will be much easier now. Please bring me your vege waste for my worm farm also :)

2013-04-14 | Dan says

How much for the Hurom 500?

2013-04-14 | genuinej says

Looks like the beetroor was the main contributor to the interesting colour.

2013-04-14 | Grant says

Indeed. Beetroor is the genetically modified version of the domesticated mangelwurzrel, commonly known as policeman’s girlfriend, over consumption of which can lead to an interesting condition known as ‘beeturia’ and we shall await further developements with very great interest…

2013-04-14 | Grant says

13750 Baht equivalent in New Zild, what’s the damage in the LoS Spike?

2013-04-15 | Spike says

Once I have finished adding it to our potted plants!

2013-04-15 | Spike says

150 baht more here.

2013-04-15 | Spike says

I had the “oh my god, there is blood in my urine, I am going to die” moment last week; thanks to the beetroot. Alternatively, there was blood in my urine and I am going to die.

2013-04-15 | Grant says

A mere bahgatelle…

2013-04-15 | Grant says

No wonder you’ve forgotten the pinworms…

2013-04-16 | Barry says

Inspiring, if a little expensive.

2013-04-16 | Grant says

He’ll only have the best you know, only the very best! His vegetable martini is pressed, not spun…

2013-04-16 | Spike says

Cheaper than a heart attack.

2013-04-16 | Spike says

I’ve had a load of beetroot this week:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22152901

2013-04-16 | Grant says

Orally I hope…

2013-04-17 | ChristianPFC says

I have on average five pieces of fruit per day, usually banana/pineapple/pomelo/watermelon/mango/orange/carrot. I wonder about the pineapple, are you going to peel it? I always buy pineapple (from street vendors) ready to eat. I once bought a complete pomelo (slightly cheaper than ready-to-eat) and peeled it myself, the money saved is not worth the effort!

2013-04-17 | Spike says

Yes, you would peel a pineapple first. We currently have nine pomelo on our kitchen floor, courtesy of mother-in-law who always brings a small orchard when she visits. She who must be obeyed is in charge of advanced peeling techniques, I create chaos trying to peel an orange.

2013-04-17 | Old Hand at Smoothie says

Try smoothies. It’s the next step onto the hard stuff.

Ditch the juicer, use the fruit (minus seeds) in a blender, its far less sweet and much more of a meal with lots more fibre. Add a little dairy, and something cold, frozen fruit, blue berries, strawberry works for me.

http://www.khiewchanta.com/archives/drinks/thai-fruit-smoothy-1.html

It’s creamy, it’s refreshing, it’s healthier, it’s got bulk to it.

2013-04-17 | Spike says

Not healthier “old hand at smoothie” my dear chap. Ripping through produce starts oxidisation, adds heat and provides less nutrients at the end. Cold press juicers provide the most healthy output, plus dense root vegetables taste way better after being cold pressed. I always use the wider holed sieve, so the juice is very thick.

I am juicing veggy more than fruit (too much fructose and all that). I also sometimes blend into a smoothie. Dinner tonight was juiced peppers, kale and carrots, with the resulting juice put in the blender with avacado, apple and ice. Spectacular!

2013-04-17 | genuinej says

So you won’t be wanting any twiglets, crunchies or scream eggs etc. later in the year then?

2013-04-17 | genuinej says

Carrot is generally accepted as not being a fruit!

2013-04-17 | Grant says

Yes, he will. The ‘old man’s fad’, as this activity has become known, will probably have passed by then…

2013-04-18 | French Frog says

Bought that Hurom 500 after reading your inspiring article. Thanks Spike!

Am a juicer and proud of it!

2013-04-18 | Spike says

Yes, but I can’t provide the same confirmation in respect of the carrots. And oh, the cucumbers.

2013-04-18 | Spike says

I won’t, thank you genuinej.

Not sure that eating healthy food can be dismissed as a fad; it’s just the sensible thing to do, especially if you want to grow older.

2013-04-18 | Spike says

Good choice monsieur!

Here’s what I know so far:

1. Any combination of fruit tastes fantastic
2. Vegetable concoctions are improved with a bell pepper and/or a lime (with skin). Also ginger, but just a little.
3. I stick the juice in the freezer after juicing and then immediately clean the juicer. All very easy apart from the sieve which needs a firm brushing; but cleans up quicklt if it has not been allowed to dry. Clean up the juicer and then head for the freezer and remove your nicely chilled juice.

2013-04-18 | Grant says

4. Take a large tumbler, add crushed ice and three large measures of Bombay Sapphire, top up with your nicely chilled juice and stir slowly with a long spoon in preparation for letting the rest of the world go by, organically…

2013-04-18 | Old hand at Smoothi says

‘Cold’ press? That’s very much the Hurom marketing line, but we have a Philips juicer and the juice comes out cold with no measurable difference in taste to a squeezed juice. Price wise they’re a lot cheaper, we paid 3000 baht for ours, it was a passing fad.

Let me try to convince you further on the smoothie route, since its the mainstay for decades now and we’ve been there and done that with juicers:

A blended smoothie with some frozen fruit is far colder/more refreshing. Try some frozen blueberries or blackberries, the color is an anti-oxident, and its in the skin of the fruit which is discarded by the juicer. The juice really isn’t the magic, the deep colored skin is, a smoothie keeps it, a juicer doesn’t. (The skin of tomatoes are rich in Lycopene, not the juice). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopene

Oxidization is lower with smoothies, only the top surface is exposed to air during blending, in a juicer, all the juice is exposed to air during extraction. You can even see the foam from the air it puts in at the top of your smoothie.

Also the ascorbic acid in Oranges and Lemons stops the oxidation. In a blender you mix them together (taking advantage of this effect), in a juicer, the fruit goes through piece by piece (which doesn’t take advantage of it till they mix in the jug). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_%28food_process%29

The sugar in a juice is very high, diabetes high. You’ll need to switch to low sugar vegs as you get older. Carrot juice is only a little lower than orange juice (94 KCal vs 112 KCal). Smoothies have the advantage of being more bulk for the same sugar.

http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/generic/carrot-juice http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/orange-juice

Fibre is a lot higher with a smoothie. And of course, you can add other stuff (I’m a fan of vanilla yoghurt for calcium).

[I don’t really expect to convince you, but maybe I can save someone wasting 13000 baht on a juicer]

2013-04-18 | Grant says

That’s it! I’m calling in the RSPCC…

2013-04-18 | Spike says

Not exactly. Aficionados always marinade cucumber with the gin before adding to the juicer; although Hendrick’s gin is preferred for this application.

2013-04-18 | Grant says

…and the nice thing is that we all have our favourite recipes… Gee, that Old Hand at Smoothi bloke’s good, isn’t he Spike? Still, I guess it all depends on whichever Guru’s toenails you’re raptly inspecting when the fad train comes rushing through the station…

2014-10-13 | lee says

Hi, can you tell me where in pattaya did you buy the huron. Thanks

2014-10-17 | Spike says

Central Mall Pattaya Beach, fifth floor.