Being toothless and (almost) weightless, I've been thinking about how to get a few goodies into the old bod to liven it up a bit. So I bought a juicer. Not just any old juicer, but a manual Lexen that juices leafy greens among other veges and fruits. Being manual, it's a go-anywhere juicer with no worries about power. And, it's a breeze to clean. Anyway, I've since been reading lots of info about juicing, which is a subject far more interesting and complex than I'd expected. For starters, veges are a lot more nutritious than fruits, but you can combine the two to please the palate. There's a stack of recipes on the web.
I often read comments on the GN forum about roadside fruit and veg stalls, and stopping to buy fresh from the farm - particularly organic. This juicer will make sure I do exactly that and take advantage of something I hitherto would have ignored.
Hi Gary. I am a diabetic type two and was once a juicer fan big time. I have to say when I was doing so I felt really good and rarely suffered from any illness like colds or such. However I now see a dietitian regularly and I assume you do also. The advice to me was to stop the practise mainly because missing was the fibre From the fruit and veg and the juice was delivering way to much sugar For someone in my situation
I enjoy the advice and training I receive from the dietitian I see ..re understanding food groups, food labels the glycemic index and much more. I would suggest talking to them about your plans.
I think all things in moderation apply when it comes to a balanced diet with consideration to knowledge. take advice, don't go overboard on the juice even though it's tempting. Take advice from someone skilled who understands your personal situation.
True, G&C. I've read about the risk of overdoing the sugar thing. As to fibre, I take a fibre supplement in Sustagen which I add to smoothies. But my diet at the mo (because I can't chew) is mostly protein from dairy foods and eggs, so I need vegies. There was a story on telly a while ago about a group of people lost in some remote place where the only available food was rabbits. They all died because they didn't have vegetables to aid the digestion of protein. I don't intend to replace my dietary intake of protein and fat with juice, but to use it as a "vitamin" supplement. Anyway, fingers crossed that it helps. One thing it will do is add a bit of variety to my diet which is currently pretty limited. Thanks for your comment!
BTW, I do have a dietician, but all she talks about is Nestle and Abbott.
-- Edited by GaryKelly on Friday 21st of February 2014 07:58:37 AM
Hi Gary, it's hard to write your whole diet in one post referring to a juicer but I was thinking . I guess you have tried to purée 'proper' meals and then just eat them slowly munching with your tongue? I know after an op I had I couldn't eat anything solid for weeks. Im lucky I like soup so made and puréed lots of that. And then pureed spag/Bol , tuna mornay anything I could slush up. I'm thinking you probably already do this, but just in case !!!
My late husband survived for several years without teeth. He had a good appetite and ate stew, casseroles, but being Italian his favourite was spaghetti and he ate plenty of soft vegetables.
More on the wasted pulp and fibre, G&C. I checked Google for pulp uses and it can be added to smoothies and soups or gravies. No waste!
And Clare, I know lots of people who "gum it" with casseroles and spag bol, etc, but my lower gum has exposed bone which makes it sore if I try to masticate. It's the exposed bone that's causing the delay in getting dentures. Long story.
Anyway, I bought some stuff today for my first attempt at juicing. I'm looking forward to it.
Good luck Gary, can you juice the whole fruit? That way you'd get it all? Use a blender to do main meals ..... Vege soups all puréed up.
I've never had a tooth pulled so can't imagine the pain but guessing it's not good!
I had a juicer that I used to use every day and became almost addicted to carrot juice. Its fairly sweet to my taste so I had about 1kg og carrots a day. after a couple of months I started to look a bit yellow from too much carotene. But I felt great!!!
Gave it a rest for a while and when you get out of the habit of something you start to forget about it.
Anyhow I often stop at the juice counter at the shops and have one of theirs. The buggers water it down with ice, but their juicers don't take all the fibre out like mine did.
Good luck with your juicer Gary.
Have you tried using a barmix to pulp up single dishes in an "ordinary" meal?
Many years ago as a trainee nurse, I remember to very old frail people who couldn't chew or swallow hard stuff, would be served whatever everyone else was getting, only mashed- so they got a plate with potato, peas, pumkin etc...all seperate but pureed, and a meat dish also pureed +/- gravy.
The barmix lets you use a small amount like a single serve in a coffee cup, so you can do all your veges individually, and not have them all mashed together into a tastless heap. You just rinse the barmix under running water before the next cup full of whatever.
I've used a blender to pulp various things like bolognaise, R&R, but most "ordinary" meals are unsuitable for me at the mo cos I have a prob with dry mouth, caused by radiation therapy. Most food ends up like a mouthful of blotting paper and it's impossible to swallow. So I have to make foods with lots of butter or melted cheese to make them slippery enough to slide down the screech.
On a poz note, I've been juicing veges now for about 2 weeks and I asked the dentist (who irrigates my mouth twice a week as a precaution against infection) if she has noticed any difference in the gums... and she said YES! The difference already is quite noticeable, so it looks like I'm on a winner here.