Beet, Carrot, Orange, and Cherry Juice

I was craving juice over the weekend and decided to dig around in the fridge and use whatever I found. The resulting combination was beet, carrot, orange, and spinach. The flavor was fine but I had been hoping for a little more sweetness. Yesterday, I swapped in a handful of cherries for the spinach and thought the balance of flavors was much better. Carrots, beets, and oranges are great ingredients to keep on hand for juicing since they seem to last forever in the refrigerator.

Now, there are those who will read the above "food combination" of fruits and vegetables and clutch their yoga mats in dismay. For the record, I own a yoga mat and clutch it often. Some brief thoughts on the subject.

Food Combining

To avoid any controversy (controversy is relative), I'd like to address a widely held "food combining" belief that you shouldn't mix fruits and vegetables when juicing or eating. Apparently it can confuse your stomach enzymes, cause digestive problems, and so forth. I Googled for some articles on the subject and found a number of sites quoting the same stomach enzyme argument. Then I found several articles that said there's no "true" scientific research to support separating vegetables and fruit in your diet. Interesting.

One of the frequently mentioned food combo suggestions is to eat fruit at least 30 minutes before consuming anything else. The theory is that the body digests foods differently and to get the full benefit of fruit it should stand alone. This approach doesn't work out all that well for people who have blood sugar issues. Speaking from experience, it's often necessary to include a protein or fat with fruit to buffer the glycemic response. Obviously not all diets work for all people, but I'm not yet convinced that dividing up my food is worth the effort.

Though this isn't a scientific conclusion, my feeling is that you should juice what you like but listen to your body and adjust accordingly. Beets, for example, can be a little much to process if you overdo it. I tend to throw all the things into the juicer and have a very happy digestive system and feel energized thanks to all the vitamins and nutrients. I've made peace with the fact that people on the Interwebs don't think I'm maximizing my juice's potential. Plus, what does the no fruit/veggie rule mean for peach and burrata salads with pea tendrils and cherry tomatoes? I shudder at the thought.

Tools

I did a good bit of research when we bought our juicer and found Breville to be the best brand overall. I've also heard the NutriBullet is a good product but haven't used it myself. Links below.

Breville Juice Fountain Duo Dual Disk - This is the juicer that we've owned for a couple of years. It's an excellent machine that's very easy to clean, but I've only used the purée disk twice so I can't speak to how well it works. I think the 5-speed (rather than 2-speed) is important since you want to get maximum extraction from the fruit and vegetables (i.e. you want dry pulp).
Breville Juice Fountain Multi-Speed - Our friends have this juicer and seem to be happy with it. It's a 5-speed like the Duo Dual Disk, the difference being that the bowl is plastic instead of stainless, the disk is stainless instead of titanium, and you don't get the purée disk.
NutriBullet 600 and NutriBullet 900 - I haven't used these, but my hunch is that the 900-Watt version is a better investment since it's more powerful. Some of the reviews on Amazon seem to confirm this.

Also...