As an avid watcher of food documentaries on Netflix, I was first introduced to the concept of juicing by the film “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.” In a nutshell, a man named Joe Cross who was 100 pounds overweight and suffering from an autoimmune disease, chronicles his journey to good health by eating nothing but fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days. 

Although I absolutely was not interested in a 60-day liquid diet, the concept intrigued me. Some sources claim juicing fruits and vegetables is healthier than eating them because the nutrients are more easily absorbed and juice is easily digested.

Even if this isn’t true, the bottom line is, it can be hard to get in the recommended nine servings of vegetables and fruit each day. Especially if you’re not a huge veggie fan, juicing is a fun — and often tasty — alternative.

So after setting my sights on trying my hand at juicing, I ran into only one problem: I didn’t own a juicer. In the grand scheme of appliances, juicers don’t exactly break the bank. They start at around $40, but on a college budget, my bank would have broke. 

To my good fortune, a Breville juicer was delivered to my doorstep Monday that I had not ordered. I was hoping it was either by magic or a secret admirer at first but was thrilled to find that the secret admirer was my generous mom. 

Armed and ready, I drove straight to Meijer’s produce section. There I realized juicing’s second setback: the cost of large quantities of ingredients. I would suggest sticking with inexpensive ingredients such as apples, celery, cucumbers and carrots as fillers. Then splurge on a few extra flavorful ingredients like kale or ginger. 

Once in possession of my supplies, I made a carrot, apple, cucumber and ginger recipe. While I am a fan of the taste of most raw fruits and veggies, I was still afraid of the dark orange concoction. 

To my delight — and I even tested it with my more skeptical roommate — it tasted surprisingly, very good. If you’re a fan of ginger, add some ginger root to your juice. You won’t regret it. 

As an added bonus, ginger has been proved to combat nausea and vomiting. Next time you’re heading out, juice a ginger drink for the morning. 

The next juice I made was strictly vegetables with added spices for flavor and hot sauce for a kick. This one came out with a green hue, and tasted more like a garden. Note to self: Don’t get carried away on the green leaves. 

If you give juicing a try, keep in mind that fresh juice should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days to avoid bacteria growth. 

While I still have experimenting to do with an endless possibility of juice recipes, I’m excited to add fresh juice into my diet. The juicer can even be used for fresh orange or grapefruit juice or a bloody mary mix. 

For now, I plan on drinking juice for a snack or substituting one meal a day for fresh juice. I have found most juices are surprisingly satiating and easy to take to class in a portable cup.

As for Joe Cross’s 60-day diet plan, I have yet to actually try a juice cleanse. While drinking only juice for a few days can cleanse toxins from your body, extended juice fasts can be dangerous. Besides that, I think I would simply miss chewing too much. 

All in all, my surprise juicer delivery could very well be the start to a healthier lifestyle. Especially if you struggle with fresh fruits and vegetables, I would suggest juicing as a fun and efficient way to get them in. 

Jordan is a senior in Media and can be reached at [email protected].