Waste Not, Want Not: The Health Benefits of Juicing + 7 Ideas To Re-Purpose Juicer Pulp

I was seduced.  

I was in a beautiful hotel in a strange city, traveling for work. I couldn’t sleep. I replaced my angst for the day to come filled with meetings with exercise, heading into the gym in the wee hours of the morning. I flipped on the TV to drug my mind and, given the time of day, it was filled with infomercials. Too lazy to do an exhaustive search {hello, I’m working out?}, I settle. And there he was.

Fitness legend Jack Lalanne {may he rest in peace}, in all his glory. Fit as a fiddle at 90+, and plugging the benefits of juicing, and of course his fancy little gadget, the Power Juicer. It all looked so appealing. Fresh juice? Made with the organic ingredients of my choice? All in the convenience of my own kitchen? And it was easy to clean? Sold.

I was on a mission. As any smart {obsessive} consumer does, I made it my mission in life to find the best juicer at the best price, diving into the pages of Consumer Reports and Amazon, scouring reviews, comparing prices, and analyzing every freaking detail. I finally settled on the Power Juicer Elite – the best of the best in Jack’s portfolio. Juicing carrots and celery was mere child’s play, I wanted the ability to make my own almond milk if the mood struck. 

I found an unbeatable price on Amazon and placed my order, with visions of daily juicing dancing in my head. It arrived safe, sound, and beautiful. And big. The first pang of regret settled in, for I was in simplification rehab, trying to minimize the “stuff” in my life. Strike 1.

I set it up, plugged it in, and let it settle for a week or so. I looked at the recipes that came with my fancy new machine gave it a whirl. I used whatever I could find in my kitchen – a couple of stalks of celery, a carrot, half an apple, cucumber, tomato, and green pepper. It was tasty – kind of like V8 without all the crap. I felt good drinking it.

And then the second pang of regret hit me like a ton of bricks. The pulp. My GOD, the pulp! There was so much and so little juice yielded {in comparison to the input}. Was I just to throw all this organic and expensive vegetable “waste” away? I wasn’t composting at the time so the only alternative was to toss it. Sigh. Strike 2.

So there I was. Torn between wasting nutritious vegetables and a few swigs of daily vitality. I juiced a few more times just to go through the motions, but it was all an act. I had a serious case of buyer’s remorse.

After a little more obsessing, I decided to make what my former elementary school art teacher, Mrs. Perry, called a “happy mistake”. Certainly Jack was not off his rocker touting the benefits of juicing. They are impressive:

Benefit #1

Highly concentrated source of essential vitamins and minerals. Removing the indigestible fiber makes nutrients available to the body in much larger quantities than in whole form. For example, because many of the nutrients are trapped in the fiber, when you eat a raw carrot, you are only able to assimilate about 1% of the available beta carotene. When a carrot is juiced, removing the fiber, nearly 100% of the beta carotene can be assimilated.

Benefit #2

Highly concentrated source of enzymes from raw fruits and vegetables, which are critical for just about every metabolic activity, including the digestion and absorption of food, and the production of cellular energy. Enzymes are destroyed by heat, so cooked versions offer no source of these little powerhouses.

Alas, I’m more about getting my nutrients from whole food sources, and of course when it comes to fruits and veggies, taking full advantage of the natural fiber content, another obsession of mine. I did a bit of R & E {research and experimentation} and am happy to share these zero-waste options and recipes for the leftovers that result from your nutritious beverage.

There are lots of sites out there that provide some useful suggestions. However, most tips and recipes call for one specific type of pulp {i.e., carrot pulp for muffins or tomato pulp for tomato sauce}. Unless you have countless hours in the day, cleaning out the pulp every time a different fruit or vegetable is added, in the real world of juicing, this doesn’t happen. Call me lazy, but I sought out to find ways to use the mixed pulp, particularly from vegetable juicing. After juicing, I freeze the bits in individual glass or stainless steel containers to preserve freshness and pull out to thaw a few hours {or overnight} before using. Here are the yields of my R & E:

1. First and foremost, compost

Give back to your garden with nutrient-rich {and free, kind of} compost.

2. Cheddar Veggie Millet Cakes

My sweet girl loves these. These are practically a complete meal, with protein, good fats, calcium, fiber, all pressed into one tasty cake.

3. Veggie Omelet

Instead of chopping up veggies, just use what you have on hand.

4. Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Similar to an Orange Julius, minus the refined sugar and chemical-laden ingredients, this “treat” will rock your world, not your waistline.

5. Green Smoothies

This seems the obvious choice for fruit smoothies, which I highly recommend, but also works great with vegetable pulp {I know!?}. Hell, we put put raw spinach into our smoothies – why not this? Given the right mix of ingredients, the veggies are almost undetectable to the most discriminating palate. The sky’s the limit here. Get creative. I like to do some sliced fresh or frozen fruit {strawberries or blueberries}, a dollop of organic plain yogurt, a splash of raw, almond, or coconut milk, a scoop of veggie pulp, and a scoop of organic vanilla protein powder like this one. Delish!

6. Salmon/Chicken/Meatless Salad Mix-In

Depending on the size of the salad, toss in ¼ to ½ cup of pulp into your salad. The texture adds a nice definition and a bit of moisture, which = less dressing needed. BONUS!

7. Orange Bran Flax Muffins or Orange Ricotta Flaxseed Pancakes

This goes against my previous comment about juicing one thing at a time, but I still stand by that. This is one exception. When making FRESH orange juice, use the leftover pulp for these delicious and insanely nutritious muffins or rich {yet still healthy} pancakes.

What are some of your favorite ways to reduce/re-use/recycle your juice pulp? I’d love to hear your comments.

Note: Since the publication of this post, the Power Juicer Elite has since been discontinued (that should tell you something about its quality, right? No disrespect, Mr. Lalanne). If you’re in the market for a juicer, this is a good quality, affordable choice. 

 Don’t have a juicer? No problem. Check out how to enjoy the benefits of juicing without a juicer here.