Tips for juice feasting on a budget..
Hi all, I am really glad that this forum is now open! I have been wanting an official place to discuss juice feasting for a while. The folks at giveittomeraw.com were very helpful in answering a lot of my questions, but now that there is a site specifically for discussing juice feasting that will probably be a more complete source of information.
First off, I would like to discuss methods on how to juice feast on a budget. I know there have to be more people out there like me who don't have a whole lot of money to juice feast with. So I will contribute what I have learned so far, and maybe others can add info they may have so we can all have a good reference to juice feasting on a budget.
First off, there's blenders:
I noticed on juicefeasting.com that it recommends only vitamix. But for those of us on a budget, vitamix is pretty hard on the wallet! The main alternative the vitamix that I have found is the Jack Lalanne Healthmaster 100. From what I can tell the Healthmaster 100 is the same blender as the Vitamix 5200 except that it has button settings instead of a dial, and it is over $200 cheaper. I have also talked to other people who have used it for smoothies and juicing, and they seem to think it works great.
Currently I am still using my black and decker 1HP blender to juice and it seems to be working okay. It probably doesn't blend as fast as the 2 HP blenders, but it does make juice. Now the only thing I am concerned about with this is whether or not it is breaking open the cell walls in the greens. Also, I only make a quart of green juice a day which takes me 30-45 minutes with this blender. When I start making 4+ quarts of juice a day I am going to want to get it done a lot faster then that, so I will probably end up getting the Healthmaster 100. If anyone has any information on breaking the cell walls of greens open with blenders, that information would be really helpful though since I still have not decided whether or not I want to upgrade for sure. If my blender breaks open the cell walls the same as the vitamix, then I may just keep it...
Next on the list, juicers:
I have not done a whole lot of research as to alternatives the the green star yet because I had decided that I was just going to use a blender. But after trying the blender method, and learning that its easier to juice fruits and there is a lot less oxidation using a masticating juicer I am beginning to rethink the juicer. The Green Star looks like a mighty fine juicer, but its really pricey! I know that I could probably get away with a champion juicer, but I am thinking there may be a mid priced alternative that has a few more features and saves more nutrients. If anyone has any suggestions on juicers please do post!
Next up nut milk bags!
After doing a little research, I found out that nut milk bags are just a fancy word for paint strainers. Same thing, except you pay 7 times as much + shipping for the name "nut milk" instead of paint strainer. If anyone is looking for these bags, I suggest making a trip to Lowes. Go to the paint section and ask the guy at the desk where the paint strainers are. They come in 1 gallon and 5 gallon sizes. The one gallon ones are good for making 1 quart of juice at a time. I suggest those since it would be really hard to juice more then that at a time. They only cost $2 for a 2 pack, as opposed to the $7-$9 a bag it costs on the internet for "nut milk bags". I have used them and they work great. The only possible difference I have noticed is when I got them home they smelled kind of like plastic. One run through the dishwasher solved that, and for all I know the "nut milk bags" may smell the same. I am sure someone else could tell you for sure. Regardless though, for 1/7 the price it is worth running them through the dishwasher once.
Now the supplements and superfoods:
This was the toughest part to bargain shop on, since there are so many supplements to search for. The best technique I have found for getting out cheap on this one besides just price comparison on the internet is to try and find one site that has more then one thing you need at good prices. This will save you a lot of money on shipping since most suppliers charge you the same amount of shipping regardless of whether you are ordering one thing or a whole bunch of things. It also saves you time entering in payment information over and over. Unfortunately, there isn't one place that has everything that you need that I can find. It would be great if there was, and maybe this would be a good idea for another green business if someone is interested in starting a juice feasting store.
However, mountainroseherbs.com worked pretty good for me on cayenne, kelp powder, spirulina, chlorella, and bee pollen. It was cheap on all of those things and only charged me $7 shipping. It is also the best source for fresh herbs on the internet I have yet to find, and is a 100% waste free business. It is worth giving your money to them just for that reason.
If you are looking for green powder such as vitamineral green, or enzymes like in vitalzyme, I found a GREAT source for these. Check Alyssa Cohen's website on the supplement page. She has some green powder that is very comprable to vitamineral green, and the enzymes she sells are excellent! I checked the ingredients list on both of these, and the green powder is about the same as vitamineral green, while the enzymes have every enzyme that vitalzyme has plus others it doesnt, AND coral calcium in it. Both of these are a fraction of the cost of their respective competitors. She also has high quality hemp oil there as well. So you can order three things here for one shipping charge. Furthermore, the hemp protein looks really good to me to. For those of us who are concerned about their protein intake on an all juice diet, the hemp protein is perfect! It's really great for those who want to do weight training on the feast too. All of her products are organic and raw.
Next there is ziolite. I did some research on this, and from what I found the powder is supposedly safer and more effective then the liquid. There are several respectable ND's that claim that the powder is the only safe way to use clinoptilolite and the only way that research has proven effective. The powder also happens to be cheaper! A LOT cheaper. However, I am no expert in this matter, so if anyone has any information as to why the liquid is better or safer, then please feel free to correct me. I also saw that there is colloidal zeolite. This is also cheaper then the liquid. However, there is no research on the colloidal version. But I do know from personal experience that colloidal minerals work pretty good. If you are ever sick (like with the flue) then try some colloidal silver. It works like a charm! For anyone wanting the powdered ziolite check ebay. There is someone on there selling it for really cheap. It looks really generic and just says "Zeolite Powder" on the container, but clinoptilolite is clinoptilolite right?
If anyone else has some cheap sources for any other supplements used on the feast please tell. This information would be very helpful to me and others alike.
Next it is bathroom/hygiene products. For juice feasting this means shower filters, drinking water filters, skin brushes, enema kits, natural soap, natural shampoo/conditioner, natural deoderant, and natural toothpaste. My main advice on this is don't order this stuff off the internet. Whole foods and other stores have all this stuff. You might find it for a dollar or two cheaper on the internet, but the shipping will cost a lot more then that. Call around and ask all your local stores if they have these things before you go there so you can save gas that would be wasted driving around. Again, if there is one store that has it all, then that is the winner since you will spend less time and gas driving to get the stuff you need. For me that was whole foods, but I know that chain isn't everywhere. Just check trader joes, or wild oats, whatever the equivalent is in your area.
How about sprouting jars?
There is no mention of sprouting on the juice feasting website, but why not? Sprouted grain seems like the ideal thing to juice to me. You can also make wheat grass this way. My advice if you want to try this is don't buy a sprouting jar. They run like $40+ in the health food stores and co ops. Go to a second hand store, pick up a large glass jar with a screw on lid, and poke holes in the top of it. WAH LAH! sprouting jar for a dollar! I've tried this before and it works. You can sprout any grains, flax, or anything for that matter using this method. Just add grains or seeds, and water, and put in dark area.
Finally there's produce. I checked several places in my area including chain grocery stores, health food stores, natural foods co ops, and farmers markets. This probably varies depending on the area you live, but for me in Austin, TX I found the farmer's markets to be the hands down best place to buy my produce.
There are a number of reasons for this. First of all, it's local. I want to support farms and farmers in my area and keep the economy flowing where I live. It also reduces the amount of oil used to get the produce from the farm to your mouth. They also in some instances add preservatives to produce traveling a long way which makes it less healthy and worse tasting as well. So buying local is better for you, your community, and the ecosystem. Secondly, I found it cheaper. That is my number one concern right now for juice feasting since I found that income was one of my main barriers to juice feasting. Indeed, if I had more cash I would probably be juice feasting already. But it worked out anyway since it will be more fun starting with the global juice feast in March. My final reason for preferring the farmers market is that you can get more information on the produce that you are buying. To find out if it is organic, just ask! If you like a particular farm, you maybe even be able to score a discount if you promise to buy there since juice feasting requires close to 15 pounds of produce per day. You also get fruits and veggies that are in season at the markets. This fits into the macrobiotics philosophy as well. Just to give you an idea of the savings over whole foods or central market, I compared organic chard, cabbage, and kale prices from all three places. At Whole Foods, and Central Market they were three dollars a head/bunch. At the Farmer's markets $2 a head/bunch. You just have to find the right stand.
Anyway, that is all I have for now. I thought it important that I include all the information that I have collected over the past month on juice feasting for cheap on this forum. I know for me, the money thing is the biggest obstacle for me to overcome to start juice feasting. I also want it all. I want the feast, I want cheap everything, but I don't want to sacrifice the quality of the cleanse. It took me a whole month just to collect all this information, and I know that there are others out there that do not have the persistence that I do regarding this, but have the same monetary restraints. For these people I hope to share the time and energy that i put into researching these things so that energy will go a lot further. I also hope that anyone reading this that has any more information to add, whether it be links to cheap supplements on the web, or just advice on appliances, or advice on how to get by easier on a smaller budget add to this information to help me and others alike who really want to experience the feast, but don't have large bankrolls to do it with.
Thanks,
-Ben
First off, I would like to discuss methods on how to juice feast on a budget. I know there have to be more people out there like me who don't have a whole lot of money to juice feast with. So I will contribute what I have learned so far, and maybe others can add info they may have so we can all have a good reference to juice feasting on a budget.
First off, there's blenders:
I noticed on juicefeasting.com that it recommends only vitamix. But for those of us on a budget, vitamix is pretty hard on the wallet! The main alternative the vitamix that I have found is the Jack Lalanne Healthmaster 100. From what I can tell the Healthmaster 100 is the same blender as the Vitamix 5200 except that it has button settings instead of a dial, and it is over $200 cheaper. I have also talked to other people who have used it for smoothies and juicing, and they seem to think it works great.
Currently I am still using my black and decker 1HP blender to juice and it seems to be working okay. It probably doesn't blend as fast as the 2 HP blenders, but it does make juice. Now the only thing I am concerned about with this is whether or not it is breaking open the cell walls in the greens. Also, I only make a quart of green juice a day which takes me 30-45 minutes with this blender. When I start making 4+ quarts of juice a day I am going to want to get it done a lot faster then that, so I will probably end up getting the Healthmaster 100. If anyone has any information on breaking the cell walls of greens open with blenders, that information would be really helpful though since I still have not decided whether or not I want to upgrade for sure. If my blender breaks open the cell walls the same as the vitamix, then I may just keep it...
Next on the list, juicers:
I have not done a whole lot of research as to alternatives the the green star yet because I had decided that I was just going to use a blender. But after trying the blender method, and learning that its easier to juice fruits and there is a lot less oxidation using a masticating juicer I am beginning to rethink the juicer. The Green Star looks like a mighty fine juicer, but its really pricey! I know that I could probably get away with a champion juicer, but I am thinking there may be a mid priced alternative that has a few more features and saves more nutrients. If anyone has any suggestions on juicers please do post!
Next up nut milk bags!
After doing a little research, I found out that nut milk bags are just a fancy word for paint strainers. Same thing, except you pay 7 times as much + shipping for the name "nut milk" instead of paint strainer. If anyone is looking for these bags, I suggest making a trip to Lowes. Go to the paint section and ask the guy at the desk where the paint strainers are. They come in 1 gallon and 5 gallon sizes. The one gallon ones are good for making 1 quart of juice at a time. I suggest those since it would be really hard to juice more then that at a time. They only cost $2 for a 2 pack, as opposed to the $7-$9 a bag it costs on the internet for "nut milk bags". I have used them and they work great. The only possible difference I have noticed is when I got them home they smelled kind of like plastic. One run through the dishwasher solved that, and for all I know the "nut milk bags" may smell the same. I am sure someone else could tell you for sure. Regardless though, for 1/7 the price it is worth running them through the dishwasher once.
Now the supplements and superfoods:
This was the toughest part to bargain shop on, since there are so many supplements to search for. The best technique I have found for getting out cheap on this one besides just price comparison on the internet is to try and find one site that has more then one thing you need at good prices. This will save you a lot of money on shipping since most suppliers charge you the same amount of shipping regardless of whether you are ordering one thing or a whole bunch of things. It also saves you time entering in payment information over and over. Unfortunately, there isn't one place that has everything that you need that I can find. It would be great if there was, and maybe this would be a good idea for another green business if someone is interested in starting a juice feasting store.
However, mountainroseherbs.com worked pretty good for me on cayenne, kelp powder, spirulina, chlorella, and bee pollen. It was cheap on all of those things and only charged me $7 shipping. It is also the best source for fresh herbs on the internet I have yet to find, and is a 100% waste free business. It is worth giving your money to them just for that reason.
If you are looking for green powder such as vitamineral green, or enzymes like in vitalzyme, I found a GREAT source for these. Check Alyssa Cohen's website on the supplement page. She has some green powder that is very comprable to vitamineral green, and the enzymes she sells are excellent! I checked the ingredients list on both of these, and the green powder is about the same as vitamineral green, while the enzymes have every enzyme that vitalzyme has plus others it doesnt, AND coral calcium in it. Both of these are a fraction of the cost of their respective competitors. She also has high quality hemp oil there as well. So you can order three things here for one shipping charge. Furthermore, the hemp protein looks really good to me to. For those of us who are concerned about their protein intake on an all juice diet, the hemp protein is perfect! It's really great for those who want to do weight training on the feast too. All of her products are organic and raw.
Next there is ziolite. I did some research on this, and from what I found the powder is supposedly safer and more effective then the liquid. There are several respectable ND's that claim that the powder is the only safe way to use clinoptilolite and the only way that research has proven effective. The powder also happens to be cheaper! A LOT cheaper. However, I am no expert in this matter, so if anyone has any information as to why the liquid is better or safer, then please feel free to correct me. I also saw that there is colloidal zeolite. This is also cheaper then the liquid. However, there is no research on the colloidal version. But I do know from personal experience that colloidal minerals work pretty good. If you are ever sick (like with the flue) then try some colloidal silver. It works like a charm! For anyone wanting the powdered ziolite check ebay. There is someone on there selling it for really cheap. It looks really generic and just says "Zeolite Powder" on the container, but clinoptilolite is clinoptilolite right?
If anyone else has some cheap sources for any other supplements used on the feast please tell. This information would be very helpful to me and others alike.
Next it is bathroom/hygiene products. For juice feasting this means shower filters, drinking water filters, skin brushes, enema kits, natural soap, natural shampoo/conditioner, natural deoderant, and natural toothpaste. My main advice on this is don't order this stuff off the internet. Whole foods and other stores have all this stuff. You might find it for a dollar or two cheaper on the internet, but the shipping will cost a lot more then that. Call around and ask all your local stores if they have these things before you go there so you can save gas that would be wasted driving around. Again, if there is one store that has it all, then that is the winner since you will spend less time and gas driving to get the stuff you need. For me that was whole foods, but I know that chain isn't everywhere. Just check trader joes, or wild oats, whatever the equivalent is in your area.
How about sprouting jars?
There is no mention of sprouting on the juice feasting website, but why not? Sprouted grain seems like the ideal thing to juice to me. You can also make wheat grass this way. My advice if you want to try this is don't buy a sprouting jar. They run like $40+ in the health food stores and co ops. Go to a second hand store, pick up a large glass jar with a screw on lid, and poke holes in the top of it. WAH LAH! sprouting jar for a dollar! I've tried this before and it works. You can sprout any grains, flax, or anything for that matter using this method. Just add grains or seeds, and water, and put in dark area.
Finally there's produce. I checked several places in my area including chain grocery stores, health food stores, natural foods co ops, and farmers markets. This probably varies depending on the area you live, but for me in Austin, TX I found the farmer's markets to be the hands down best place to buy my produce.
There are a number of reasons for this. First of all, it's local. I want to support farms and farmers in my area and keep the economy flowing where I live. It also reduces the amount of oil used to get the produce from the farm to your mouth. They also in some instances add preservatives to produce traveling a long way which makes it less healthy and worse tasting as well. So buying local is better for you, your community, and the ecosystem. Secondly, I found it cheaper. That is my number one concern right now for juice feasting since I found that income was one of my main barriers to juice feasting. Indeed, if I had more cash I would probably be juice feasting already. But it worked out anyway since it will be more fun starting with the global juice feast in March. My final reason for preferring the farmers market is that you can get more information on the produce that you are buying. To find out if it is organic, just ask! If you like a particular farm, you maybe even be able to score a discount if you promise to buy there since juice feasting requires close to 15 pounds of produce per day. You also get fruits and veggies that are in season at the markets. This fits into the macrobiotics philosophy as well. Just to give you an idea of the savings over whole foods or central market, I compared organic chard, cabbage, and kale prices from all three places. At Whole Foods, and Central Market they were three dollars a head/bunch. At the Farmer's markets $2 a head/bunch. You just have to find the right stand.
Anyway, that is all I have for now. I thought it important that I include all the information that I have collected over the past month on juice feasting for cheap on this forum. I know for me, the money thing is the biggest obstacle for me to overcome to start juice feasting. I also want it all. I want the feast, I want cheap everything, but I don't want to sacrifice the quality of the cleanse. It took me a whole month just to collect all this information, and I know that there are others out there that do not have the persistence that I do regarding this, but have the same monetary restraints. For these people I hope to share the time and energy that i put into researching these things so that energy will go a lot further. I also hope that anyone reading this that has any more information to add, whether it be links to cheap supplements on the web, or just advice on appliances, or advice on how to get by easier on a smaller budget add to this information to help me and others alike who really want to experience the feast, but don't have large bankrolls to do it with.
Thanks,
-Ben
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dreamscaper on -
The ones I know of are on 6th and Neches Saturday morning, and at the triangle (where Guadalupe and Lamar meet) on Wednesday evenings. I think there may be others too. I hear Austin has a lot.
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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Baris on -
WOW great post!! Thanks for all the info. I also buy my produce at the local farmers market here but have found a few things cheaper at Trader Joe's re: cucumbers and tomatoes. I also was at my sisters place last week in Palm Desert and went with her for the first time to a dollar store and was surprised to find organic packs of tomatoes and the 3 packs of romaine lettuce for 1.00 ea. Bests GB
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Permalink Reply by Mark on -
Where did you find the Farmer's Markets in Austin... I bought my first 5 days of produce yesterday at Whole Foods and the bill came to over $250... a little more than $20 per day, so I am very interested in discovering places where I can reduce that bill, or I won't be able to keep it up for the 90 days...
Also, did you find a place in Austin to buy Nut Mylk (Milk) bags? Whole Foods does not have them.
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Permalink Reply by Dreamscaper on
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This is the best one: http://www.sunsetvalleyfarmersmarket.org/
But there is also one that is near the big whole foods downtown that is decent. Both run Saturdays and Sundays.
Then finally, you can check out this farm which pretty much grows everything that is located in Leander:
Angel Valley organic farm
John Dwyer
18405 Angel Valley Dr. Leander
512-267-2785
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Permalink Reply by Only1Salome on -
Thank you, Ben - your advice was great. I have also sourced some of my products (like MSM) from cheaper providers and it is fine.
All the best with your feast!
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Permalink Reply by Dreamscaper on
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Speaking of MSM I found the most DIRT CHEAP source there is. http://www.chemistrystore.com/product.cgi?product=87281&group=
THAT is cheap. $7 a pound!
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