Is Pulp Good For You?

Is pulp good for you? Have you ever asked yourself that question?

You probably threw pulp away without any hesitation so many times that you couldn’t remember. Inevitably, there is always an assumption that pulp is the part you may consider “an edible waste” of fruit after making juice.

It is understandable because all you care about is the juice squeezed from fresh fruit and vegetables. However, if you take a moment to look at the leftovers on your cooking table, you will have some big surprises.

Do not rush into cleaning the mess you just made in the kitchen, and follow me to get to know your newest “friend” in the kitchen.

What Is Pulp?

Pulp is the formless, soft, juicy, and editable part of a fruit or veggie. In the juicing process, you press the juice out of the fruit and only reserve the liquid. The rest is pulp, which is the part people always throw right away.

For example, you crush the oranges to take the juice, and the pulp is left behind, but you never think of how many benefits it can bring to you.

Is Pulp Good For You?

Have you ever looked at the leftover pulp and wondered whether it is good for you? And if you have, the answer is an absolute Yes.

Apparently, there are certain differences between drinking juice with and without pulp. As the pulp is estimated to contain a lot of vital nutrients for your body, you definitely lose all of them when taking the pulp out!

By absorbing nutrients through the pulp, you will increase your immune system and strengthen your heart. It can also help you digest food better.

I bet you will still doubt that but let me walk you through every session about the pulp and how healthy it is for you.

How Well Does Pulp Work To Make Your Body Better?

When you consume healthy pulp, your body is filled with more nutrients than you have ever imagined.

Fiber Is High In Fruit, Especially Inside The Pulp

Adults need to consume around 21 to 38 grams of fiber per day⁽¹⁾. Evidently, the pulp is found to contain around 90% fiber of fruit⁽²⁾.

Here are the nutrition facts of some foods that are rich in fiber⁽³⁾.

While fiber is extremely essential for healthy digestion, the fact that fiber loss, in the form of thrown pulp, is ignored should raise awareness in the community.

Therefore, you can choose juice to be a fiber-absorption way on a daily basis. The only thing you need to do is to eat the whole fruit, including pulp or skin part.

Moreover, it is much easier and more convenient to consume fiber through juice with pulp, instead of offsetting the deficiency of fiber through other kinds of food.

More than that, fiber-free juiced drinks may raise your blood sugar higher when you consume an amount of fruit since fruits contain some natural sugar.

The job of fiber is to control the amount of sugar in your body and keep your weight in check as well. Then, please stop saying that pulp is useless anymore!

Pulp Can Amaze You With Some Benefits During The Battle Against Diseases

Juice made with a higher pulp is known to be better than no-pulp juice. One of the reasons is associated with flavonoids inside the pulp ⁽⁴⁾.

Fruit remarkably rich in flavonoids is scientifically demonstrated to work the best as it neutralizes oxidative and inflammatory stress. By that, it can increase antioxidants in your body, leading to different diseases and cancer prevention.

Fiber Is Not The Only Nutritive Substance That Goes Along With The Thrown Pulp

The different number of nutrients depends on a variety of fruits. Besides high fiber content, certain nutrients are discarded during juicing.

You believe vitamin C is rich in some common fruit like lemons, oranges, broccoli, and strawberries,… The fact that vitamin C, one of the keys to boosting your immune system, cannot be stored inside your body makes you drink, for example, orange juice every day.

The funny thing is you can find vitamin C in juicing pulp but subconsciously disregard it and never realize how weird it is to do so. I hope from now on, you will understand the value of pulp and never get to waste it.

How Does Pulp Aid Your Digestion?

When you are on a diet, some slow-digesting carbs such as potatoes, and red pumpkins are common foods, as you can replace them with rice or some other fast-digesting carbs. The slow-digesting process is the most important thing you can begin with to lose weight.

However, eating or juicing those fruits and veggies with pulp enhances that process better and works as a natural appetite suppressant.

Why Should You Be Concerned More About The Pulp?

More than just pulp, the issue I’m taking out here is about throwing out food, which is a part of food waste – the world’s dumbest problem. According to Feeding America – the U.S Hunger Relief Organization, nearly two-fifths of food waste comes from each American’s home ⁽⁵⁾.

Undoubtedly, one of the reasons behind this globally bizarre situation lies in the fact that consumers turn pulp into garbage every day without reconsidering what it can actually help.

The saying “Think globally, act locally” never goes wrong in any case. I know you never expect that your seemingly teeny-tiny doing plays an important part in the journey to protect the Earth, but it legitimately does.

Taking the smallest actions, such as limiting the amount of thrown pulp in this case, can be seen as a determinant that constrains the growth of food waste.

Some Extra Information About Pulp

Here come more questions surrounding pulp. Please join me on this journey!

Is Lemon Pulp Good For You?

As well as oranges, vitamin C, and fiber are super rich in lemon pulp, and the fruit itself is one of the most common fruits for weight loss methods. This fruit pulp works the same as orange pulp, aiding in healthy digestion and stimulating immunity against colds and flu.

Pulp Vs. No Pulp Orange Juice

It is fine to drink orange juice with no pulp as this beverage still provides you and your body with many specific benefits. Make sure that you choose the most suitable oranges for juicing so that you can enjoy all the benefits they bring.

Drinking orange juice with most of the pulp will leave more indispensable nutrients for your body than a beverage without pulp. The more, the better!

Is Orange Pulp High In Sugar?

Every 100 grams of orange has 9 grams of sugar. And guess what? The majority of sugar comes from the juice itself, making less sugar in the pulp. This is why nutrition experts claim sugar intake can be a potential downside when you drink orange juice with no pulp.

Is It Better To Drink Orange Juice With Pulp Or Without?

I would completely go for juice with pulp as people should start appreciating the upsides of pulp related to health aspects. However, not everybody likes the feeling of pulp inside their mouth. Therefore, if you feel ok with that, you should be on my side.

But if you find it annoying, no pulp can be your option too. Just remember to maintain the amount of fiber in your body in other ways.

Surprisingly Simple Ways To Utilize Pulp The Best As You Can

As I already said, different fruit types have different nutrition facts. Some high-fiber fruits I would like to mention in this session include carrots, almonds, and cucumbers,…

A lot of studies have shown that pulp, or in some cases – promace, can be reused in various ways for different beneficial purposes.

So what can you do with it? The answer is many, many things! You can decorate food with pulp or even make food with pulp being the main ingredient.

And if you have any dogs at home, the pulp may become a dog treat for your lovely pets. They usually hate to eat vegetables, but this can be a second chance for you to feed them some healthy food after lots of meat dishes.

Remember to avoid fruits that can be toxic to your dogs, like onions, and grapes,…

And now, please allow me to start sharing those “secret” recipes that would wake you up with a hungry belly and then go straight to the kitchen.

Carrot Pulp Muffins

You have been a wonderful reader until now, and this is my gift for you, a recipe for carrot pulp muffins. Let’s see how you will make this dessert to surprise your beloved ones at the weekend!

List of ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed carrot pulp
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup yogurt/sour cream
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1.5 teaspoon baking soda

Step 1: Make The Wet Mixture

The first thing you do is to put two broken eggs into a big glass bowl, and use an electric mixer to whisk them well in nearly three minutes. Gradually add white sugar and continue whisking until these two are dissolved.

After that, you need to put the next ingredients in the right order: vanilla extract, vegetable oil, milk, and yogurt. Keep mixing until everything is combined.

NOTE: You can replace the yogurt with the same amount of sour cream.

Step 2: Make The Dry Mixture

After moving the wet ingredients aside, you will put different types of powder, including all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and some salt, into another mixing bowl. Remember to blend them all slightly.

Next, you mix one tablespoon of the flour mixture with carrot pulp. The rest of the dry ingredients will be blended into the wet ingredients until all the flour disappears.

NOTE: Do not overmix it because the muffins will be so hard to eat afterward.

Then, you add the carrot pulp to the mixture and give it the last mixing before going to the next step.

Your leftover carrots can become your favorite muffins too!

Step 3: Do The Baking Process

When the muffin batter is perfectly ready, you can divide it into the muffin liners. Meanwhile, make sure that your oven is already preheated at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

The amount of time for baking muffins is nearly 18 minutes. Take them out of the oven; the final product you see has a nice color on top and does not stick to the liners. When you feel the softness and moisture from the muffins, congratulations, you finally make it!

Almond Pulp Streusel (Topping For Muffins)

After making homemade almond milk, you wonder what to do with the leftover almond pulp. Here is one of the most simple recipes for you.

List of ingredients:

• ½ cup almond flour
• ½ cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 12 unbaked muffins

Step 1: Change The Shape Of The Almond Pulp Into Flour

This is a great chance to make your own almond flour, which is insanely expensive if you buy it at the store. Therefore, it is much cheaper to make it at home yourself.

First of all, you need to spread your almond pulp on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place it in the oven at 170 degrees Fahrenheit as low as it can go for about three to four hours; or you can just leave it in there overnight or one to two days.

Let it dry out as long as it can. After taking it from the oven, you can blend it up until it turns into nice and fine almond flour.

Step 2: Mix It With Other Ingredients

After that, if you mix it with a tablespoon of coconut oil, a tablespoon of maple syrup, along with two and a half cups of almond milk, you will have a gluten-free, dairy-free almond streusel.

Step 3: Bake The Muffins

You can choose any type of flavor of unbaked muffins based on your taste. From my perspective, I like to put almond streusel on top of my favorite lemon blueberry muffins.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then put the muffins into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The muffins with almond streusel are now ready to serve!

NOTE: Be careful with the heat when taking them out of the oven!

Let’s turn the almond pulp into streusel in the blink of an eye!

Veggie Pulp Crackers

What a waste to throw away the combination of celery and cucumber pulp, which is made of the juice you take every morning! You can make some amazing crackers with those pulp as the dessert at your family or your friend’s gathering. Let’s get ready with the steps below.

List of ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups leftover celery and cucumber pulp
• ½ cup flaxseeds
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• ¼ cup hemp seeds
• ½ cup almond flour/coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 large jalapeno chili, seeds removed

Step 1: Mix The Pulp With The Ingredients Needed

You may need a big bowl to put two and a half cups of celery and cucumber pulp into first. Add some ground flax seeds since they are great for estrogen levels.

After that, you can also add some almond flour and chia seeds. A quarter cup of hemp seeds is the next one. They are all good for your hormones.

NOTE: You can replace almond flour with coconut flour if you are allergic to nuts.

For the flavor, you can throw in some salt. And then, add some curry powder to spice it up. The last ingredient is chopped jalapenos with no seeds.

Mixing all of them in just a minute, you can now take the next stage. It is quite easy to follow up, isn’t it?

Step 2: Prepare For The Baking

Before plopping the mixture out, you need to lay the parchment paper first on the jelly roll pan

Hold your bowl of mixture and then slowly put it into the pan. You have to spread it out as much as you can.

Put another piece of paper on the mixture and use your hands to roll it evenly. After that, you remove the paper and check whether it is well laid on the pan. If not, you can fix it with your own fingers since it doesn’t stick and is easy to manipulate.

Step 3: Bake The Mixture

You should put it into the oven and bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. You don’t need to put oil in the paper because there is so much moisture in the vegetable pulp. When you finish baking, these gluten-free crackers have to be easy for you to lift and cut into smaller pieces.

Making veggie pulp crackers has never been easier!

Other Benefits

Besides food, the pulp is also used to be the material for some DIY activities. You can make your own things or at least, have fun with your creativity. I bet you will have a great story to tell everyone!

You can also do some activities and play with your children by using it. Save your money but still have a good time with your sons/daughters, what a convenient thing!

Watch this video: Turning pulp into something you might be interested in is not that difficult.

FAQS

People either forget or ignore pulp and its benefits all the time. Here are more related questions about pulp to remind you once again!

Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

Sadly, being set as default as the first one on the list of things getting trashed during the cooking time, juicing pulp may shock you with inner optimistic values.

Just because pulp seems to have a messy, dried-outlook does not mean it is completely useless. I believe that if you give pulp a shot, it could change the way you view it with the pros it can bring along with it.

To widely spread the inner significance of juicing pulp, I hope that such an article or relevant qualified research would get more attention, so people could stop underestimating its existence.

References:

1. mayoclinic.org  2021. Chart of high-fiber foods
2. justjuice.org  2022. Does juicing remove fiber?
3. in.gov/health  Fruits and vegetables – Nutrition Facts
4. ncbi.nlm.gov  2016. Flavonoids: an overview
5. feedingamerica.org  How do we fight food waste in the US?