So y’all know that the internet has a huge boner for juicing, right? It’s everywhere. Just ask Pinterest. People love juice recipes, people swear that their lives have been changed by fruit pulp and a centrifuge.

I, of course, was deeply skeptical. My brain had far more reasons to say NAY than to jump on the bandwagon. But once I jumped in, I actually found out that there wasn’t much to hate.

Juice extractors are expensive.

While this can be very true, they lower range models are getting more affordable. The one I got (Westinghouse WJE2BSLA Select Series) is just $45 on Amazon, and I’d call it well worth the price. But I’m a tightwad. I can’t even justify buying a lot of things I really, actually, for-real need. But when I saw this juicer at a discount store for well under retail, I jumped.

Produce is expensive.

For a lot of people, the fruit and veg necessary for juicing is a pretty big cost burden. I tend to buy the cheapest available of any produce I choose. I also fully recommend finding a grocery store that offers discounts on their bruised and aging produce: since you’ll be juicing the produce soon, it won’t matter in the least. Focus on juice recipes that make the most of less inexpensive produce, like lettuce, carrots and apples. And finally…

There’s a lotta waste.

There doesn’t have to be. If you’re smart about the order in which you extract, you could actually be doing meal prep while you juice. Run a mess of apples and use the pulp to make applesauce or a baste for porkchops. Juiced carrots are just a step closer to a lovely pasta sauce or padding for a meatloaf. Save the pulp from all your savory produce in the freezer and use it to make batches of vegetable stock.

There’s a lotta cleanup.

The juicer I have isn’t as messy as I expected. A silicone spatula gets most of the pulp out pretty easily. Then, I just use a soft toothbrush to clean the grater and hand wash the bowls. I find it more troublesome to clean my mixer. YMMV.

But, like. The health claims?

First of all, if you’re not eating any fruit or veg right now… uh, the health benefits are going to be greater. I promise. Since smart combinations make the produce more palatable, you’re more likely to get in more servings of stuff you ordinarily wouldn’t just nosh on. If you’re already getting plenty of servings of fruits and vegetables and you won’t be replacing anything that’s not as nutritious with juice… it’s probably pointless for you. There are some recipes that contain plenty of produce that is either said to or proven to offer particular benefits. And if you’ve got a particular vitamin deficiency that juicing can help you fill… like, do it already!