The Reason You Shouldn't Try To Juice A Banana

We love juicing fresh fruits like apples, lemons, and pineapple. After just a few minutes of dicing them and feeding them through an electric juicer, you wind up with a refreshing, nutritious beverage. But while you may be tempted to see what happens when you turn your bananas over to your machine, this is one fruit you'll want to leave out of the juicer.

Why are bananas best avoided in this situation? It all comes down to their consistency, which is a direct result of their water content. While apples and pineapple boast a water content of around 85% and 86% respectively, bananas are only made up of about 75% water. That may not seem like too big of a gap, but it makes all the difference for your machine. If you try to make banana juice, you won't end up with a refreshing liquid, but rather a thick, pulpy mess. Plus, you may end up clogging up your device. These fruits boast plenty of soluble fiber, which makes them an excellent thickener in smoothies, "nice cream," and frappuccinos but also means that they're too dense for a juicer.

So it is impossible to ever drink banana juice? Technically, no — but you'll want to be a little creative with how you do it. These fruits thrive in smoothies where they can add thickness and flavor, so if you want to drink their juice, simply make a smoothie in the blender that focuses more on banana flavors. If you want the closest beverage possible to actual juice, use fresh fruits instead of frozen and water instead of milk for the thinnest consistency. And to produce a tastier beverage, feel free to throw in a little honey or maple syrup, or a splash of a complementary juice like pineapple or orange. 

When it comes to the juicer, deploy fruits that have a high water content so that they travel smoothly through the device. Aside from the options we already mentioned, feel free to juice berries, oranges, limes, grapefruit, cantaloupe, and watermelon. And, in the same vein, go ahead and pair them up with hydrating veggies like cucumber, lettuce, and celery to make a refreshing, nutritious drink.