Juicing facts

 

Why is Juicing good for you?
Juicing helps you make healthier eating Choices. Research studies have repeatedly shown a direct relationship between diet and health. In present times, an increasing number of doctors and healthcare practitioners are discussing how to decrease the risk of heart disease and certain cancers through proper diet. Current recommendations are to increase the intake of fiber and complex carbohydrates, and decrease the intake of fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium.

Over the years, our diet has become increasingly filled with highly processed, convenience foods. Many of these contain calories in the form of fats and sugars, and to which large amounts of sodium have been added to enhance flavour.

You have the opportunity to make changes in your diet and increase your intake of fiber and complex carbohydrates. Juicers are designed to make the preparation of fruits, vegetables and grains convenient and easy. You can process fruits and vegetables in their prime and quickly prepare them to fit your family’s needs and menu plans. You can control the addition of salt and sugar and make healthy choices in the types of fats you use.

 

What are the different types of juicer?

Manual Juicers
Manual juicers use a handle to force the produce into a chamber with a coarse-feed screw, where the juice and pulp are separated.

Centrifugal Juicers
Centrifugal juicers use a grater or cutting disc to break up the plant fibers, and then spin out the juice by centrifugal action, forcing the pulp against a high-speed revolving basket, and the juice through the holes in the basket.

NOTE: The higher the RPM’s the dryer the pulp and thus the maximum juice extraction. However, too high of an RPM can do damage to the nutritional value. We find that 6000 RPM’s is the ideal speed.

Juice Presses
A juice press can reduce even hard root vegetables to something resembling a piece of damp cardboard in a few minutes. This method of pulping and then hydraulic pressing is used commercially, on a larger scale.

Blenders
A blender is ideal in combination with a juicer. A blender has a stainless steel cutting blade rotating at up to 22,000 revolutions per minute, and tough enough to crush ice for cocktails.

 

What you need to take into consideration before buying your first juicer

Budget: this is a no-brainer, but it’s important to have your budget in mind before you start searching. My first juicer was what I thought was quality as it was expensive. The pulp was still wet, so I didn’t know whether to eat the pulp or drink the juice. So paying too little can be worse than paying too much as a cheap juicer is very wasteful.

Time: how much time do you want to put into juicing? If you’re super busy and rushed then a centrifugal juicer may be best for you because the extraction takes the least amount of time. 

Cleaning: if you can’t face the idea of a juicer which is fiddly to clean, keep that in mind and search reviews for the truth about the cleaning process. Some juicers are easier than others, depending on how many parts there are and if they’re dishwasher friendly or not.

Ingredients: think about what kind of juice you want to make. Not all ingredients are equal and some are better for different kinds of juicers. For example, masticating juicers tend to be better for leafy greens and root veggies while centrifugal juicers are fine for wetter, juicer ingredients like citrus.

Take in mind that the higher the RPMs on a juicer the dryer the pulp and the more juice you will extract.

This I learned the hard way. I was using a basket of fruit and veggies just to get one glass. I found that a juicer with a minimum of 6000 rpm’s was the ideal speed. Too fast can slightly damage nutrients and too slow is too wasteful.

 

Click HERE to see our selection of quality juice extractors.