Juicing For Good Health
The holidays are coming and maybe you were thinking of asking for a juicer. Which is the best? How do you know which one to ask for? The answers are different based on your individual needs and what you are planning to juice.
There are three types of juicers, masticating, centrifugal and triturating (twin gear). These have to do with the method of extracting and separating the juice from the pulp. The most common are the masticating and centrifugal.
Based solely on price the centrifugal machines are less expensive and get the job done. If you want to juice wheat-grass, sprouts, a large amount of parsley and denser grasses the best is the trituration machine.
All types discussed here are pulp-ejection juicers. With pulp ejection machines the pulp is ejected into a separate container allowing continuous juicing. This is more advantageous when juicing large quantities of juice. The Champion, Green power, Green life, Juice man II, Jack LA Lane, and Omega 4000 are pulp-ejecting machines.
Here is a breakdown of the three types of juicers.
The Masticating machine operates at a slower speed. It chews the fibers and breaks up the cells of vegetables and fruits. This gives you more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. The Champion is a masticating juicer. It also is more versatile because in addition to extracting juices, the unit homogenizes making baby foods, sauces, nut butters, banana ice creams and fruit sorbets. An optional grain mill attachment is available for grinding grains into flour.
The Centrifugal machine first grinds the fruit and vegetables then pushes them through the strainer by spinning at a very high rpm (similar to your washing machine on the spin cycle). This method usually yields a little more volume of juice. The Omega 1000 & 4000, Jack LA Lane, and Juice man II are centrifugal machines. (Most juicers sold on the market are centrifugal). Optional citrus attachments are available for the Omega 1000 and Omega 4000 juicers that allow juicing of citrus fruits without peeling.
The Triturating (twin gear) machine, which turns at a slower rpm, has a two-step process. The first step crushes the fruits and vegetables, while the second step presses the juice. This process gives you more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. These juicers also have magnetic and bio-ceramic technology that slows down the oxidation process, which is good if you want to make and store your juice. . These juicers are excellent for juicing leafy greens, wheat-grass, sprouts; root vegetables like beets and carrots and most water dense (non-pulpy) fruits. Juicing time is longer with twin gear juicers due to the slower juicing process, which gives you a higher quality juice.
Note from Dr. P
Whatever you choose, there is no self-cleaning juicer so be prepared to spend time disassembling, washing, drying, and re-assembling your juicer, it’s part of the experience!
Often when people make juice they use sweeter fruits and vegetables such as, carrots, whole apples, oranges, and other fruits, this can lead to blood sugar instabilities. Below is a tasty well-balanced juice recipe without the sugar.
Alkalizing green juice:
4 celery ribs
1 cucumber
2 Swiss chard leaves
1-cup parsley
2 cups spinach
½ apple
