Fresh juice is one of the healthiest and easiest ways to increase your energy and revitalise your life. Juices made from fruit and vegetables are packed with nutrients – live enzymes, vitamins and minerals – which will boost your immune system and make you look and feel great.
The best juices are those made from home: you can tailor unique combinations to suit your own individual needs and tastes. The question is, what kind of juicer should you buy? There are 3 types of juicer on the market – centrifugal, single gear and twin gear juicers.
The juicer which produces the greatest yield is the twin gear juicer. However, this juicer is far more expensive than the other 2 kinds and isn’t really necessary for the average domestic juicer, as the increase in yield is not proportional to the far greater initial cost.
Far more appropriate for most domestic juicers is a single gear juicer, also known as a masticating juicer. These are much cheaper, yet still produce a very high quality juice containing loads of vitamins and minerals. The extractor finely grates the food and then “chews” it, or masticates it, to make even finer particles. These fine particles are then pressed again through a strainer to extract the juice and pulp into separate containers and voila! Great tasting, healthy juice in minutes.
The third type of juicer, a centrifugal juicer, is cheaper again. The downside of these juicers is that the juice produced is of a much poorer quality and has to be drunk immediately as the nutrients start to deplete straightaway. This is due to the oxidisation of the juice.
Juices made from centrifugal and single gear juicers are visibly different. Juice from a centrifugal juicer often has a layer of foam on top and turns brown very quickly due to the oxidisation, whereas juice from a single gear juicer has an even colour all the way through.
But the proof is in the tasting. Juice from a single gear juicer is bursting with flavour and vitality, making you feel instantly healthier. The juice from a centrifugal juicer will taste much more watery and will have a have much lower nutritional content. Most commercial juice and smoothie shops use centrifugal juicers to do their juicing, using a masticating juicer only for juicing wheatgrass – another reason why juicing from home is a good move, to make sure you get what you pay for. Another good and cheap investment are mini blenders, as you can mix in whole fruits such as bananas or berries for fibre content in your juice.
Buying a juicer is an investment into your future health and wellbeing and I guaranteee you’ll feel different within the first few days. Get your 5-a-day with nature’s fast food!