Small Appliances

Why Juice?

The juice of fresh fruits and vegetables is the one of the richest available food sources of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. A typical question I am asked is, "Why can’t I just eat fruits and vegetables to get the nutrients I need?" For those of you already convinced of the benefits of juicing, I probably do not have to sell you on this but here goes anyway…. To get the most from our fruits and vegetables, fresh-pressed juice is the most efficient way for the body to obtain vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients (plant nutrients) in a pure and potent fashion. Juice enables your body to easily assimilate the nutrients found in food. Unlike canned or bottle juices that are pasteurized and stored, fresh juicing will make a huge difference in how you feel.

Convinced? Good! Now let’s look at how to pick the best juicers on the market. There are more juicers on the market than there are fruits or vegetables to put in them. The reason for this is that no one juicer juices everything... though some types of juicers come close and I have them listed in the “Best of the Best” category. No matter what juicer you use, it is important to that the juices be consumed within 30 minutes of juicing. Use organic produce when you can.

What to buy? For general use, centrifugal ejection juicers are fine for juicing most fruits and vegetables. They are continuous, easiest to clean, and fast. For more advanced juicing, masticating (chewing) juicers, and press (automated twin gear and hydraulic types are in the list) juicers work great, extracting more juice from raw food than the centrifugal juicers - when you put them through twice, which serious juicers do.

The following juicers are what I feel are the best on the market. I have listed them with notes on three important factors:

What are you juicing? Vegetables have tough fibrous cell walls, fruit soft cell walls, leafy vegetables and wheat grass are stringy, nuts are hard. Some juicers are specific to what they can juice.
Easy to Clean? Easy to clean stainless steel, ease of taking apart, and putting back together.
Warranty Listing what is covered and for how long.