Juicing - Readers weigh in on my vintage Proctor-Silex JuicIt

Posted on June 12, 2012 by bilrob

Juicit ONE (1 of 1)

Juicing – Readers weigh in on my vintage Proctor-Silex JuicIt

Who knew that the Proctor-Silex JuicIt I found on eBay was such a cult item? After I wrote about my hunt for one these vintage juicers, emails and even a snail mail or two kept coming to expound further on the virtues of the Juicit.

“A new Proctor Silex Juicit was one of the first things we purchased 23 years ago when we moved from L.A. to northern San Diego County and our new home set amidst 400 orange trees. I have personally used my machine for juicing about two pitchers per week for the past two decades — and still it performs well. That’s about 2,300 pitchers,” writes one reader.

A reader from Pacific Palisades tells me: “Mine was a wedding gift in 1976. It’s beat-up looking and a bit corroded, but still works well. This time of year it gets a workout taking care of the profusion of oranges on my backyard tree (two months’ worth of juicing joy). “

Another in Santa Barbara, writes: “I had a JuicIt back in the ’70s, one that I used to make my daily fresh orange juice without ever a hitch. I remember juicing a crate of oranges in one sitting for a brunch party during which I was going to serve Mimosas.

Anyway, over time and with moving, I lost my JuicIt…. And then, about two years ago, I found a JuicIt at a garage sale. I found another one, but without the porcelain reamer. I bought it anyway so I would have a spare in case the first motor ever ran down…. I continue to go to garage sales, hoping to find at least one or two more of these juicing treasures, not to hoard them, but to make sure that I will have at least one more spare, and hopefully to be able to give one to each of my kids when they establish their own households. “

He has a bone to pick with me, though. “You have now told the world what a treasure the JuicIt truly is. What this means is that people will hold on to their JuicIts, not put them up at garage sales, or charge exorbitant prices to get them off of the Internet. Though all that you said is true, perhaps you could retract your column, claim that the JuicIt is old technology, and tout the benefits of electronic-based plastic juicers. At least until I can find just two more.”

Sorry, no can do.

Someone else sent in this testimonial: “I have been using the same model for decades and love it. I started having trouble with it 15 years ago, so I took it apart and put in new grease and all was fine. The motor is very big, and that is why it works so well. I, like you, picked up a spare one on eBay about 9 years ago just in case mine ever stopped working, but so far I haven’t needed it.”

I’m stunned at the number of passionate JuicIt devotees out there. Sorry, holding on to mine now that I’ve got it. (And looking for a spare.)

A couple of readers, though, had backup juicers to recommend, namely the Black Decker Citrus Mate Plus and the Waring Pro.

The most recent letter is from a reader seconding my championing of the JuicIt, but wondering how to solve the problem of juicing pomegranate?

Anybody out there have the perfect juicer for that?

ALSO:

Found at Last: a vintage citrus juicer

Object of Desire: Congee

Cookbook Watch: ‘The Art of Cooking Vegetables’

– S. Irene Virbila
Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: vintage Proctor-Silex juicer. Credit: S. Irene Virbila/Los Angeles Times.

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Gadget Of The Week: The Omega J8006 Juicer

Posted on May 21, 2012 by bilrob

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Gadget Of The Week: The Omega J8006 Juicer

In this first installment of Gadget Of The Week I decided to try something a bit different. Rather than focus on some obscure cellphone or wonky laptop, I decided to take on one of the biggest questions in the average small and home office: which juicer should I buy? After trying a number of juicers – and investing in a few – I’m pleased to report that the Omega J8006 is definitely worth the investment.

I am what they call, in the medical literature, a fat and lazy blogger. There’s nothing I love more than scarfing down cookies as I sit at my computer. With that in mind (and inspired by Brian Lam’s article at The Wirecutter), I decided to try my hand at using a juicer.

I began by picking up the $99 Le’Equip model which uses a swiftly rotating blade and an ejection system for squeezing the juice out of almost any fruit or vegetable. The price was right – under $100 for a fairly sturdy juicer is good – and the reviews were excellent. I also tried the Breville models but those didn’t support the juicing of greens as readily. Obviously there are more (this dude made 290 videos featuring all of his favorite) but I was going for the lower end.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important to understand the various aspects of juicing that are important to the average consumer. There are multiple types – the Le’Equip is an ejection system that uses centripetal force to push out the juice out of a spout. Then there are masticating juicers. These juicers either use a worm gear or two larger gears to chop food into finer and finer bits. These bits are then smashed to render the juice. They move much more slowly than ejection systems and, in turn, work a bit more efficiently.

What does juicing do for you? The science is still out (and many nutritionists state that juicing isn’t much better than eating a bunch of vegetables and the process removes much of the fiber, rendering the juice less biologically useful) but I personally find that after a big glass of kale, cucumber, and maybe a lemon or apple, I’m less hungry and less inclined to sit at my desk idly snacking on Bugles. I would never eat, say, a head of kale by itself. A juicer takes the tedium out of veggies.

Working with the Le’Equip was quite enjoyable although it tended to spray pulp out of its back end and spit juice out of the top. The speed of the blades – while excellent for rendering juice – didn’t allow for much control.

That’s when the Omega came into my life. This massive, heavy juicer – more a home motor than a real juicer – takes it slow and steady. You feed veggies in, they’re slowly masticated with the thick, 80RPM rotor. As the food moves through it is chopped up and squeezed out into a plastic cup while the pulp falls into another cup. Clean-up is simple. You take the juicer head off, move it to the sink, and uncouple all of the pieces. Then, with some soap and water, you can just rinse off the four pieces and clean the metal screen. You can also run the gear through the dishwasher.

The device also makes nut butters and can extrude pasta. You can even use it as a slow food processor.

The bad news? At $299, you’re really going to have to be into juice to pick this thing up. However, compared with the swiftly moving and messier “cheaper” models, I’m very pleased with the 8006?s performance. If you used this in an office, for example, you’d have considerably less to clean up and the system is far more durable than other machines I’ve seen. No one wants to clean up a scrim of flung orange pulp off of the kitchen wall, which is why the 8006?s slow-moving auger is a much better choice.

Has juicing helped me lose weight? Not yet, but here’s hoping. Does it make me feel a little better and less inclined to eat junk. I think so. And anything that can keep my fat face out of a bag of MM-laden Chex mix is the thing for me.

If you need more convincing (or date) check out Brian Lam’s article at Wirecutter

Juicer Recipes with Bill & Sheila

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Breville Compact Juice Fountain Review: Fast. Efficient. Delicious.

Posted on May 11, 2012 by bilrob

Breville Compact Juice Fountain Review: Fast. Efficient. Delicious.

Is it the bacon backlash? Juicing, once reserved for Jack LaLanne devotees and hippie health nuts, is suddenly de rigueur. But for all of the nutritional benefits that fresh juice promises to deliver, home juicers have never been worth the investment. The usual suspects are high-priced, hard to clean and hog up kitchen counter space.

Breville has attempted to solve all of these problems in one machine. Its Compact Juice Fountain – a slick, space-age-looking appliance – promises power and ease for under hundred bucks. A 700-watt motor extracts a quart of juice in less than thirty seconds, and a ring-shaped reservoir for fruit and veggie pulp is simple to clean.

Why It Matters

A patented cutting disc is also supposed to extract 40 percent more vitamins and minerals than competing models. While the average guy couldn’t verify this claim, he only needs to taste his first glass of juice to justify the purchase. Go green with kale and cucumbers or sate your sweet tooth with a handful of apples and carrots – whichever you choose, it’s guaranteed to be faster and cheaper than a visit to the nearest juice bar.

Like

You could set up and operate this machine with your eyes closed. Stack three parts – the juice collector, filter basket and cover – on top of one another and flip the switch on. The motor handled tender spinach leaves without a problem, but it was also strong enough to take on fibrous kale stems and carrots. A liquid lunch for two was ready with almost zero effort. Cleaning the machine was the only work required, and that’s if you consider throwing parts in the dishwasher a job. The size (a little larger than your average coffee maker) is also convenient for those with small kitchens.

No Like

Fantasies of waking up to fresh-squeezed juice may not be feasible if you live in an apartment and/or with roommates who like to sleep in. The motor was so loud that the noise carried to the far end of my apartment building’s hallway. The machine also requires you to work quickly – apple slices that weren’t immediately pushed down with the plunger spit back up the feed chute and flew onto the kitchen counter. Lastly, its parts need to be cleaned with care: damage the filter and you’ll need to shell out $54 for a replacement.

Should I Buy It?

Whether you drink cheap pasteurized juice in a carton or obscenely priced fresh juice, neither will ever look the same again. Turning your own hand picked produce into pulp is the superior choice, and this machine makes the process painless. So yeah, unless the noisiness is an issue for you, the juice is worth the squeeze. The Juice Fountain Compact; $99. [Breville]

Breville Compact Juice Fountain Review: Fast. Efficient. Delicious.

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Spring Cleansing: Juicing

Posted on May 9, 2012 by bilrob

Spring Cleansing: Juicing

I never thought I’d be one of those girls who juiced. I’ve never believed in dieting, certainly never did a regimented cleanse before – they seemed gimmicky, rigid, and not very healthy. So why would I ever consider a juice cleanse?

Well, let’s face it. Food is my life. I make an effort to balance out the foie dinners and cheese benders with kale and quinoa, but sometimes all the fun catches up to me and I need a detox.

The whole juicing trend intrigued me, and seemed to be winning over fellow food bloggers by the masses. Joy the Baker loves cheeseburgers just like me, and she did it. Tracy Shutterbean broke it down for me and it seemed less intimidating. And Sylvie at Gourmande in the Kitchen made juicing for health sound downright delicious. The idea behind juicing is that it allows your body to quickly absorb high levels of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, while giving your digestive track a much needed break.

Back in December (for the record, probably the worst time ever to embark in a cleanse when holiday cookies are tempting you at every turn), I decided to give the BluePrint Cleanse a shot. Three days leading up to the cleanse, BPC recommends that you wean yourself off coffee, sugar, meat, and dairy. Psychologically, this may have been harder than the cleanse itself. Day one of weaning, I made a healthy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup…but while the veggies were roasting, I had a bunch of Wheat Thins and a slice of cheese. The cleanse hadn’t even started yet and I was cheating! I’m so weak. Cheese, I can’t quit you.

I pulled myself together and embarked on BluePrint’s three-day Foundation Cleanse which involved six juices a day: 3 Green Juices, 1 Pineapple-Apple-Mint, 1 Spicy Lemonade, and 1 Cashew Milk.

The Green Juice — comprised of romaine, celery, cucumber, apple, spinach, kale, parsley, and lemon — actually wasn’t bad. It tasted fresh and vegetal, and by day three it strangely reminded me of a Bloody Mary (this could have been wishful delusion however). The P.A.M was my favorite of the juices. Sweet, tart, and tasty, this was the sweet highlight of my day during the cleanse. The Spicy Lemonade was like watered down lemonade with a subtle kick of cayenne. And the Cashew Milk was chunkier than I would have liked, but I enjoyed the vanilla bean and cinnamon in it, and it was as close to a creamy dessert as I would get so I tried to savor it.

Overall, my BluePrint experience was challenging. Three days felt like an eternity. I hated the rigidity of having to drink the same thing each day. It was borderline ridiculous when I went to the movies with three juices crammed into my purse because I wasn’t sure when I’d be home again. And I missed the social aspects of sharing a meal, especially when my husband would come home with pepperoni pizza. Evil.

On the flip side, at the end of the cleanse I did feel good. Would I shell out the substantial amount of dough to do BluePrint again? No, but I would consider juicing myself. A few months ago I saw the documentary, Fat, Sick Nearly Dead. The movie follows the journey of two men who turn around their lives through a 60-day juice cleanse. Granted, their story is extreme, but it was convincing.

I splurged on a fancy juicer and have been plowing through the veggies ever since. It is incredibly satisfying seeing my fridge brimming with fruits and vegetables, knowing that I am consuming all of it. It’s also really fun throwing entire bunches of greens and whole celery stalks into the juicer and watching them get pulverized in seconds. You’ll want to throw everything in your kitchen into that juicer, kind of like how little kids love throwing stuff down the toilet. You’ll see.

Why is this kind of juicing fun and enjoyable while the other kind was so painful? Balance? Moderation? Flexibility? I make a green juice almost every morning now, and feel so good about this commitment to health that I tend to eat healthier for the rest of the day. Sometimes the juice is breakfast and/or lunch. Sometimes it’s a supplement to a meal. It all depends on how I feel. For me, the flexibility of this approach to juicing is what makes it a sustainable practice. It is no longer something I’m making myself do. It is something I want to do.

I’ve found that the rush of energy I get from the juice alleviates my caffeine and sugar cravings. Plus, it is delicious. I crave my Mean Green Juice. The lurid color of beet juice is enthralling. I’ve heard that reduced red pepper juice makes a lovely glaze. And straight up orange juice is a frothy, creamy dream. I’m a little obsessed.

Are you a juicing convert? What are some of your favorite combinations?

Mean Green Juice
My go-to green juice with kale and spinach. You’ll find yourself craving this juice and the awesome energy boost it gives you. Adapted from Fat, Sick Nearly Dead.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 liter (about 4 cups) of juice; about 3 servings

Ingredients:

1 big handful kale (about 8 leaves)
1 big handful spinach
1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
2 apples, quartered
1 orange, peel removed
1/2 lemon, peel removed
1/2-inch slice of ginger

Preparation:

Wash all the ingredients.
Start by juicing the kale and spinach first, then continue with the rest of the ingredients. The juice of the other fruits and veggies will help flush out more of the juice from the greens.
Clean the juicer right away. I find that soaking the mesh disc in a bowl of warm water and using the cleaning brush while it’s submerged works well.
Enjoy that mean green high.

Recipes for juicing with Bill & Sheila

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Drink up! The skinny on juicing, cleanses and where to find the best smoothies ...

Posted on May 9, 2012 by bilrob

Drink up! The skinny on juicing, cleanses and where to find the best smoothies …

When I moved to Chicago in the summer of 2010, one of the first things I did was email Matt Shook, one of the owners and founders of JuiceLand.

“Matt,” I wrote:

I have a strange request. I just recently moved to Chicago after living in Austin for 6 years and I am going through Subliminator smoothie withdrawals. I can’t seem to find anything remotely similar to Daily Juice [now Juiceland] here in Chicago…

Shook, whom I’d never met, promptly emailed me the Sublimantor recipe (now the Originator), which is an amazing blend of banana, berries, peanut butter, spirulina and flaxseed oil. He signed the email, “Enjoy.”

Shook became hooked on liquid meals when he saw the incredible affects juicing and superfood smoothies had on people’s health (think better sleeping, more energy and clear skin) and how great they made people feel.

And enjoy I did. When summer was a warm memory and I was in the thick of my first real winter ever (a Chicago winter is a brutal introduction), I surprised myself by craving smoothies. And not just any smoothie, a Subliminator smoothie. Maybe it was the antioxidants in the berries, the nutrient-dense spirulina, the omega-3s in the flaxseed oil or the combination of it all — but I’m convinced Subliminators got me through my Chicago winter. (Well, and beer, but that’s another story.)

Shook became hooked on juicing — smoothies and juices — when he saw the incredible affects juicing and superfood smoothies had on people’s health (think better sleeping, more energy and clear skin) and how great they made people feel. After working at the Juice Joint starting in 1996, he opened Daily Juice in 2003, which became JuiceLand in 2011.

“Right now, we are busier than ever,” says Shook, part of which he attributes to the popularity of the six juice cleanses JuiceLand offers. The cleanses — which include a Karate Cleanse, Liver Detox Cleanse, Unicorn Blood Cleanse or even a make-your-own — are designed to provide all the nutrients the body needs, but give the organs a break from processing fat, toxins and other elements of the modern-day diet. The nutrients and minerals in the juices provide clean energy while also cleansing the system.

Shook, who is neither a strict vegan or vegetarian, drinks smoothies and juices all day. “It keeps me feeling energetic and light on my feet all day,” he says.

When dinner time comes around, he enjoys cooking meals for his family of lean local protein (like grassfed beef from Bastrop Cattle Company), lots of greens and a glass of wine for the chef.

“Juicing is like mainlining nutrients into your system,” says Kim Love, founder of the Love Life Method, which helps people become more aware of the effect different foods have on their bodies and identify the best way to eat for each individual. “Juicing can be very alkalizing for the system.”

(It’s important to note here, that when I use the words “juice” or “juicing,” I’m referring to fresh, non-pasteurized juice that’s literally made right in front of you from whole fruits and vegetables.)

The cleanses are designed to provide all the nutrients the body needs, but give the organs a break from processing fat, toxins and other elements of the modern-day diet.

When creating the Love Juice, a key component of the Love Life Method’s programs, Love’s goal was an alkalizing blend of nutrient-dense green vegetables and no fruit or inflammatory ingredients (citrus, garlic, jalapeno, onion and tomato).

When juices have a lot of fruit, because the fiber has been removed in the juicing process, only sugar remains, which can cause a spike in blood sugar later resulting in a blood-sugar crash, Love says.

The Love Juice consists of of celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, parsley and coconut water and can be found at Juicebox, JuiceLand, by name at the juice counter at Whole Foods and, soon, at Daily Juice.

When juicing at home, Love recommends using a Hurom juicer. It is much less expensive than the Norwalk (the Mercedes Benz of juicing), but extracts the juice in a similar way — slowly and without a lot of heat, which can break down the nutrients and minerals in the vegetables and fruits (the reason for juicing).

For a quick fresh juice fix, Snap Kitchen offers a variety of cold-pressed juices. “The difference between a cold-pressed juice and a conventionally made juice is that the juice is literally pressed out of the fruits and vegetables,” says Andrea Hinsdale, a registered dietician at Snap Kitchen.

Cold-pressing helps retain all the nutrients and minerals, but it is a very time-intensive process, Hindsale says, which is why Snap Kitchen’s juices are more expensive than other fresh juice.

Snap Kitchen’s most popular juice is the Super Greens, Hindsale says, which is juice extracted from kale, spinach, lemon juice, parsley, romaine, cucumber and celery. The Super Greens juice is offered a la carte, but is also one of the six juices that make up Snap Kitchen’s Clean Start, a one-day juicing program designed to kick start a change toward healthier eating.

As an experiment I decided to try 24 hours of just fresh juice. I made sure to pick a day that my husband was out of town and I had a lighter-than-normal workload. I’ve been known to get snappy when I’m really hungry and I didn’t want to subject anyone to me on a day of nothing but liquid meals.

I picked up my six juices from Snap Kitchen the day before. The morning of my juice-day started with a Super Greens juice and every 2-3 hours I would drink another, including a Carrot Ginger Elixir, Antioxidant Juice and a Cashew Protein Shake. I was calm. I was focused. I wasn’t snappy. I felt clean and I even went to yoga. My day of juice really wasn’t difficult at all — a huge surprise to me. I’d even do it again. But I have known others who have done it and struggled.

If juicing is just a bit much for you, start like I did — with superfood, nutrient-packed smoothies made with high-quality, fresh ingredients and greens

If juicing is just a bit much for you, start like I did — with superfood, nutrient-packed smoothies made with high-quality, fresh ingredients and greens.

Love recommends adding some protein, such as almond butter, to smoothies to balance the sugar in the fruit and use water or coconut water for a base rather than fruit juice. And Shook reminds not to forget about greens — kale, spinach, parsley, etc. “Getting some greens in there is an awesome thing to do,” he says.

“For smoothies, the blender is really important. The Vitamix is a great friend of ours,” says Erin Downing, co-founder of Blenders Bowls with Kara Jordan, who uses a blender to make everything on the Blenders Bowls menu — inventive acai bowls (try The Sesher) and smoothies.

And to mask the grassy, green flavor of greens, a little ginger can go along way, says Downing. “It hides the green flavor, but you still get all the nutrients of the greens.” Banana can also do the trick. (Check out the new Blenders Bowls cafe at Wanderlust Live.)

As for me, I’m still hooked on smoothies. I start every day with one I make at home. I use only organic fruits and vegetables for juicing. Some fruits I buy frozen, others I buy fresh and chop and freeze for later use. I always add raw nuts — almonds and walnuts — and rice protein powder to balance the sugar in the fruits. Sometimes I add some spirulina, maca powder or spinach. Almond milk is my favorite base. And I finish off every smoothie with a drizzle of Udo’s Omega 3-6-9 oil (your nails and hair will love it).

Enjoy!

Recipes for juicing with Bill & Sheila

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Hands on with Stem, the juicer than turns fruit into spritzers

Posted on May 5, 2012 by bilrob

Hands on with Stem, the juicer than turns fruit into spritzers

Quirky Stem Juicer

Instead of getting your hands and utensils all messy by cutting up fruits before juicing, the Stem simply transforms fruits into citrus spritzers. But the big question is: Does it work?

Early last March, we highlighted five products from Quirky, a crowdsourcing industrial design company, that we wanted to see come to life. One of the five is Stem, a simple machine that inserts into a fruit to suck juice out. The idea is grand, really. Why bother cutting up fruits into slices to add a finishing touch to your food when you can spritz just the amount you need without juicing the whole fruit? Imagine my elation when a Quirky team member contacted me and said Stem has finally become a real product.

Designer Timothy Houle submitted the prototype and Stem became one of the fastest idea-to-reality projects the company has ever seen. Did those quick months pay off? Find out as I take you into a glimpse of my kitchen and see how well Stem worked out.

Look and feel

When you first receive the Stem, you almost want to kick yourself for not coming up with the product on your own. The design is simple and ingenious: Merely a plastic spray nozzle attached to a removable shield end with serrated teeth to cut into your fruit. Quirky lead designer Jordan Diatlo tells us the product was as close to perfect as prototypes get, and it was an idea that everyone on the team agreed upon once the submission was received.

Quirky Stem Juicer “Every week we get new products to try out, and this was one of the few products that I’ve seen where the whole room was on board,” Jordan says.

However, the prototype did come with a minor design issue. After testing the original, the team realized the spritzer would stop working after a few pushes.

“We realized pulp was getting stuck in the mechanics so [we] added the green shield on the bottom that can be twisted off and cleaned under the sink,” Jordan elaborates. “The original design was really well thought out and about 95 percent of the way done. We just cleaned up the little bits that needed to be refined.”

Stem is incredibly lightweight, but is the plastic teeth enough to cut through the fruit?

Review

Quirky's Stem “Tap the Flavor.” It really is that easy. To make sure I get the most juice from my lemon, I used the old school trick of warming the fruit in the microwave for a quick couple of seconds and rolled it to get the juices flowing. The Stem was able to pierce through the lemon without fail, though I may have over-rolled the lemon as juices leaked out from the sides of the nozzle’s base. However, once I had the Stem inserted, a couple of presses got the juice spraying out evenly into the air. This is excellent over salad, fish, or avocados to keep them from browning.

Quirky Stem Juicer It was truly surprising how well Stem worked. I did not have any issue with pulp, though if I did I would theoretically remove the handle and rinse out the inside to start over again. Since I didn’t use the whole lemon, I also just stored the entire thing back in the fridge as if the lemon became its own spray container. The next morning, the juices still flowed right out of the fridge despite not getting the microwave blast this time around.

The Stem seems limited to lemons and limes, as they are probably the only fruits you’d want little sprays of each serving. But if the teeth is strong enough to cut through the lemon’s skin, it should have no problem with oranges either. We can find some creative uses for this product, such as adding a little zesty orange fragrance on some pound cake. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I ended up using this all the time for random kitchen needs.

Should you buy it?

My only gripe with Stem is the value of juice per lemon when I spray versus traditionally juice. Since you can’t squeeze all the juice out from the very core, Stem will only suck up as much as the tiny straw can find under the fruit’s skin. Still, this isn’t a huge concern since I wouldn’t use Stem if I were to use lemon juice as part of a cooking ingredient or to make lemonade. The product is clearly made for a very specific purpose.

I’m usually vary about saying this for any ol’ product, but I whole-heartedly recommend the Stem. It’s just so simple and easy to use, and it only costs $5. What have you got to lose for that? You can purchase Stem from the Quirky website or find it in the kitchen appliance section at your local Target.

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New Juicer From Phillips

Posted on April 8, 2012 by bilrob

New Juicer From Phillips

Philips held the official launch of the new QuickClean Juicer in Sydney this morning, bringing out celebrity “juice master” Jason Vale to show off the product.

Known as “the Jamie Oliver of juicing,” Vale has written 7 books on healthy living and juicing (which have sold a total of 2.5 million copies worldwide), and has been working with Philips for over a decade to promote the company’s range of juicers.

As well as promoting his books and Turkish health retreats, Vale showed off the new product and its QuickClean benefits, which he said was a major positive in the design of the juicer machine.

“The thing that people usually complain about more than anything else when it comes to the juicer is the cleaning,” said Vale. “Philips has listened – it now takes less than a minute to clean your machine.

“I’m passionate about my juicer – I juice two or three times every day and I need a machine that will take the job on.”

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The new juicer machine can make up to 2.5-litres of juice in one go, and features an extra-large feeding tube, 2 juicing speeds, and an upside down quick-clean sieve that can be cleaned in as little as one minute.

“Delivering more juice without the additional hassle, the Philips QuickClean Juicer not only helps to encourage a healthier lifestyle, it is also very convenient thanks to its simplicity of use and ease of cleaning,” said Joanne Bainy, kitchen appliances marketing manager for Philips Australia and New Zealand.

There are two models of QuickClean Juicer available in a brushed metal finish (HR1871, RRP $249.95) and a black finish (HR1869, RRP $179.95).

Jason Vale compares the health benefits of fresh apple juice to the store-bought product.

Philips launched the new machine at the well-known Sydney grocer and foodie destination, Fratelli Fresh.

Benefits of a Juicer: Reduce Weight And Depression

If you’re thinking of a good diet method to use in order to lose weight, then you might want to consider a juicer as a way of burning calories. This particular method has been greatly endorsed for years now and is one of the most used methods for staying in shape.

juicer

Benefits of a Juicer: Reduce Weight And Depression

Not only that but juicing is also one way of keeping the body healthy and supplying it with all the necessary nutrients to keep it running. If you’re not yet convinced, then here are some of the benefits you’ll find in juicing.

Improved Digestion – The decrease of solid food consumed makes it easier for the body to distribute the nutrients and minerals it needs to survive. Remember what your parents say that you should chew your food thoroughly to improve digestion?

Well, it’s true and it would even be better if you consume your minerals through liquid form. It gives your stomach a break from grinding too much food at once.

Greater Energy – Fast absorption of minerals and nutrients basically translate to faster conversion to energy. Hence, upon taking a juicer diet, you’ll find yourself having more energy that you know what to do with.

Better Skin Tone – Like most organs, the skin is also impacted by good or bad dietary regimens. If you’re eating badly and stuffing up on soda and junk food, then you’ll find yourself growing more pimples or rashes. On the other hand, an excellent diet makes for a more even and clearer skin.

Weight Loss – Of course, let’s not forget the effect that made you sign up in the first place. The great thing about juicing is that you don’t have to totally give up solid food in order to start burning calories. You see, the program would only require you to replace one large meal a day with the juice, preferably breakfast.

The rest of the day is up to you. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can eat as much processed food as you want. This only means that you don’t necessarily have to starve yourself. Compared to the lemonade diet which would only require you to drink fluids, this is a huge improvement.

Helps with Some Diseases – Juicing is mainly a convenient way for a person to consume their daily fruit and vegetable needs. You will be taking in enough or even more of your daily nutrients and mineral needs, thereby allowing for a healthier body.

By sticking to the juicing diet, one could alleviate certain problems like arthritis, cancer or other autoimmune diseases. Frequent drinking of vegetable or fruit juices also induces people to start a completely new lifestyle by staying away from unhealthy drinks or foods.

Alleviates Depression – People who are on a diet of fruits and vegetables usually present lower risks of psychological problems. Consuming large amounts of nutritious foods are capable of alleviating depression and stress.

One reason for this is because each time a person drinks healthy vegetable juice, they think: I am being healthy and losing weight with this method. Hence, a person boosts their confidence, alleviates depression possibilities and can decrease the stress one feels.

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Practical Nutrition: Juice cleanses

Posted on March 30, 2012 by bilrob

Practical Nutrition: Juice cleanses

There is something about drinking a glass of juice that makes us feel so virtuous. Perhaps it’s because we feel as if we’re doing something healthful when we don’t take time to eat a balanced diet.

I’ve had clients switch from 20 ounces of soda to the same amount of juice, thinking it’s healthier. But a 20-ounce serving of 100 percent orange juice has 275 calories; the same amount of Coca-Cola has 240.

At least with juice you get some potassium, vitamin C and folic acid that you miss with soda. But that’s an expensive calorie price to pay when a medium orange has those nutrients for about 80 calories.

Juicing, or juice cleanses, has surged in popularity again, especially with Hollywood stars promoting it. The programs give the impression that we don’t get enough nutrients from the foods we eat, or that toxins build up in our bodies.

We tend to forget that we have a liver and kidneys and their jobs are to filter our blood and rid our body of waste and any potential toxins.

Currently, no medical evidence or clinical studies support the benefits of juice cleanses, or that fruit and vegetables as juice are superior to solid forms.

One popular plan offers five fruit and vegetable juice products for a variety of cleanses. Products vary from 110 to 300 calories per 16-ounce bottle, aiming for 900 to 1,100 calories per daily cleanse.

Some weight loss should occur at that calorie level, but it will be regained if a person returns to undesirable eating habits.

Juicing for a short time or for one daily meal shouldn’t cause problems for healthy people. But some people should avoid juicing. Pregnant and breastfeeding women have higher nutritional needs that cannot be met by juice alone.

Children are still growing, so they should not be on the limited calories of a juice cleanse. Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly believes that large amounts of juice increase risk for developing obesity, cavities and diarrhea in children.

The AAP recommends limiting juice to 4 to 6 ounces for children ages 1 to 6, and 8 to 12 ounces for children 7 to 18. The rest of their fruit nutrition should come from solid fruits.

Anyone on blood thinners should not juice. Some of them contain greens that could increase vitamin K intake, which can interfere with the medication’s effectiveness. And the large amount of carbohydrate in cleanses could wreak havoc with blood-sugar control in people with diabetes.

The focus of National Nutrition Month this year has been on getting your plate in shape and consuming a variety of food groups at each meal. Fruit and juice are part of that healthy balance but shouldn’t be eaten at the exclusion of all the other groups.

Tropical Breeze Smoothie

Need to sneak more fruit into your day? Try this delicious, easy smoothie. It includes fiber that’s absent in many of the juicing products, and it’s also a good source of calcium.

Makes 2 servings (1¼ cup each)

1 cup nonfat milk
½ cup crushed pineapple (in juice)
1 medium banana
1 medium papaya, peeled and cubed
4 to 6 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender on high until smooth. Serve at once.

Tip: Slice and freeze the banana to make the smoothie extra thick.

Nutrients per serving: 190 calories, 6 grams protein, 1 gram fat, 44 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fiber, 70 milligrams sodium and 203 milligrams calcium.

“Cooking Healthy Across America,” American Dietetic Association and Food and Culinary Professionals

Recipes for juicing with Bill & Sheila
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juicing can play role in healthy diet

Posted on March 27, 2012 by bilrob

juicing can play role in healthy diet

The practice of juicing — the kind that involves fresh fruits and veggies, not illegal steroids — often shows up a lot in celebrity diets, health detox programs and organic lifestyles. And to be sure, there are positives to be had.

Yet, there are negatives to juicing, too, and juicing at the expense of eating real meals must be approached with caution and common sense.

When you think of juicing, the first thing to come to mind may be a healthy active lifestyle or an easy way to lose weight.

But when you give up the other foods your body needs on a daily basis, it can become harmful to your health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2010, 35.7 percent of the United States population was obese.

Such news often sparks a new flood of quick-and-easy diet schemes, many of them incorporating juicing or juice fasting.

“I think the term is used interchangeably,” said Heather Sylvester, registered dietician at Kennedy Hospital in Cherry Hill, N.J. “Both can mean a liquid diet of juice and water for a short period of time.”

There are people who should not juice fast, such as people undergoing chemotherapy, diabetics, those struggling with nutritional deficiencies such as iron depletion, and those with kidney disease.

According to Sylvester, juicing or juice fasting for those with diabetes could send blood sugar levels through the roof. For those with kidney disease, high levels of potassium and minerals can build up in the blood to hazardous levels. And for people undergoing chemo, juicing is not recommended because of high levels of antioxidants and low levels of protein.

But juicing for a short time, as opposed to an extended juice-only fast, may be used by otherwise healthy people. And, drinking juice in place of one meal to lose weight may work for those without health concerns, especially if it’s part of a balanced diet.

Of course, with juicing can come with loads of sugar. If you are looking to lose weight, but still want to include juicing in your diet, Sylvester advises limiting to just one meal.

“Breakfast or lunch is the easiest (meal to replace), but any meal works,” Sylvester said.

For breakfast, you could combine fresh fruits and vegetables with water or ice and no sweeteners. If you want it to be more balanced, turn that juice into a fruit juice smoothie by adding low-fat yogurt or skim milk.

This way, your breakfast is not only filling, but provides a well-balanced, healthy breakfast.

April Schetler, registered dietician at Virtua Health Wellness Center, points out that juicing eliminates much of the fiber that fresh fruits and vegetables carry. However, juicing does provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found in fruits and veggies. It also hydrates.

“Juicing can be a great addition to a health diet when used in moderation, Schetler said by email. “Instead of reaching for a soda to beat the afternoon slump, a glass of freshly squeezed juice may be a better pick-me-up.”

Juicing has many positives when it is done in moderation as part of a healthy lifestyle, says Anthony Gentleski, owner of Animo Juice Burrito Bar in Haddonfield, N.J.

“If you allow yourself to eat whole, raw fruits and vegetables … it is more satisfying, and will likely allow you to stay with it for a longer amount of time,” Gentleski said.

Gentleski, his brother Joe and sister Maria created Animo with the aim of providing healthy, quick-serve foods and juices free of preservatives and synthetic ingredients.

Gentleski believes including juicing and whole fruits and vegetables in a diet along with exercise and no processed or artificial foods is the way to go.

At one point, Gentleski tried a three-day juicing diet. “Now I’m more likely to do a one-day juice fast once in a while to give my digestive system a break,” Gentleski said.

If you hate the taste of veggies, juicing vegetables with your favorite fruit will help you consume your daily intake of veggies, he says.

Slowly weaning your taste buds away from fatty foods and a mass amount of sugar will turn cravings toward healthier foods.

“Slowly, your body will adapt to your new, health-conscious way of eating, and you will begin craving fresh fruit and vegetable juice, instead of greasy, fat and sugar-laden foods,” Gentleski said.

Recipes for juicing with Bill & Sheila
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True confessions of a juicer

Posted on March 27, 2012 by bilrob

True confessions of a juicer

Remember the chipper scene from Fargo? Frances McDormand is a cop investigating a homicide when she comes upon a man who is feeding, we are to believe, Steve Buscemi’s leg into a wood chipper.

In recent days, this scene came to mind over and over again. Every time I picked up a long, thick stalk of celery or a beefy carrot and fed it into my juicer, the ear-splitting whine of the Juiceman– and my hand on the stalk, pushing insistently downward– called forth the chipper and Buscemi’s sock-footed leg.

This is what happens when a happy carnivore goes cold turkey vegan. Now, I have absolutely no moral or philosophical reason for becoming a vegan. I just want to be skinny. And so, I dug out the juicer and went on a juice fast.

Nothing but homemade fruit and vegetable juices: nothing to chew, no animal products whatsoever. I wanted to see how long I could stand it, and how many of those extra pounds I could lose.

If you’re wondering how anyone could be persuaded to do this, then you have not seen the documentary that I saw: Fat, Sick Nearly Dead.

It was made by an Australian, Joe Cross. He started out as one of those guys who look like they’re in their third trimester– with a burdensome, protuberant belly. He was, in his estimation, fat, sick, and nearly dead, with all signs pointing toward a shortened life due to type 2 diabetes, heart attack, or stroke. Others in the documentary are also dealing with recurrent migraines and autoimmune disease.

The point of the movie is to illustrate that many of our modern medical problems, such as obesity and the resulting heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are caused by what we consume, especially the sodas, refined carbohydrates, dairy, and meat. Even worse, we are not consuming the plants that could invigorate and lengthen our lives.

Juice fasting is a way to maximize nutrition and minimize calories in order to “reboot” our bodies by shedding pounds and getting problems such as elevated cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure under control. And that’s just what happens to Joe Cross in the movie.

We watch as he goes through a 60-day juice fast, under medical supervision (which is strongly recommended for anyone engaging in a fast that lasts longer than a few days), and his body returns to a healthy state as the fat melts away.

Judging by the comments found in reviews for juicers on Amazon.com, people watch this documentary and race to their computers to order a juicer and get going on their own juice fasts. Instead of buying a juicer, I remembered a long-neglected Father’s Day gift, a 1993 Juiceman juicer, that had been gathering dust in our attic.

After a trip to Whole Foods (with no need to wander farther than the produce department), I was ready to begin. I had no idea how long I’d be able to stay on a juice fast. Maybe three days? A week? I figured it would do me good, even if it was brief.

Here’s what I discovered: These juices are actually quite tasty, even when they look like something siphoned directly from a swamp. When you make juice using a juicer from dark green veggies like kale and chard, if you add a few sweet apples, a whole lemon, and a little fresh ginger, you end up with a terrific drink.

Using recipes I found online, I used the juicer to make things like butternut squash and apple juice, tomato and basil juice (which would have been perfect with a shot of vodka), and pear and fennel juice. Who’d a thunk it?

I was eager to turn in every evening, because I couldn’t wait to get up and weigh myself in the morning. Diets, for me, have been futile for years, with the scale so stubborn that I kept buying new ones, because surely there was some mistake. Ah, but now that I am a juicer, the numbers went down, down, down.

The days passed, and I was a happy juicer during breakfast and lunch. But, oh, the protein fantasies would overtake me at sunset! Visions of roast chicken, fork-tender filet mignon, and broiled salmon haunted me as I fed the celery, carrots, kale, etc., into the juicer. Every night I’d think: If only this damned thing was a meat grinder, we’d be having hamburgers for supper.

I worried about what would happen, once the fast was done. Would I eat with all the restraint of a shark, and gain back what I’d lost? As it turned out, this culinary adventure provided me with a few surprises.

First of all, I astonished myself by staying on this juice fast for a full thirty days. A month of nothing but juice! (When a friend reported that she’d given up chocolate for Lent, I trumped her by saying I had given up chewing.)

I ended the fast recently, and have been following a low-calorie, plant-based transition plan ever since. I lost ten pounds during the fast, and the scale is still headed downward.

What’s weird and unexpected is that, for all my fantasizing about juicy, aromatic animal flesh during the fast, the moment I came off it, what I’ve been jonesing for is vegetables. I can’t seem to get enough salad, and chewing has never been so satisfying.

What has happened to me? It’s as though I’ve been reprogrammed. I could incorporate some beef, or dairy, or fish into my post-fast diet, but so far, I have no desire to do that. (As I’m typing this, I keep thinking I’d like to get up and sauté a few chopped veggies in a spritz of olive oil. What the hell?)

When you leave your comfort zone, you never know what will happen. Could be good health and weight loss, could be your colleague in the wood chipper. You don’t try, you’ll never know.
~
The author once penned an essay admitting to “drinking the Kool-Aid” of Whole Foods Market.

Juicer Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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