Juicer Facts And Fictions
UK Juicers is committed to providing our customers with useful information that adheres to the principle of objective justification. In other words, we don’t offer information or make claims that can’t be borne out by objective evidence. Unfortunately at the time of writing there is still no authority that controls the validity of the information that people are permitted to display on websites, so the internet remains a free for all where consumers can be misled by all kinds of nonsense masquerading as fact.
Juicing is expanding rapidly as a lifestyle choice and more and more people are eagerly seeking out information online to inform their choices when selecting products. Masticating juicers, which deliver a more nutritious juice are growing in popularity and people are increasingly willing to spend larger sums to get better results from their juicer. At the same time manufacturers are in a race to persuade people that their juicer is the best offering, competing with ‘new features’ that supposedly deliver increasingly better results. Sometimes its not easy to tell what features are genuinely beneficial and what is just marketing hype.
If you are researching buying a quality juicer there are quite a few sources of information on the web that promote pseudo-science and quackery to try and persuade you that one particular juicer is the ultimate ‘must have’ machine. Here are just a few of the unsubstantiated claims that any consumer would do well to ignore when making their choice.
High Speed Centrifugal Juicers Destroy Enzymes
Centrifugal Juicers DEFINITELY DO NOT DESTROY ENZYMES. This is fantasy and it’s become a great marketing ploy for some people who sell masticating juicers. Even I used to accept this unproven scare-mogering as fact, because it is so widely repeated by eminently respectable people. Max Gerson contributed to this myth with his claims about the oxidation of enzymes by Centrifugal Juicers but although the Gerson Therapy is widely respected, peer-reviewed scientific evidence supporting the idea that Centrifugal Juicers destroy enzymes isn’t available. Conversely, some basic research published by Michael Donaldson PhD has shown that there definitely is significant enzyme activity in the juice from various models of centrifugal juicers. Some websites claim that the high speed friction in a centrifugal juicer heats the enzymes and kills them. Some claim that the high speed blade tears the enzyme molecules apart. This is unproven but we do know that for there to be enzyme destruction the resulting juice would have to be heated well above blood temperature.
The fact is, masticating juicers do extract more nutrients, so if getting the best juice quality is number one priority you can find out about the differences between masticating juicers in our
choosing a juicer section. The point I am making here though is that you shouldn’t be scared into spending hundreds of pounds on a masticating juicer because of the myth that centrifugal juicers produce poor quality juice with no enzymes. In fact centrifugal juicers are the most common and popular choice and they offer great health benefits when used regularly. A very user friendly and affordable example of this type of juice extractor is the
L’Equip XL Model 215 and it DOESN”T destroy enzymes! The best feature of most good quality centrifugal juicers is that they are quick and easy to use and a small compromise in overall performance is often acceptable in a busy household where juicing needs to happen fast.
A Slower Juicer Gives Better Juice and More Juice
This is sort of true, but people then get caught up in a search for the slowest turning juicer in the belief that it will give most nutritious juice. Slower juicers operate at low speeds because this is a limitation of their design, not because the low speed gives better juice. Twin Gear and Single Auger
Masticating Juicers just work better at low speeds because of their juicing action. A
Champion Juicer is a faster masticating juicer, operating at ten times the speed of most other masticating juicers, because the design facilitates this speed. Is the juice from a Champion ten times less nutritious because of this? No it’s not. All masticating juicers give a more nutritious juice because the more thorough breakdown of the fruit and vegetables releases more nutrients into the juice. They do this because of their chewing and grinding action, not because of how slowly they must work.
There are two factors that predominate to determine juice yield and juice quality. First there is the degree to which the ingredients are broken down by the juicing process and second is the force used to separate the juice from the pulp. Masticating juicers that are capable of juicing greens and wheatgrass as well as other ingredients are able to do so because they break down these fine leaves thoroughly by passing them through a smaller gap between the juicing parts. In a single auger juicer the plant material is pressed and chewed against the inside of a steel cone filter, in a Twin Gear Juicer everything passes through a tiny gap between two cylindrical gears. To do this without creating too much heat and friction, these juicers have to operate slowly.
The Champion is not so good at greens because the clearances inside the machine are bigger and the leaves don’t get broken down as thoroughly. However, that's not all bad because the Champion can juice everything else very well and it can do it very quickly by comparison to most other masticating juicers.
The quantity of juice extracted is determined by the pressure or force used to extract it. In masticating juicers this force is created by the size of the pulp outlet and in a centrifugal juicer its the speed that creates the centrifugal force that separates the juice. Surprisingly even the humble centrifugal delivers a very high yield of juice from most hard fleshed ingredients. In most cases the difference in juice yield, just like the difference in juice quality, is not very big. Less than 10-15% for the majority of cases. Low speed juicers may be a bit more versatile but in most cases there is a price to pay in the time you spend juicing. If you are choosing a low speed juicer, whether is turns at 80, 90 or 180 revs is not going to be a factor in determining juice yield and juice quality.
Twin Gear Juicers with Bio-Magnets Improve Juice Quality and Shelf Life
This unproven claim is made by juicer manufacturers who have ‘bio-ceramic magnets’ in their twin gear juicers. They say that the effect of these magnets is to increase the longevity and “vitality” of the juice. So how have they measured and proved these claims? They haven’t. Unfortunately there are no peer reviewed scientific studies that I can find on the topic of bio-magnets and their effects on food and health. It seems even more disingenuous for manufacturers to make such pseudo-scientific claims when we look at the real reason that gears in juicers had magnets fitted in the first place. Twin gears in a juicer have precisely machined smooth surfaces and they fit very closely together. Manufacturers introduced a magnetic force of repulsion between the two gears to stop them clashing and sticking together in the juicer. The “science” about magnets improving the juice was added later.
It’s a real shame that such quackery finds its way into the marketing material that twin gear manufacturers produce, because twin gear machines do actually offer a more nutritious juice. They do this because they break down plant fibres more thoroughly than other juicers and release the nutrients under high pressure. They don’t work better because of the dubious concept of bio-ceramic magnets performing some mystical jiggery pokery in the juice!
Twin Gear Juicers do give the best juice and that is important to people who are aiming primarily for maximum nutrition from their juicer. For this reason they are often recommended by nutritional therapists to people combatting ill health.
Green Star and
Green Power Kempo juicers are popular choices. For a tiny compromise in results consumers can make a huge saving in time by going for one of the new
Vertical Juicers which turn the traditional auger type juicer into a much more user friendly device that gives speed and convenience comparable to a centrifugal juicer.
The Omega Vert Juicer is the one I use at home, and it doesn’t come with any bunkum about magnets!
Other Misleading Claims
In the rush to present supposedly new features that will set one juicer apart from the crowd, manufacturers come up with all sorts of meaningless terms and bogus data. Vague and ill defined terms like “90% more nutrient extraction than other juicers”, “80% more enzymes” or “50% less pulp” are meaningless unless proper independent testing has verified such vague comparisons. It’s very difficult to get a fair impression using numbers like these and I’ve read data like this on some websites that can only be described as outright lies. Juicer comparisons are occasionally deliberately misleading in an attempt to promote one brand over another, but even if you find a fair and objective comparison, it can’t give you the full picture because some juicers have individual strengths and weaknesses that may also be significant.
Lots of single auger juicer brands are now moving towards using GE Ultem material in the augers, offering the alleged advantage that this material is ‘up to 8 times harder than other augers’. That sounds like a good feature but to some extent its offering a solution to a juicer problem that doesn’t exist. Traditionally, in the ten years we have been in business so far we have had very few problems with juicer augers that are made from other materials, so although it sounds like a plus, there is no evidence that GE Ultem in an auger is a big step forward. It sounds reassuring though and reassurance that you are buying the best materials does have a value.
We see features promoted on some single auger cold press juicers that the auger has a “dual” or “triple stage pressing action”, because of the variations in the profile of the auger and juicing screen. You might expect that more pressing stages means more juice but in reality the difference in juice yield from different auger juicer brands is small. When manufacturers are continually trying to gain an edge on the competition, consumers are having to sift through more and more new ‘must have features’ so that they have confidence in their buying choice.
Another popular point of competition for different brands is the length of the product warranty. The logic behind this is that the longer the warranty, the longer the juicer will last and therefore the perception is that the quality of the machine must be better. This is rarely so. As an example, The Breville JE4 is the most durable and reliable centrifugal juicer that we sell, but it also has the shortest warranty. A warranty covers for faults and defects but it doesn’t cover for wear and tear or accidental damage. Long warranties mostly cover the motor only and most induction motors are very reliable in any case, regardless of which brand you choose. The length of the warranty period does not reflect the build quality or reliability of the machine; it reflects how far the brand will go to win your confidence, and the cost of supporting the warranty is usually built into the juicer price.
When you are reading a list of product features it’s not always easy to separate out the factors that make a real difference to the user experience. We prefer to help people choose on the basis of objectively justifiable facts and we steer clear of hype and pseudo-science. If you need any help cutting through all the jargon please don’t hesitate to
contact us for advice - and if you come across any other bits of bunkum or pseudo-science about juicers on the web that isn’t mentioned above, please let us know and we will add your comments below!
by Paul Hellawell