Home
Rodale Bookshelf
New Choices in Natural Healing: Choose Your Weapon

Chapter List

Special Limited Time Offer!
Order today and
Save an Extra 15%!
Use coupon code: LSAVE15

Choose Your Weapon

Choose Your Weapon

It takes a powerful machine to distill a hard, fibrous vegetable into a sweet, smooth cocktail. Because it can't separate the liquid from the pulp, your blender can only turn fruits and vegetables into mushy, unappealing paste. And while the old hand-squeezed method still works for citrus, it isn't much help with beets and carrots.

To do the job right, you'll need an electric juicer, sold in most department and health food stores. While juicers can be had for as little as $25 or as much as $2,000, the best values are in the $100 to $200 range, suggests Cherie Calbom, M.S., a certified nutritionist in Kirkland, Washington, and co-author of Juicing for Life, who says she has tried nearly every juicer on the market.

Juicers come in two basic models: the masticating type, which "chews" the fruit into a paste and then squeezes the paste through a screen, and the centrifugal type, which chops and spins the fruit in a rotating mesh basket, separating the juice from the pulp. Both kinds are fast and effective. Most machines sold in department stores are the centrifugal type; most health food stores sell both kinds.

Whichever model you choose, Calbom recommends one with at least 0.4 horsepower. It will cost more, she admits, but with proper care, it can last for 20 years or more. She prefers a machine that ejects the pulp out one side and pours the juice from the other. "If you're making a large quantity of juice, it saves you the trouble of stopping to empty the pulp collector," she says. On the other hand, if you're juicing for one or two, a pulp ejector probably isn't necessary, says Stephen Blauer, former director of the Hippocrates Health Institute, a naturopathic clinic in Boston, and author of The Juicing Book.

Above all, your juicer should be easy to clean; the fewer parts, the better. "It doesn't really matter how good the machine is if it's a hassle to clean, because you won't use it," says Calbom. Blauer uses a juicer that breaks down into four dishwasher-safe parts. "It's a real time-saver," he says.

Shop with Us: Brands A-Z; Products A-Z; Autoship; Ways to Shop; Member Discounts

Customer Service: Contact Us; Help Desk; Shipping Policy; Return Policy; Ask a question; Track Your Order

My Account: My Account; My Order History; My Shopping Cart

Health Library: Vitamin Guide; Guide to Herbs; Health Concerns; Home Remedies; Seniors Health; Women's Health

About Us: Our Blog; Our Philosophy; Corporate Discounts; Affliliate Program; Terms of Use

Featured Partners

Email Sign up: Weekly health news, sale announcements and coupons!

Call us M-F 9am-5pm: 1-800-439-5506

Information on this site is provided for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. Information about each product is taken from the labels of the products or from the manufacturer's advertising material. MotherNature is not responsible for any statements or claims that various manufacturers make about their products. We cannot be held responsible for typographical errors or product formulation changes. You should read carefully all product packaging. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, promptly contact your health care provider. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.All discounts are taken from suggested retail prices. Prices are subject to change.