CVS opening, Tippecanoe gift cards on shoppers' minds South Bend Tribune (subscription), IN - Nov 16, 2008 ... that specializes in fresh fruit smoothies, juices, specialty coffees, protein drinks, wheat grass powder, and a wide range of healthy jump start boosts. ...

More and more people are discovering the health benefits of juicing and creating a raw foods lifestyle. In a nutshell, juicing allows you to extract all the vital nutrients and live enzymes directly from raw fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, wheatgrass, nuts, berries and more. The pulp and fiber is left behind and the concentrated juice is consumed so that the nutrients can be absorbed immediately by the body. You�ll enjoy a greater sense of energy, vitality and health when you incorporate juicing into your lifestyle.

When shopping for a juicer, there are many issues to be considered so that you can make an informed purchase. Many people are tempted to buy a cheap juicer to start out because they are not sure they are going to like juicing and they may not be sure they will stick to a juicing regimen. My suggestion would be to visit a health foods store, spa or grocery where you can purchase fresh, raw juice from a juice bar and try some of the juices first. If you find that you like fresh fruit and vegetable juice, then you�ll probably be more likely to enjoy making your own juice at home.

Assuming that you are ready to begin your quest for a juicer, the first thing to know is that there are different types of juicers depending on what it is you want to juice. For example, citrus juicers are typically designed exclusively for juicing citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits and possibly pomegranates. Some models are manual and some are electric. Some brands are constructed of plastic while others have stainless steel components. When shopping for a citrus juicer, here are some popular features to consider. Many come with a large reservoir to catch the juice and pour directly from the container. Many have a variable pulp control so that the juice can be made to be more or less pulpy. Some electric models will spin the juicing cone in forward and reverse directions in order to get the most juice from the fruit. Some come with different sizes of juicing cone to accommodate different sizes of fruit such as small limes and large grapefruit. Citrus juicers can range in price from around $20 to over $100.

Next are wheatgrass juicers. Again, they can be manual or electric. They are typically designed for juicing wheatgrass, sprouts and leafy greens. Some brands or models are plastic while others are stainless. You�ll want to make sure that the blades are stainless steel. Wheatgrass juicers are not suitable for juicing other types of fruits or vegetables, except for maybe soft fruits such as grapes, blueberries, strawberries and the like. Wheatgrass juicers start at around $85 and up. There are some powerful multi-purpose juicers (described below) that will also do a great job with wheatgrass. If you think you may want to juice other things besides wheatgrass, you may want to consider stepping up to a multi-purpose juicer.

Multi-purpose power juicers are designed to juice just about everything. Most can juice a variety of fruits and vegetables, even including the skins, seeds, and stems of many fruits and vegetables. Some can even make sorbet, pate, baby food and nut butters. There are three main types of power juicers:

• Centrifugal Juicers
• Masticating Juicers
• Triturating Juicers

Centrifugal Juicers Centrifugal Juicers are typically the least expensive type of power juicer. They all work on the same principle in that they have a spinning mesh basket that is designed to extract the juice from the food item. Typically, there is a tube that you feed the fruit or vegetable into. When you push food down into the tube, the food item comes in contact with the bottom of the spinning basket where it is grated up into very fine pieces or pulp. Because the basket is spinning at a fairly high RPM, the tiny grated pieces are thrown against the sides of the basket where the juice is extracted by centrifugal force. The pulp is then either contained inside the unit or expelled from the unit, depending upon the design.

Centrifugal juicers have some pros and cons. On the pro side, they are fairly inexpensive, ranging in price from as low as $40 to over $200 for high-end models. They typically work well with a variety of fruits and vegetables. However, here are some potential downsides of a centrifugal juicer. First, they typically don�t do as well with leafy greens or sprouts. Second, because they are spinning at high RPM, the juice can get foamy and thus it oxidizes rapidly. When the juice oxidizes, a lot of the enzymes are destroyed, so the health benefits are diminished. Finally, some designs may be a bit harder to clean and all models require the basket to be cleaned immediately so that the mesh screen does not become clogged. When shopping for a centrifugal juicer, here are some popular features. Some models have continuous pulp ejection. This is a good feature if you are doing a lot of juicing. I will usually do enough juicing to handle 2 days worth of juice, so I need to be able to continue feeding the vegetables into the juicer. If the juicer design does not have continuous pulp ejection, then I would end up having to stop the juicer possibly several times to clean out the pulp. The size of the feeder tube should also be considered. Some models have a small feeder tube. With a small feeder tube, you have to cut up the fruits and vegetables small enough to fit into the feeder tube. Larger feeder tubes let you fit in much larger pieces. However, I have found that with a larger feeder tube, some of the smaller food pieces fall down inside the tube and never get ground up properly, so there is more waste and hence less juice. Finally, check the RPM rating of the various juicers. While a higher RPM yields a bit more juice, it can also cause more oxidation and foam. I personally would opt for a lower RPM and a smaller feed tube.

Masticating Juicers (also known as single gear juicers) Masticating juicers work a lot like our teeth. They have an auger that grinds up the fruit or vegetable into a pulp just like when we chew our food. The pulp is squeezed up against a mesh strainer so the juice is extracted while the pulp remains behind and gets ejected. Masticating juicers are more efficient than centrifugal juicers in that they yield more juice from the same amount of raw food. They also run at much lower RPMs, so the foam and oxidation is much less. Most models do well with a variety of fruits and vegetables and some can even make sorbets, nut butters, pates, baby food and more. However, some models don�t work as well with leafy greens and sprouts as they do with other types of fruits and vegetables. Masticating juicers range in price from about $200 to $300. With masticating juicers, the size of the feed tube does not affect the waste as it can with centrifugal juicers, so a larger feed tube may be beneficial for juicing larger pieces of raw food.

Triturating Juicers (also known as twin gear juicers) Triturating juicers are the most versatile and also the most expensive juicers. They range in price from around $300 to $600. As the name implies, twin gear juicers have two interlocking gears that grind up the raw food. They are the most efficient juicers, and they also run at the lowest RPM so the effects of foam and oxidation are very low. They work great with practically any fruit or vegetable including wheatgrass and leafy greens and they can be used to create sorbet, pate, baby food and more. They can even grind up nuts to make nut butters such as almond butter, cashew butter, etc. When feeding raw food into the juicer, a bit more force is required to push the food items down into the twin gears than is required for a masticating juicer. Again, a larger food tube is beneficial. Clean-up is slightly more involved for a twin-gear juicer than for a single-gear juicer because the twin gears must be properly aligned when re-assembling the unit after cleaning.

To summarize, first determine what it is that you want to juice. If you just want fresh-squeezed orange juice in the morning, then a citrus juicer is fine. If you want to juice more than just citrus fruits, then take a moment to decide how much versatility you want from a juicer and decide on the price range you feel comfortable with. Once you�ve made those two choices, then you can narrow down your search for a specific style and model of juicer. Regardless of which juicer style you choose, you should know that the health benefits still exist. Many people have experienced such benefits as weight loss, elimination of acid reflux, increased energy and vitality, and elimination of body odor and bad breath to name a few. For more detailed information on the health benefits of a raw foods diet and lifestyle, see my article The Benefits of Raw Foods and Juicing.

Doug Wilson has been involved in streaming video, paid search and internet marketing for over six years. His current web project is TenDecades.com which specializes in Juicers and Dehydrators

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