A juicy post - What to know about juicers

 I've finally invested in a new juicer and I'm really excited about it. Is that bad? Is that too Naturopathic? Well , if it is, I don't care, because I have a new juicer! Squee!

There are many juicers out on the market at the moment and so I thought I would tell you about the 2 most common types, just in case you are thinking of investing in one of these for your kitchen. Now, some people work a lot better with a video to show the demonstration, so I have a video for you to explain it all...

For those who want a written bit of info, here's what I'm talking about.

The Centrifugal Juicer

This is your stock standard juicer which you can purchase at department, appliance and electrical stores. These are the Brevilles, Philips, Moulinex, kambrooks, etc. They work by grinding the fruit & vegies using blades, then pushing the juice through a very fast spinning strainer (a bit like a washing machine, or a salad spinner). The pulp is disposed of out the back of the juicer and your juice should neatly be disposed of out the front.

Pros for this juicer:

• This is a fast and cheap juicer which is a good option for those who are not die-hard juicer fans or are newbies to making their own juice. 
• Some models allow you to put a whole piece of fruit into the feeder, so you don't need to spend time cutting up fruit for the whole. 
• They normally juice most fruits & vegies, except bananas, avocados and leafy greens.

Cons for this juicer:

• The amount and quality of the juice isn't fantastic. 
• The juicer generates heat which can oxidise the fruit & vegies, plus and the way the food is minced also oxidises the juice. If you make juice in it, you should drink it straight away or it may go brown. 
• This juicer will not handle leafy greens so well. You can put a bunch of spinach into it and be lucky to get a few drops of juice. 
• You will notice in the pulp, that it is still quite wet, meaning it didn't extract all the juice.
• Cleaning it can be an absolute bitch. The centrifugal unit needs a thorough scrubbing and straight away or it sticks and goes hard.
• They can be very noisy!

The Slow / Cold Press Juicer

Rather than grinding the fruit & vegies with a blade, the slow juicer uses a spiral gear which rotates and presses the juice out of the produce. Some units are designed also to make baby food, nut bitters, sorbets and sauces. They are available in both single and twin gear types.

Pros for this juicer:

• The quality of the juice is superb and it doesn't oxidise, meaning it can last a lot longer.
• These juicers will juice all fruit & vegies, including leafy greens, wheatgrass and herbs.
• It's nice and quiet to operate.
• Very easy to clean - just a rinse on water through the unit, then pull it apart and run the gear under the tap. 

Cons for this juicer:

• These units can be an expensive bit of hardware, so it shouldn't be purchased under a whim.
• You need to cut up your fruit and vegies before feeding them into the juicer, which can be annoying for those who are in a hurry.
• The unit works a bit slower than the centrifugal machines.

Slow /cold press juicers are available through health foods stores, online stores such as Vitality 4 Life, or even myself, as I am a stockist of their juicers (mention this blog to me for a special 10% discount on a juicer!).

If you want to see the juicers in action, there is a demonstration in the video above, it'r roughly 5 minutes into the video.

So both of the main juicer types have their own pros and cons and when choosing a juicer, you should find one which suits your lifestyle and budget. There is no right or wrong juicer.

Photos from the juice experiment

Here is the juices straight after making them. The one with the clear swizzle stick is the centrifugal juicer, the orange swizzle stick is the slow press juicer. And the woman in the background is my mother in law :)

The juices after 10 minutes:

You can see that the centrifugal has separated into a very clear juice and a large amount of foam onto top, whereas the slow juicer has a small amount  of foam and the juice is quite dense.

Here is a picture of the leftover pulp:

The one on the left is from the centrifugal juicer. As you can see, there is a bit more leftover and its a bit squishy/mushy to touch, which means not all the juice may have been extracted. The leftovers on the right are quite dry and compacted.

A note for juice newbies...

Not sure what to juice with your new contraption? The list is endless, it just depends how brave you're willing to be! I never give amounts of ingredients with juicing, because everyone has their own individual tastes, which you get the taste for after having a few, but here are some favourite mixes of mine...

• Apple, orange, carrot, ginger
• Apple, beetroot, carrot, celery, lemon
• Watermelon, apple, mint
• Pineapple, apple, lemon, orange
• Spinach, pineapple, cucumber, mint
• Everything you have in the fridge - for the truly daring!

Happy juicing! :)

Feelin Quorny?

Last night I was watching TV and one of those Smart Buy ads popped up, advertising Quorn products. According to the commercials, this product range provides a meat-free, soy-free solution to meatless meals. I have never heard of this brand, so I decided to do some investigation on whether this product is any good and what are the pros and cons, as I think its important to understand a food before eating or recommending it to patients!

So what is the Quorn meat-free and soy-free solution? Quorn uses a product called Mycoprotein – a microscopic fungus, Fusarium venenatum, which the company feeds with oxygenated water, glucose, and other nutrients in giant fermentation tanks. Once harvested from the tanks, the material is heat-treated in order to remove its excess RNA, and then dewatered in a centrifuge. Combined with egg albumen and other ingredients, it is then “texturized” into various meat-like shapes. mmmm, sounds tasty already!

Quorn prides itself on the fact that you will not be able to taste the difference between meat and their products – the texture and taste are almost identical to meat, without the saturated fat.

A little bit more about Mycoprotein. Heres the nutritional breakdown of mycoprotein for a 100g serve:

Nutrient	Amount per 100g*
Energy (kcals)	85
Protein (g)	11
Carbohydrate (g)	3
of which Sugars (g)	0.5
Fat (g)	2.9
of which saturates (g)	0.7
w-3 Linolenic acid (g)	0.4
Fibre (g)	6**
b-glucan (g)	4
Calcium (mg)	42.5
Magnesium (mg)	45
Zinc (mg)	9
Iron (mg)	0.5
Potassium (mg)	100
Vitamin B1 Thiamin (mg)	0.01
Vitamin B2 Riboflavin - (mg)	0.23
Vitamin B3 Niacin (mg)	0.35
Vitamin B5 Pantothenic acid (mg)	0.25
Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine - (mg)	0.125
Biotin (mg)	0.02
Phosphorous (mg)	260
Copper (mg)	0.5
Manganese (mg)	6
Selenium (ug)	20
Chromium (ug)	15
Molybdenum (ug)	< 25
Sodium (mg)	5
Salt (g)	0.0125

As you an see, its low in sodium and is a good source of complete protein, zinc and fibre. The phosphorus seems a little high – the Australian recommended daily intake (rdi) is 1000mg, however it is stated that doses of over 250mg at one time may cause stomach irritation in some individuals. Note that this is also an amount per 100g – some people have more than 100g, some have less, so your nutrient intake may differ.

So mycoprotein doesn’t seem too bad by itself. However, Quorn processes their mycoprotein for their foods and it is NOT the only ingredient in their products. Some products contained high amounts of mycoprotein (up to 90%), but some ready-made Quorn meals only contained 11% mycoprotein. So what makes up the rest? Here are some the ingredients I found that stood out:

• Rehydrated egg whites: This is powdered egg white, but should be noted for anyone who has an egg allergy.
•  Autolyzed yeast extract: Autolyzed yeast extract is a substance that results when yeast is broken down into its constituent components. It contains some free glutamic acid or monosodium glutamate (MSG) and is used as a less expensive substitute for MSG, leading some health and consumer advocates to object to its use in foods. As with MSG, the industry claims that yeast extract is a natural substance with no harmful effects, and opponents claim it causes a variety of health problems.
•  Whey protein concentrate: Protein isolated from cheese by-products. Contains lactose.
• Ferrous sulphate: a form of iron usually used in supplementation, however this form is not easily absorbed and is known to cause constipation. It also has warnings not to be used in cases of inflammatory intestinal disease (ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease) and with some medications.
• Thiamine mononitrate: a synthetic form of vitamin B1, known to cause allergic reactions in some people as it can be more difficult to expel from the body than natural forms of B1.
• Sodium acid pyrophosphate: this is additive E450, which is an acidity stabiliser used to help emulsify products. This accounts for the relatively high amount of phosphorus in Quorn. Long term intake of this can lead to mineral imbalances in the body and effect bone mineral density.
• Sodium bicarbonate: used to lower stomach acid. Can cause bloating, nausea and indigestion.

Not all products contained all these, but these were the common culprits. Check the back label of ingredients to confirm what is in the product.

So is it the real deal? I found many cases online in which consumers experience vomiting, diarrhoea and even anaphylactic fits after having these products. There were companies in the US who were trying to stop the production of Quorn due to its side effects. However, the continent of origin, Europe, only a fraction of their consumers suffered these side effects. Are these side effects due to the mycoprotein, or is it the processing and the other ingredients added to create the meal?

Also Quorn contains fungi, gluten, lactose and egg products – so avoid Quorn if you suffer from any allergies to these.

So would I buy Quorn? No. There are other meat-free, soy-free protein sources which I would use before trying Quorn. Beans, lentils, quinoa, eggs can all be used as excellent sources of protein and taste so good that they don’t need to be moulded into fake meat patties to encourage people to eat them. If people are wanting to reduce their saturated fat content, opt for lean pieces of meat over fatty steaks. The products seem highly processed and just because something doesn’t contain meat, doesn’t mean its healthy!

-Laura x

Theres something about a pre-grill-marked fake chicken called chik'n that doesn't sit well with me...