Newbie Juicer Trepidations

[juix]

I am looking to start juicing for health reasons. I have stomach problems and really bad inflammation, and I think liver issues as well. Basically, my system can't handle normal quantities of food, so i need to find a way to deliver the goods in a smaller quantity of food.

That being said, I am still unsure of how I will take to juicing, and as such, I don't feel comfortable spending more than 100 or so on a juicer. I really don't know that much about purchasing a juicer, but it seems that you can't really get anything of much quality for under 300.

I mainly want to do green type of juicing, and possibly wheatgrass. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions in terms of juicers that would fit my bill (and any good anti-inflam. recipes!).

[fastfreedom]

I don't know much about all the juicers out there. I think google may help with that one.

But about a year before I bought my expensive juicer I had just a hand crank type of juicer that clamps to a countertop. It was designed specifically for wheatgrass. It said that it could also do soft fruit. But it kinda just made mush. I think it was also good for greens, but I can't recall. If it can do wheatgrass it may also be able to do greens.?

I think it cost me around 50 dollars. Can't really remember though. But I do remember that buying it at the local store cost me an extra 30 dollars compared to if I were to order it from the internet.

[DebB]

Hi juix ~ I learned more about juicing from http://www.youtube.com/user/liferegenerator than probably anybody / any place else. Now, please know that's he's not mainstream - but his earlier videos are packed with so much juicing information. He'll tell you what each veggie or fruit is good for. I remember hearing lots of "this is a great anti-inflammatory".

It may be a challenege to find an electric juicer that will tackle greens -and- wheatgrass in the $100 mark. You can get manual wheagrass juicers for under $100 though.

I'd recommend John Kohler (http://www.youtube.com/user/rawfoods)as he does a lot of comparison videos showing the different juicers. He's really informative about saying, "this juicer is good for soft fruits and veggies, but not so good for greens." This type of info - good to know. He'll also answer your questions trying to match a juicer to your personal needs. I ordered our last juicer through him (we wanted one that would juice green, wheatgrass plus it cold presses flax for oil!). His site is www.discountjuicers.com -- but please know I just tried to go there and my antivirus software wouldn't let me go (that's where I ordered my juicer).

I'm not affiliated with anyone I posted about - just sharing information that's really helped me!

[Mrs. Papaya]

Do you have access to a juice bar or a place where you can purchase fresh juice? If so, start purchasing some on a regular basis to see how you like it. Honestly, spending $100 or less on a juicer is probably not a good idea. Why waste $100 on a subpar juicer that is either inefficient or only able to juice certain things? Those cheap juicers you see out at WalMart or on infomercials are probably not the best deal and, in the long run, won't be a good buy. (Plus, I think some cheap juicers even heat up and therefore kill some of the enzymes?)

It sounds like people who juice prefer the Green Star or Champion. I adore my Green Star! It juices wheatgrass and handles everything really well. Yes, it's expensive, but I think you'd be better off trying to determine if juicing is *really* something you want to do, perhaps by starting to buy juice. If you do go for it, get a good juicer.

[AvyB]

For what it's worth, I bought the cheapest thing KMart had and it works just fine. All the bells and whistles are cool but if you want to go cheap it's totally fine! :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

avy that is true... it'll work, it'll juice but...

the amount of produce you use with a cheap juicer is much higher than a quality juicer. so your produce costs are much higher.

also your juice doesn't keep the nutrients and enzymes alive for as long so you need to drink it right away.

if you are going to juice occasionally... an inexpensive juicer will fit the bill. but if you are going to use it daily or fast with it... a high quality juicer quickly pays for itself in saved $$ from produce.

what i did when i wanted to juice for the first time... i asked everyone i knew if they had a juicer and i borrowed one for a week. i fell in love with juicing and so i bought one for myself. (breville) it didn't work very well so i had to return it and they didn't have a replacement so i bought a more expensive breville. it worked much less efficiently than the less expensive model i had been using and cost almost as much as a champion. so i returned the breville and bought a champion. 3.5 years later... i'm still using it daily - many times a day and it's a dream. i love my greenstar as well but my hubby tends to use it more than me.

both are worth owning IMO and in my experience.

[Bud Greene]

I've got the one for your budget. It's the Hurricane manual wheatgrass juicer. It maybe the best you can get for around a $100. The reviews on amazon are great. Check it out amazon - Hurricane (http://www.amazon.com/Hurricane-Stainless-Wheatgrass-Juicer-Extractor/dp/B000E7L2K6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1295716383&sr=1-1)

The other one is Z-Star (http://www.amazon.com/Z-Star-Manual-Wheatgrass-Juicer/dp/B0007W04AW/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1295716592&sr=1-1)

The firs one is $109 and the second $99:)