Lexen Healthy Juicer (manual)

[blissrunner]

I own a Jack Lalane juicer and just purchased a manual Lexen healthy Juicer for leafy greens and wheatgrass these are all my budget will allow right now. My question is will I get more nutritional value out of my juices if I juice all of my leafy greens (kale, spinach, parsley) in the manual healthy juicer and my fruits, carrots, cucumbers etc... in the jack Lalane then mix them together? Or can I just juice everything in my Jack Lalane and only use the healthy juicer for wheatgrass?

I'm also wondering, should I take my wheatgrass shots alone or can I mix the wheatgrass with other juiced produce?

[MysticTree]

I think it is generally recommended to drink wheatgrass shots alone - no idea why or if it is accurate. I have the same manual juicer. It works well for wheatgrass. The juice you get from other greens is also good but there is an element of froth which is less good. It is ideal for juicing a shot's worth but larger quantities tend to clog it up and then you just get soggy pulp.

[blissrunner]

Thanks Mystic. Do you happen to know when people start noticing benefits from wheatgrass? I'm hoping it will help brighten my eye whites which I've heard it can help with. My eyes get murky from my sinus issues and I'm tired of it :-/

[MysticTree]

No idea. Depends a lot on what else you are eating and exercise and underlying health I expect.

[Aleesha Sattva]

You can have your wheatgrass juice with other juices, just make sure there's come citrus in there so you are able to absorb all the iron.

[MysticTree]

That's interesting because the "purists" who say drink it on its own are missing out :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

i believe they say to drink it on it's own meaning "on an empty stomach" so that your body can focus on absorbing all the goodness form it. but in juices... it's all easy to absorb.

[TackleBox]

I'm new here, but just wondering how your Healthy Juicer is working out for you? I'm kind of in the same quandary you were, as far as trying to get all the nutrients out of leafy greens with my Jack LaLane. I have a Healthy Juicer I haven't used for anything but wheatgrass so I'm thinking I'll try that for greens!

[MysticTree]

i believe they say to drink it on it's own meaning "on an empty stomach" so that your body can focus on absorbing all the goodness form it. but in juices... it's all easy to absorb.

If that is what they mean then they should say that instead of drink it on its own ;)

I haven't used mine since last summer. I'll use it again when I have greens in the garden to juice.

[Juicerguy]

Wheatgrass juice goes well with many other juices and really makes a great orange juice companion. For some reason and I really don't know why as of yet, it does not seem to work to well with apple juice in my experience. I need to try it again, but the combinations I have tried where I work some apple juice in, have made the juice a sour kind of flavor.

As for your Lexen manual juicer I personally have not used a manual juicer as of yet, but after watching some videos and reading a bit the manual juicer you have appears to work like a masticating electric juicer. Plus you get exercise! :) If it is similar to masticating juicers, which again it appears to be then it might be more of a preference thing for you.

When it comes to nutritional value there is sort of a gray area relating to a lot of juicers, but I myself and I am sure many others here will agree also that masticating and triturating juicers provide juices with a higher quality than centrifugal type juicers.(Jack Lalane = centrifugal juicer). There is a difference to ease of use when it relates to certain pulpy(mushy) items, as masticating juicers can sometimes have a bit of an issue with these.

I have never used a Jack Lalane, but I have seen tests done relating to masticating juicers and centrifugal juicers juicing different items. Fruits and carrots do work "well" in centrifugal juicers and I have even seen a side by side juice off from a good source where a centrifugal will yield more carrot juice than a masticating juicer. With leafy greens and other veggies though, masticating(single gear) or triturating(twin gear) juicers hands down are much better.

As for nutritional content, that again is another gray area and there are a whole lot of opinions on that. What I do know for sure is that the juice that comes out of a masticating juicer looks and in general will taste better than the juice that comes out of a centrifugal juicer. I have seen a lot of juice offs and in general the juice from centrifugal juicers appear more "watery" and the taste is also watered down a bit.

There are also lots of theories and some evidence that centrifugal juicers do foster more of an oxidation effect on your juices also. The speeds they operate create heat and also just seem to produce juice that you can taste the difference. I myself believe from everything I have seen and have read that masticating juicers will give you more nutrition from your juices in general than centrifugal juicers will.

That being said I know that cucumbers and other "mushy" pulpy type fruits and vegetables can be challenging to juice sometimes in a masticating juicer. With a manual masticating juicer, wow I could see that requiring some patience and drive. There are no solid hands down scientific studies that I have seen comparing the juice from the two.(and I have looked hard believe me). What I have seen and heard from other people is about the taste, quality, appearance and how long the juice will store before degrading. All of these seem to indicate that the quality of juices from masticating and triturating juicers are higher than those from centrifugal type juicers.

Here is the thing though, if you are wanting to juice these items and mix them in with your leafy greens. Will you do this more if you can use your centrifugal juicer? I mean if you always juice these other items through your Lexen will that cause you to juice them less? If you feel better about using your Jack Lalane will that help you to juice more of those items? What I tell people a lot of the times and what I have been coming around to is that the best juicer for you is the one that you will use more often.

When you are on a budget you have to make decisions about either waiting to be able to afford the juicer you may want and not juicing at all or less, or juicing with what you got and then maybe getting the other juicers you want some day in the future.
Sure it is possible that the juices will not be as optimal as those from the masticating juicer, or trituturating juicer but they will still have a whole lot of goodies in them. If using the Jack Lalane with the Lexen will help you to continue to juice more often and to enjoy your juices then that is what you should do in my opinion. When a lot of us talk about the efficiency of juicers and the nutritional value we definitely come from a place where we are speaking of optimal values. Sometimes the optimal value is the one that allows you to juice more!

Hope that will be of some help and happy juicing!