What is a Masticating Juicer and its Benefits?

Juicing is a great way to meet your daily requirement of nutrients and consume a wide variety of vegetables and fruits conveniently. Majority of what we eat never becomes available to the body for use, as nutrients need to be released from food cells by rupturing it. However, when we eat without much chewing, nutrients are left unabsorbed and simply pass through the digestive system. 

Juicing provides a way to get access to these enzymes and nutrients that are generally locked away by rupturing the cells of the produce and promote health. Juicing also makes sure that your body is not deprived of nutrients while you are looking for a way to count calories and manage weight.

Homemade juices are much healthier than the store bought preservative added and sugar loaded stuff. Juices are high in fiber and delicious which helps in reducing the risk of diseases and improving health. However, the way your juicer pulverizes the food makes a great difference in the quality and quantity of the juice.  

What is a masticating juicer?

Masticating Juicers are the newer generation of juicers that work with a single gear or auger. The auger turns at an average speed of 100 RPM, crushing the produce and pressing it against the wall of the juicer to yield high quality juice. These slower speed juicers do not heat up the juice to keep the nutrients and enzymes intact.  It slowly extracts the juice efficiently producing much greater yield and dryer end pulp.  

Omega J8005 Nutrition Center Single-Gear household MasticatingJuicer Chrome and Black

Centrifugal Vs Masticating juicer

Centrifugal juicers are the traditional juicers utilizing a high-speed blade against a mesh filter to produce and separate juice using the centrifugal force.

CENTRIFUGAL JUICER	MASTICATING JUICER
·         These high speed juicers spins at 3,000 ~ 16,000 RPM. The speed produces heat and kills most of the vital nutrients and enzymes in process.	·         Low speed of 40 - 160 RPM in a stone-milling or grinding method helps preserve important nutrients and enzymes.
·         The high speed stirs in a lot of oxygen and caused foaming. This trapped air quickly oxidize your juice reducing the freshness and benefits of your juice.	·         The cold pressed juicer uses slow RPM minimizes oxidation and helps retain its freshness much longer.
·         The sharp blade chops up the produce and then spins out the juice from the produce in high-speed. But the juice is runny and less flavorful.	·         The grinding or the crushing method squeeze out the juice better with more nutrients. The resulting juice is thicker in texture and loaded with nutrients.
·         It does not have the ability to juice leafy vegetables.	·         Effectively juices any vegetable including root vegetable, leafy greens and wheatgrass.
·         It does not have the ability to process nuts.	·         Effectively produces milk of your favorite cashews and nuts.
·         Produces lower yield of juice and the pulp is still wet with juice and money wasted.	·         The end pulp is dry and the juice yield is nearly 15-20% more in comparison to a centrifugal juicer. More economical in the long-run.
·         Multiple parts to wash make it less convenient to use.	·         Fewer parts and the easy to clean design make the clean up process simpler and less time-consuming.

Koryo KSJ 1501 150W Cold Press Healthy Slow Juicer

Benefits of a Masticating Juicer -

Masticating juices are a little expensive as compared to their older counterparts. But the extra price that you pay is well worth the benefits you achieve and turns out to be more economical in the longer run keeping in mind the rising price of fresh organic produce that is chews more economically and efficiently.

Take a look at some of the benefits of these juicers over Centrifugal juicers-

• Extended warranty of upto 20 years
• Higher juice yield using lesser fruits and vegetables
• Superior juice quality packed with more nutrients, fiber and enzymes.
• Retains juice freshness for a longer period of time as it is less oxidized.
• The versatile juicer allows juicing all produce. It also homogenizes food to make sorbets, nut milk and butters, ice cream, baby foods, and sauces.  
• Easy to use and clean.
• Much lower noise levels.

(Contributed by Namrata Kothari)