Juicing is the process of extracting juice

Juice

Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...

 from plant tissues such as fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 or vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

s. There are many methods of juicing, from squeezing fruit by hand to widescale extraction via industrial equipment. Juicing by individuals is often completed with a household appliance called a juicer

Juicer

A juicer is a tool for extracting juice from fruits, vegetables, or wheatgrass. This is known as juicing.-Citrus juicer:A citrus juicer is used for squeezing juice from soft-centered, citrus fruits . It has a conical ridged center...

, which may be as simple as a cone upon which fruit is mashed or as sophisticated as a variable-speed, motor-driven device. It may also refer to the act of extracting and then drinking juice or those who extract the juice.

Overview

Commercial juicing focuses mostly on fruit juices, judging by the ratio of fruit to vegetable juices available in grocery markets. Residential juicing is often practiced for dietary reasons or as a form of alternative medicine. Interest has soared in the last decade due to a number of books, videos, and claims and quick dissemination due to the World Wide Web.

While its availability in discount stores has made it more common, it is not a staple kitchen appliance due to its expense, single-use nature, and relatively small presence in stores (judging by shelf space).

Juicing process

Juicing tools have been used throughout history. Manual devices include barrel-shaped presses, hand-operated grinders, and inverted cones upon which fruit is mashed and twisted.

Contemporary juicers

Modern juicers are powered by electric motors generating from 200 to 1000 or more watts. There are several types of electric juicers: masticating, centrifugal, and triturating juicers. These variations are defined by the means of extracting the juice.

Masticating - utilizes a single gear driven by a motor; slower operation; kneads and grinds items placed in a chute; thought to retain more plant fiber

Centrifugal - utilizes a spinning blade that resembles a grated basket; faster operation; quickly grinds items and discards pulp in a receptacle

Triturating - utilizes twin gears to extract maximum juice; slower operation; often has multiple uses (e.g., purees, dips, sauce)

Reasons for juicing

Juicing is popular among diverse groups. Proponents may simply wish for fresh juice at home, or may believe juice has healing properties. Some cite spiritual or religious reasons.

Rise in popularity

Juicing has become popular in niche markets, such as those interested in alternative medicine, fad diets, or gourmet foods, due to word-of-mouth, mainstream celebrity marketing, a heavy internet presence, and a documentary film entitled Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead. Juicing proponents claim that juicing can maximize nutrient intake, fight disease, strengthen cellular defense against free radicals, alleviate pain, encourage weight-loss, and decrease the need for medication. They also claim that juicing can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, strokes, diabetes, certain types of cancers, mental illness, metabolic syndrome, and may result in longer lifespans.

Criticism

The Mayo Clinic has responded to several of these claims by noting that the effects of drinking juice can be helpful, benign, or, at worst, counter-productive (depending on a person's motivation). Its main conclusion is that there is no scientifically-based advantage of juicing over simply consuming a fruit or vegetable in its original form and by showing that, at best, these claims are derived from research based on eating fruits and vegetables, not drinking them. The Mayo Clinic (and some juicing proponents such as Joe Cross) advise potential "juicers" to speak with their primary medical providers before beginning any type of short or long term juicing program.

See also

• Norman Walker
  Norman W. Walker
  Norman Wardhaugh Walker was a British businessman and pioneer in the field of vegetable juicing and nutritional health. He advocated the drinking of fresh raw vegetable and fruit juices, both to regain and to maintain one's health. Based on his design, the Norwalk Hydraulic Press Juicer was...
  
  
• Max Gerson
  Max Gerson
  Max Gerson was a German physician who developed the Gerson Therapy, an alternative dietary therapy, which he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. Gerson described his approach in the book A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases...
  
  
• Jack LaLanne
  Jack LaLanne
  Francois Henri "Jack" LaLanne was an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert and motivational speaker who is sometimes called "the godfather of fitness" and the "first fitness superhero." He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was 15...
  
  
• Juicer
  Juicer
  A juicer is a tool for extracting juice from fruits, vegetables, or wheatgrass. This is known as juicing.-Citrus juicer:A citrus juicer is used for squeezing juice from soft-centered, citrus fruits . It has a conical ridged center...
  
  
• Health food
  Health food
  The term health food is generally used to describe foods that are considered to be beneficial to health, beyond a normal healthy diet required for human nutrition. However, the term is not precisely defined by national regulatory agencies such as the U.S...
  
  
• Healthy diet
  Healthy diet
  A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve general health. It is important for lowering many chronic health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all essential nutrients and an adequate amount of...