Question from alyssia
i have been researching juicers and i’m concerned about the plastics used in them. i considered a stainless steel manual juicer, but the affordable ones won’t handle all of the things i would like to be able to juice. i’ve narrowed it down to a champion juicer (the parts are made out of stainless steel and nylon) and an omega 8003/8005 juicer (the auger is made out of food grade melamine and i don’t know what the rest is made out of). do you think these would be healthy choices? i really don’t want to defeat the purpose of drinking fresh juices by using a juicer that is going to leach toxic substances.
thanks so much!
Debra’s Answer
Not all plastics leach. The plastics used in juicers are very hard and do not emit plasticizers. Either of these juicers would be fine.
However, the latest recommendations are not to juice, but to puree whole fruits and vegetables with water to make a drink that contains much more nutrition and also the fiber. The book Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko explains this in detail, along with recipes. While I don’t follow a strictly raw food diet, she makes some good points about why we all need to eat and drink more greens. I’ve been drinking a blended drink of cucumber, celery, and apple most mornings and definately have noticed a benefit.
In At Home With Debra : My Vitamins, I wrote about a Chinese doctor who treats cancer, heart disease and diabetes with simple, readily available foods. The healing part of these foods is the phytochemicals, which are contiained in the fibers of the foods. So you need to chew each bite 40 times (or put the foods into a very high-powered blender) to release the phytochemicals. He recommends a 2-horsepower blender (Vitamix) or preferably a 3-horsepower blender (Blend-Tec) to can masticate the skins, seeds, and stems, to make the phytochemicals readily absorbable. Home blenders typically have motors less than 1 horsepower, but it’s better to use these low-power blenders than nothing.
The containers on both blenders are polycarbonate, but these are very hard plastics and there is a minimal amount of contact time with the food. The benefits of the blended drinks far outweigh exposure to any toxic chemicals that may be present.
I just purchased the Jack Lelane juicer and was very disappointed to find out that it uses polycarbonate plastic, which from what I understand does contain BPA. I’m looking to avoid BPA as a hormone disrupters. Are there any juicers without BPA?