Before you can juice you need a juicer. And if you really are committed to juicing or planning on trying a juice fast, then I can’t stress how important it is to have a good juicer. After burning out not one, not two but three centrifugal juicers (you, know, the juicers you see on those infomercials) it was time to buck up and plunk down the money for a good juicer.

After hours of reading reviews, scouring details, reading warranty information and searching for deals I settled on an Omega J8006 masticating juicer. The important word here is masticating. Instead of a juicer that relies on a fast spinning disk with graters that shred up the food and whirls the juice out, a masticating juicer uses a relatively slow moving auger to crush the juice out. The benefits of this slower, mashing type juicer is three fold. First, centrifugal juicers can heat up the juice, especially if it’s on for a long period of time, destroying some of the nutrients and causing the juice to degrade faster. Second, centrifugal juicers can’t handle leafy greens or wheat grass (which is some of the best stuff for you). Third, centrifugal juicers introduce oxygen and foam thanks to all that whirling and grinding action – because of this juice starts to lose its nutrients faster than with a masticating juicer.

The downside to masticating juicers is that they usually cost more. A masticating juicer usually starts around $240 while a centrifugal juicer can be found for as cheap as $99. Our Omega J8006 put us back about $300.00. I chose Omega due to the positive reviews and good warranty. However, when you consider that I purchased three cheaper centrifugal juicers before finally buying a good quality masticating juicer, I would have saved myself money (and frustration) if I would have just bought a good juicer from the start. Lesson learned.

Our juicer has become a permanent fixture on our counter tops. I make a shot of wheat grass every morning for my husband and myself, as well as about 12oz of fresh juice for breakfast. I buy the wheat grass from our local co-op. When you buy as much wheat grass and produce as we do, you start making friends with the produce department workers. I was able to not only get a case discount, but based on buying a flat a week, was also able to get a “special” deal arranged with the produce manager. He knows to order an extra flat per week, and passes us along a really good price since we buy so much other produce. This goes back to my earlier post about plastic-free shopping and the importance of making friends with the folks that work at your favorite co-op or grocery store. It really pays dividends!