Better Health Through Juicing - Breville Juicer (Breville AWT JE2 juicer)

Member Name: derek-a

Product:	Breville AWT JE2 juicer
Date:	17/09/05 (1377 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ensures you get nutrition from natural sources

Disadvantages: Can be a bit messy cleaning it all up afterwards.

Back in the early 1980s a close friend of mine was extolling the benefits of juicing. I can remember at the time wondering what the point was of smashing fruit and vegetables so that you could drink them instead of eat them! But, come to think of it in those days I was the epitome of health and vitality on a diet of junk food and late night Indian curries. But alas, I was not to enjoy such good health forever.

Several years ago I was diagnosed with CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) or M.E. whatever you'd like to call it, and it has been essential for me to get the correct nutrition.

What I hadn't realised before was that cooked vegetables lose a lot of their nutritional value whilst raw ones retain it. And juicing enables me to get a lot more of the vitamins and minerals I need in just one glass of juice. In other words, it would be a lot easier to drink the juice of four raw carrots than to eat them whole for the same amount of beta-carotene they contain.

On the vegetable side, it is not only carrots that can be juiced. Broccoli, cabbage, celery, peppers, garlic, in fact any vegetable can be juiced in large quantities to receive more of the micronutrients that is so essential to maintaining good health. And considering the way our soil is becoming depleted by over-cultivation, juicing is an excellent way of getting our daily requirements of vitamins and minerals.

I don't want to get too far into the benefits of juicing here (I am not a nutritionist), but I would like to say that I found an excellent remedy for a cold. It nearly blew my socks off…

I juiced 2 cloves of garlic, half a root of ginger and added some lettuce and parsley (they say parsley counteracts the "garlic breath" but I don't think that's true!). The ingredients produced about half a cup of the juice and I just drank it straight down. It was horrible! I could feel it burn its way down and my nose and eyes would not stop running for about 5 minutes. My cold however, vanished. Some people may not think it worth the experience and endure the cold. But I do think I put a little too much garlic in the juicer, and have had the same results since with just one clove.

Protein in the form of eggs can also be added to juice concoctions, but I never was one for raw eggs, so have not tried this.

The Juicer itself …

The base of our machine is coloured silver. This has an hinged chrome lever that clips over the filter bowl cover that captures the juice. Into the filter bowl clips a stainless steel mesh filter basket, containing sharp blades that separates the juice from the pulp of the vegetable or fruit - this pulp is transferred into a large 2 litre pulp container that sits adjacent to the silver base at the rear of the machine (see picture). On top of all this fits the cover from which protrudes a funnel into which fits the plunger that is used to push the fruit/vegetables down into the mesh basket and blades.

To juice, simply place your fruit/vegetables into the funnel, insert the plunger, switch on and push down. Pulp will go into the container at the back of the machine. Liquid will pour out of the spout at the front. It is advisable to put the provided container or cup under the spout - saves you having to scoop your juice off the kitchen worktop like I did on my first try!

The actual juicing process takes seconds to perform. A plastic bag can be placed in the pulp container if required, to catch the pulp.

The pulp can be kept and used for stews in the case of vegetables, or used in some sort of desert for fruit. I have quite often experimented and mixed fruit and vegetables in the same drink and stirred some pulp into it. But fruit is something I have to use in strict moderation because I have an intolerance to fruit sugar.

The cleaning of the machine can be a little messy afterwards and care must be taken when cleaning the blades contained within the filter basket - they are very sharp, but there is a small cleaning brush provided for this task.

Our machine came with a recipe book with recipes for things like, tomato, carrot, celery and lime juice (quite pleasant), apple, peach and grapefruit juice, blackberry, pear and grapefruit, fresh vegetable soup with noodles, and many more.

Doing an internet search, also produced hundreds of recipes from all different parts of the world. That is where I found my cold remedy!

We have owned the machine just over 2 years now and it cost just over £80, and I can say it's worked hard in its time and been worth every penny.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Health and vitality from natural products you can drink..

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