Grape Juice Offers Same Benefits as Red Wine

Many people like to relax in the evening with a glass of red wine, content in the knowledge that it’s quite good for them too, in moderation at least. But what if you don’t like wine, but still want the health benefits? A new study claims to have demonstrated that dark red grape juice contains many of the same benefits, such as resveratrol and flavonoids, which can lessen the risk of blood clots and help you cut down on “bad cholestrol”.

Find out more in the New York Times

Orange and Banana Reduces Leukemia Risk, Study Claims

A new study has claimed that children regularly fed oranges and bananas can halve their risk of suffering from Leukemia. The study by the University of California claims to show that children with a regular intake of the two fruits up to the age of two significantly reduce their chances of suffering from the disease.

Find out more at Fresh Info

Health Benefits of Rasperries

Raspberries add gorgeous flavour and colour to your natural juice drinks, but what are the health benefits of the raspberry? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

Raspberries contain significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants such as anthocyanin pigments linked to potential health protection against several human diseases[6]. The aggregate fruit structure contributes to its nutritional value, as it increases the proportion of dietary fiber, placing it among plant foods with the highest fiber contents known, up to 20% fiber per total weight. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, with 30 mg per serving of 1 cup (about 50% daily value), manganese (about 60% daily value) and dietary fiber (30% daily value). Contents of B vitamins 1-3, folic acid, magnesium, copper and iron are considerable in raspberries[7].

Raspberries rank near the top of all fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their dense contents of ellagic acid (from ellagotannins), quercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. All these are polyphenolic antioxidants with promising health benefits under current research[8]. Yellow raspberries and others with pale-colored fruits are lower in anthocyanins.

Due to their rich contents of antioxidant vitamin C and the polyphenols mentioned above, raspberries have an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of about 4900 per 100 grams, including them among the top-ranked ORAC fruits. Cranberries and wild blueberries have around 9000 ORAC units and apples average 2800[9].

The following anti-disease properties have been isolated in experimental models. Although there are no clinical studies to date proving these effects in humans, preliminary medical research shows likely benefit of regularly consuming raspberries against:[10][11][12][13]

* inflammation
* pain
* cancer
* cardiovascular disease
* diabetes
* allergies
* age-related cognitive decline
* degeneration of eyesight with aging

What Do You Do With Leftover Pulp?

After drinking your gorgeous, flavoursome fruit juice, you mind will turn to the cleanup and the pulp that’s left in your juicer. This stuff doesn’t always look and smell appealing, so many people will empty it straight into the bin. But there’s loads of goodness left there in that pulp, so what else can you do with it apart from throw it away.

I’ve been scouring the net to look for ideas on what to do with pulp from the juicer and there’s a few recurring ideas. A nice easy one is to tip it on your compost heap and use it to help your plants, fruit and veg to grow.

Another idea is to add it to some biscuits and serve it up to the dog as a healthy treat. I’ve seen someoen suggest freezing it in moulds and having it as a nutritious ice lolly. And a few other people say it helps make great muffins.

All of them are interesting ideas, but I’d love to know what YOU do with the pulp leftover from your juicer, so add a comment below with your best ideas.

Black Juicers

It’s all very well having a juicer which help you feel good, but you want to it look good too, and for many people it will be important that their juicer matches the overall look of the kitchen. If you’ve gone and designed a stylish kitchen, the last thing you want is an out of place juicer in the corner.

If you had said to someone a few years ago you were going to have a black kitchen they might have thought you were mad or a bit morbid, but black kitchens are increasingly the de rigeur for fashionistas and manufacturers are having to create their products in black to meet the demand.

So you have a black kitchen, and want a black juicer? Here’s our run down on black juicers…

Philips HR1858 Black Gloss Juicer

This stylish black juicer from Philips has a powerful 650W motor and lets you juice up whole fruits thanks to its wide feeding tube. Philips are one of the top names in juicers and this machine will help you create excellent juicers.
Philips Juicer HR1858/91 - Gloss Black

Marco Pierre White Citrus Juicer

It might be branded by the one and only Mr White, but this sexy citrus juicer is most definitely all black. if you just want a juicer for doing citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, limes and grapefuits, this will be a welcome addition to your kitchen. Made by Russell Hobbs.
Marco Pierre White by Russell Hobbs 14336 Citrus Juicer in black with 2 size interchangeable cones

Ainsley Harriot Black Juicer

Comet are, at the time of writing, offering this classy black juice extractor half price, at only £49.99 (online only). it’s whisper quiet and allows you to juice all types of fruit and vegatables.
AINSLEY HARRIOTT AH111

Wheatgrass Juicers

Before the common wheat plant grows up, it is a young, fresh grass called, simply, Wheatgrass. Since the 1930s, people in the western world have been cultivating wheatgrass for juicing and powdering. It was popularised by a agricultural chemist who apparently used the wheatgrass to help his sick hens recover form illness, and not only did they recover, but produced eggs at a high rate than before.

According to Wikipedia, proponents of wheatgrass claim that it can:

• improve the digestive system
• prevent cancer, diabetes and heart disease
• cure constipation
• detoxify heavy metals from the bloodstream
• help make menopause more manageable
• promote general well-being.

Bold claims for sure!

Wheatgrass Juicers

There are dedicated wheatgrass juicers available that work differently from most centrifugal juicers in the high street. You feed the wheatgrass down and they chew up the plant to give juice with more enzymes in it. A manual wheatgrass juicer starts at about 29.99 on Amazon.co.uk

Best Apple Juicer

Apple juice is one of the most popular juices that people make with their own juicers, so to be honest, you can pick almost any juicer on the market and you should be able to make apple juice.

What is worth getting, however, is a juicer with a wide feeder, such as the Philips HR1861. As you can see from the image on the left, the extra wide feeder enables you to quickly put whole apples down there. Being able to pop a whole apple down and not have to cut them up really is a time saver.  The Philips juicer shown also had a detachable pulp collector which you can line with a plastic bag and easily lift out most of the pulp, which makes cleaning up afterwards a heck of a lot easier. As the Philips HR1861 is our recommended juicer, we’ve put together a price comparison in the sidebar on the right so you can get the best price for it.

What apples to use in fresh apple juice?

Most apples will make great juice, I particularly like the sweetness of a Pink Lady.

Also, you know how an apple goes brown if you leave it? I find that apple juice does too, so if you’re going to drink it straight away, cover it up with clingfilm or add a drop of lemon juice to help stop it turning an unappetising brown.

Difference Between A Smoothie Maker and A Blender

Do you know what the difference is between a smoothie maker and a blender? As far as I know, you can make smoothies with a blender, so what is a dedicated smoothie maker for? Is the only difference that that a smoothie maker has a tap to dispense the drink into a glass? Here’s a snippet from a Times article that ponders a similar question:

The Smoothie Maker, to be honest, I consider to be the last straw. A Smoothie Maker is just a blender – IT’S JUST A BLENDER! – but with a tap on the bottom. A small, useless tap which will, on the first day of use, become clogged by a single strawberry seed, leaving you flossing the tiny nozzle with a pin until 4am, weeping. A Smoothie Maker basically marks the UNINVENTING of the blender. It is a negation of progress. It’s like having sex with monkeys. It will do humankind no good.

Whilst Googling the answer, I found that someone had asked the exact same question over at Money Saving Expert - so have a look there for some interesting replies too… the funniest one being “about a tenner”!

Best Juicers for Christmas Presents

Christmas is actually the perfect time to give a juicer, because once the turkey and trimmings are out of the way, lots of people want to start detoxing their way into the new year and a juicer can help.

Whilst cuicers are a great gift idea for Christmas, they often then end up in the cupboard for the rest of the year. So if you’re giving a juicer this year, why not give a recipe book with it too, and a basket of fruit too to help get the recipient hooked on juicing and all its excellent benefits.

Best Juicer Under £100

The Philips HR1861 is stylish, sexy and will deliver glass after glass of fantastic tasting juice. The design of this juicer is safe and easy to clean (which is one of the thing that deter people from using a juicer), and uses centrifugal power to create fresh fruit juice that is full of goodness. This juicer has been priced at about £100 for most of the year but if you look around you can get some bargain prices, sometimes as low as £60-£70. The HR1861 also comes with a recipe book with loads of recipies. Click here to check availability at Amazon.co.uk

Best Stocking Filler Juicer

Our recommendation for a lovely, juicy stocking filler present is a citrus press. The Philips HR2737 Citrus Press costs about a tenner and is a fantastic little gift which will mean the recipient is able to squeeze out fresh juice from oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits all through 2009! Check availability at Amazon.co.uk

Oh…. It’s a Zumex

Zumex manufacture the most visually impressive commercial orange juicers I have seen. A big basked of oranges sits on top and slow the oranges drop down into the transparent casing and go through the soft cutters which take off the outer skin. Then the process squeezes out the juice and the pulp and skin fall into a bin below. It really is very cool to see this thing in action, and it’s as much fun to watch it working as it is to drink very good quality juice it makes.

Next time you’re out and about with friends and see miracle machine in action, impress by your friends with yoru knowledge of commercial juicers by simply saying, “Oh… it’s a Zumex!”.  Check out the video below to take a closer look

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