It’s now been almost 8 years since Sarah and I watched the food documentary Food Matters.
I’ll never forget how it went down…
One night I was flipping through Netflix on my roku, trying to find a movie to watch.
I had already decided I was going to train for and run the Seattle Marathon, but I was having trouble with my stomach. It was always queasy during runs.
Anyways, I stumbled on the Food Matters film, and watched it.
I was completely blown away.
I couldn’t believe I had never questioned what I was eating. Nearly everything the experts spoke about in that film are in alignment with what Sarah and I teach our clients together.
- Let food be your medicine.
- Always keep in mind that your doctor didn’t necessarily study nutrition in medical school.
- Eat organic for maximum nutrients
- Try to include as many raw fruits & veggies (at least 50%)
So good!
A big takeaway was the power of juicing, and the ability to extract the vitamins and minerals from the fiber to make them more readily available and easy for your body to absorb.
Obviously we need fiber in our diet, but that’s also why we use our blender to make green smoothies and eat a salad pretty much every day.
We love to juice
In fact, we drink fresh juice every single morning.
If we don’t have time, or don’t have enough ingredients on-hand, we’ll grab one at the store.
When Sarah and I started juicing, we weren’t living together at the time. So she made juice every day in her old school Juiceman Juicer, and I made juice a few times a week in my Jack LaLanne Power Juicer.
These juicers were okay for starting out.
They’re pretty affordable, but you certainly get what you pay for…
Sarah was only able to use her Juiceman for about 6 months before the motor died.
Lucky for her, I eventually moved into her apartment, and we were both able to use my Power Juicer for another 6 months.
But then mine stopped working too!
The same week it went out, we had just finished watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead…
Which of course was perfect because that documentary is all about Joe Cross losing a ridiculous amount of weight by only drinking juice.
(PS – we wouldn’t recommend an extended juice fast, but would be happy to tell you a better weight-loss alternative!)
The featured machine in that film was the Breville Juice Fountain Plus, so that’s what we bought next…
Breville Juice Fountain Plus
This was a great juicer.
I personally really like the appearance of it, but it does stand fairly tall. If you’re going to store this on your kitchen counter under cabinets I would recommend measuring to make sure it will fit!
The cleanup process is really quick with this model, and comes with a scrub-brush for the filter.
It also produces great tasting juices, than are frothy and sweet.
And I’m not sure if this is an actual ‘thing’ or not, but centrifugal juicers tend give you slightly more juice volume (which is probably due to all of the air bubbles inside).
This juicer (including the Juiceman & Power Juicer) are considered ‘centrifugal’ juicers.
They have a sharp blade inside that spins super fast, which tears apart the plants, and helps separate the juice from the fiber.
Because the juicing process is so intense, with the fast spinning blade, the juice oxidizes really quickly and has a really short shelf life (only 15 min!)
Many experts also believe the living enzymes are lost as well in this type of juicer.
If you juice every day, or plan to, this may not be the one for you. (check out the masticating option below)
This may, however, be the right juicer for you if you juice 2-3 times/week, you want to drink it right away, and you aren’t a stickler about max nutrients.
If you plan on purchasing the Breville Juice Fountain Plus, please consider purchasing through our Affiliate Link Here ????
The Breville was a great option for us at the time, as we were pretty tight on finances.
But the longer we used it, the slower the motor got.
Since we juice every day, the yield starting getting smaller and smaller.
(which of course is a bummer, because fresh organic produce should not go to waste!)
The motor didn’t go out like it did in our first two machines, but the quality continued to get worse and worse.
After 18 months, it was time to move on.
That’s when we got this baby…
Omega 8006 Nutrition Center
This is an amazing juicer!
It has a simple design, and comes with lots of color options (we have the chrome version pictured below).
The height is low enough so it fits nicely under our kitchen cabinets, whereas the Juice Fountain Plus didn’t.
Cleanup is also pretty easy, but there are more pieces to it. They’re all easy to clean, but the juicer screen needs to be cleaned really well every time you use it, or it starts to get build-up.
Another great thing is that it’s super quiet (WAY quieter than a centrifugal model).
Now let’s talk about the nutrients…
The Omega 8006 is considered a ‘masticating’ juicer, meaning it squeezes the juice out, rather than shredding it like the ‘centrifugal’ style juicers.
It’s a much gentler process that allows the juice to be refrigerated for up to 72 hours, with almost perfect nutrients and flavor as when you first made it.
The volume is slightly less than centrifugal models, but that’s because there’s less oxygen bubbles inside, which is why those juices only have a 15 minute shelf-life.
If you juice every day like us, this is the juicer for you.
It will last forever (okay, at least a LONG time :) and even comes with a standard 15 year warranty!
We’ve now had this juicer for 4+ years, and Omega has sent us parts replacements without hesitation. Simply send them an email at [email protected] and they’ll help you out.
If you plan on purchasing the Omega 8006 Nutrition Center, please consider purchasing through our Affiliate Link Here ????
*Please note that these prices may change on Amazon from time to time. If they change, please let us know in the comments and we’ll give you our advice for which machine to buy and get the best deal.
Our Top 5 Juice Recipes
Now, if you’ve already got your juicer picked out, you’re probably in need of some good juice recipes too, right?
Right now we’ve got a free bundle of our Top 5 Juice Recipes available for download here.
When we first started out, we needed recipes too, but never did we get access to a sweet little guide like this one.
These are our favorites and make them all. the. time!
Enjoy ????
5 replies to "How to Choose a Juicer"
LOVE juicing and since I closed my smoothie and juice bar I haven’t juiced everyday like I used to. I think it’s time to take out my juicer and give her some loving! :)
I’ll have to check out your recipes! Thanks for sharing.
Hey Caressa! Yes, Get that juicer back out and show her some love:) Thanks for stopping by!
I have an Omega Vert Juicer. I like it, but have never used any other juicer. The Omega 8006 looks interesting! I haven’t juiced in a few months, so this is very inspiring!
I have an 8004 and I get less juice than with my Belleville Juice Fountain Plus. Any ideas?
We noticed that too when we first switched from a centrifugal juicer – but the juice from those may seem like it’s more since it has a substantial amount of oxygen bubbles inside, giving it a frothy look and rapidly fast shelf life. The good thing with the masticating, however, it that you get a higher juice yield from leafy greens like kale & spinach, which are super nutrient packed. Overall we think it’s been worth the switch ;).