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Oct 13, 2012 - Natural Health    1 Comment

Juicing

First juicer: Omega 8006, purchased: 8/16/2012.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I purchased the Breville Ikon BJE510XL on 10/12/2012 for my office. I’ve found that it is too time consuming with the Omega 8006 to make juice at home to take to work.  And, it is recommended to always drink freshly made juice immediately from the juicer.  Storing it depletes the enzymes and nutritional content and, IMO, contradicts making a freshly pressed juice.

But first I decided to use it at home and compare it with my Omega 8006.

It takes up about the same amount of space as the Omega.  Aesthetically, it seems much more impressive than the Omega with it’s brushed silver casing, curvaceous plastic parts, towering design and LCD display.  And when you power it up, it definitely sounds more technological as it sounds like a quiet jet engine powering up, vs. the Omega sounding like a blue collar worker grinding away at a monotonous job.

My first juice was purple cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli stalks, apple, beet, cucumber and ginger.

The Ikon touts a 3 inch wide hopper which is advertised to fit a whole apple without cutting it.  My apples did not fit and had to be quartered.  And I have an issue with juicing the whole apple with the seeds, which will require additional research.  I read on someone’s post somewhere that apple seeds contain small amounts of cyanide and/or strychnine and should be avoided when juicing.

During my research before purchasing my first juicer, I discovered there are two types of juicers, centrifugal ejection and masticating.  The Ikon is centrifugal, and the Omega 8006 is masticating.  The difference between the two is speed and extraction technique.  The centrifugal ejection types cut up the produce and eject the pulp against the high speed rotating screen which extracts the juice.  The masticating type of juicer slowly crunches up the produce and forces it though a corkscrew style auger that slowly presses the juice out.

The enemy to your freshly pressed juice is oxygen.  Oxygen oxidizes the enzymes in your juice, meaning it destroys the enzymes.  That is the reason it is advised to drink freshly pressed juice immediately, vs. storing it.

The first thing I noticed after turning on the Ikon with the juice pitcher attached is the amount of air flowing out of the top.  It was significant.  The Omega 8006 has zero air flow.

With my mini jet engine running, I began inserting the produce.  It is definitely impressive to see your produce disappear in a split second and appear in the pitcher as juice.

The first thing I noticed about the juice is the amount of foam in the pitcher.  It is significant compared to the Omega 8006.  2 inches of foam in the Ikon vs. about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in the Omega 8006.  I’m assuming this is due to the air flowing from the Ikon’s 13000 RPM spinning juice extracting screen.

The next thing I noticed is the consistency of the juice.  While the juice I get from the Omega 8006 always looks dark and dense, the juice from the Ikon is separated and more opaque.

So I stirred up the juice and began to drink it.  It didn’t seem to have the robust flavor as the juice extracted in the Omega 8006.  It seemed much more watery with less flavor.  And I couldn’t taste the ginger at all.

The following morning, I used the Ikon to make my staple morning juice, carrots, sweet potato, apple & ginger that I faithfully make with my Omega 8006.  Again, I was impressed with the speed at which my juice was extracted.  And, again there was significantly more foam than I get with the Omega 8006.  There was also more separation with Ikon.  And, it was a little more watery, but the flavor was OK.  And, again I couldn’t taste the ginger at all.

The reason I purchased a second juicer was because I needed to be able to make fresh pressed juice at the office.  I don’t have the time to do all the preparatory work required for the 8006, or the time it takes to make the juice with the 8006.  So I decided that I needed a high speed juicer to be able to enjoy a freshly pressed juice while working.  And, as reiterated over and over by John at DiscountJuicers.com, “a freshly pressed juice, regardless of the type of juicer, is better than anything that you can get in a store”.

Cleanup

Cleanup of the Ikon vs. the Omega 8006 is more time consuming.  Not only does it have bigger parts to clean, but the screen is more time consuming to clean.  I’ve seen a lot of people’s cleanup reviews say, “simply rinse it off”.  I don’t follow that advise for two reasons.

1st, vegetables stain plastic.  My very first carrot juices in the Ikon significantly stained the brand new plastic.  I rinsed in extremely hot water and the stains didn’t budge.  I used a sponge with dishsoap, and the stains remained.  I used the scrubby side of the sponge and only removed about 90% of the orange stain.  Daily use will be evident no matter what, but I’m at least removing as much as I can.

2nd, vegetables also leave a residue over time.  I’ve been using the Omega 8006 for 2 months, several times per day and the residue is building up no matter how much I scrub it.

And as far as the screen in the Ikon, you definitely have to use the brush that comes with it to scrub the screen.  And you need plenty of hot water.  You have to scrub both sides of the screen (outside first, then inside) while running under hot water.  This by far is the most time consuming step.  (Caution:  do not EVER put your fingers inside the screen near the gold bottom plate.  This is where the cutters are, and they are not prejudice to vegetables only.  Hold the screen by the black bottom, or the top sides.)

Both juicers have a juice catcher and a pulp catcher.  The Omega 8006’s are small and very simple to clean.  The Ikon’s are larger.  To make the pulp catcher easier to clean, or eliminate cleaning altogether, I place one of the plastic produce bags in it.  This catches all the produce, and eliminates having to clean it.

One thing I noted when cleaning the pulp is the Ikon’s pulp is still very wet.  The pulp from the Omega 8006 is definitely much dryer.  One thing I like about the masticating style juicers is you can run the pulp back through it to get more juice from it.  You cannot do this with a centrifugal ejection style juicer.  And with the price of organic produce, I want to get as much juice as I can from my produce.

Another cleanup issue I should mention is storage while drying.  If you have space restrictions, you should note that if you air dry your dishes and/or juicer parts, that the size of the parts of the Ikon take up considerably more space than the parts for the Omega 8006.

Summary

I guess there is something to be said for monotony and taking your time.  The quality of the juice that I get from the masticating Omega 8006 is by far better than what I get from the centrifugal Breville Ikon.  Note that this has nothing to do with the brand names of the juicers.  Omega also produces centrifugal juicers.  It has everything to do with the extraction method.  Both methods do what they’re intended to do.  It is up to you to decide which method fits your lifestyle.  When I’m at home, I don’t mind taking the time to make a better quality juice.  However, at the office, I don’t have that time, but still want a freshly made juice.

I should also mention the Norwalk Juicer.  This is the Mac Daddy of juicers with a Mac Daddy price of around $2400.  This juicer is a 2 step juicer.  The first step you grind up the produce into a cloth bag.  The next step you place the bag in the hydraulic press which presses the juice from the pulp.  This is said to be the best way to get the most nutrients and juice from the pulp.  You can see additional information here and here.

Another recommendation when choosing a juicer is the warranty period.  In my case, the Omega 8006 has a 15 year warranty.  The Breville Ikon has 1 year warranty.

I did a lot of internet research before purchasing my first juicer.  Where I found the most helpful information was with John Kohler at DiscountJuicers.com and his YouTube channel .

One more thing.  The pulp.  What should you do with the pulp?  The pulp can be used to make healthy foods such as vegetable crackers, added to muffins and many other things such as adding some to your pets food.  Search the internet for ‘what to do with juicer pulp’.  It also makes great compost, especially if you are using organic produce.

 

Aug 23, 2012 - Natural Health    No Comments

Liver & Gallstone Flush

Note: I no longer support the liver flush.  After over a year of doing them, I had no relief.  I no longer believe that what exits your body when doing the flush are gallstones, but the result of your body digesting the large amount of oil consumed (also referred to as soap stones).  It wasn’t until I found additional information on ‘dissolving’ stones that I had relief.  I will post additional information on that in the future, but will leave this post as documentation of what I went through.

February 25, 2012, I had my first gallbladder attack.  However, at the time, I didn’t realize what it was.  I had spent the day at my friends children’s birthday party.  I don’t remember exactly everything I ate that day, but I do know I had lots of birthday cake.

In 1990, I started to see chiropractors for lower back pain and sciatica from a defect in the Pars Interarticularis of the L4, L5 that was due to a sled riding accident from when I was a child.  And I’ve been dealing with fairly severe back pain and spinal dis-alignment problems ever since.

So, when I had this episode of excruciating pain in February 2012 in my lower right side and right back quadrant, I attributed it to my back pain.  However, this pain would be the absolute worst I’ve ever dealt with.  The pain was so intense that I was sweating, screaming, crying and vomiting.  The pain also devoured a 10mg. Ambien!

Around the beginning of July, I was talking to a friend about her mother who was diagnosed with kidney stones.  After I got off the phone with her, I researched one of my favorite books, Prescription for Nutritional Healing.  Everything I read about kidney stone symptoms pointed to what had been happening to me.

So I called a friends dad who is a doctor.  I told him the symptoms and he agreed it sounded like kidney stones.  So he scheduled me for an appointment to see him at his office.  He did a urinalysis test to see if I had any abnormalities or infection.  It came back clear.  So then he scheduled me for an ultrasound of the kidneys a week later.  The ultrasound showed some spots that needed further examination by CT Scan.  So the following week I was scheduled for a CT Scan.

In the meantime, I had already started investigating a natural cure for kidney stones, of which I found many including lemon juice.  However, the CT Scan came back negative for kidney stones and positive for gallstones. I had to start searching again.

No problem.  It was very easy to find.

I discovered a book by Andreas Moritz, The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush.  I immediately downloaded the Nook version from Barnes & Noble, as I did not want to order online and wait for shipping & delivery.  According to  BN.com’s inventory feature for my local stores, there were no books available.  However, I found one book at my local store so you may want to call your local store.

I have the Nook app on my Samsung Galaxy SII phone, my ASUS Tablet, my netbook and my PC, so I virtually have access to it anywhere.  As soon as I opened the book in the app, I realized this book is not just instructions on how to do the liver flush, but a whole education on how the liver keeps us alive and why we should treat it with TLC.

I was very anxious to get started on the flush, so I skipped directly to chapter 4 – The Liver & Gallbladder Flush (I read the rest of the book during the first week of preparation).  In a nutshell, the theory of how it works is this:  for a week prior to the actual flush, you drink malic acid daily to begin to soften the stones and to widen the bile ducts of the liver, as this is where the stones are formed and the majority of them are located.  You also limit your diet during this week.  Sometime before the flush, preferably the day before or the day of the liver flush, you have a colon flush by a colon hydrotherapist.  This is to clean your colon out so that when the stones pass, they do so with ease.  On the day of the flush, you eat lightly until 1:30pm.  You do not eat anything else until the next day.

In the evening of the day of the liver flush, you drink two glasses at timed intervals of magnesium sulfate.  This not only helps you to empty your colon, but also dilates the bile ducts so that when you do the flush, the stones will pass through them without incident or pain.

At bedtime, you then drink a mixture of olive oil and citric acid and immediately go to bed.  What this does is trigger the liver to release bile.  And because of the content and amount of what you drank, it forces the liver to release a whole lot of bile.

Since you’ve spent the week softening the stones and widening the bile ducts, and you drank the magnesium sulfate to dilate the ducts, not only does bile flow amply, but the stones near the common hepatic duct flow with it into the small intestines, which then goes into the (clean) colon for elimination.  Also, the bile is very oily and acts as a lubricant as the stones pass through the widened, dialated bile ducts. All of which is attributed to NO PAIN while passing the stones.

Additional theory states that drinking the malic acid during the week also helps to loosen stagnated bile.  And during the actual flush, additional stagnated bile will be eliminated.  What is good about this is that stagnated bile is full of toxins.  And the stones themselves harbor toxins.  So not only are you flushing gallstones, you are also detoxifying your liver.

Further theory indicates that if your liver is stagnated by stones and old bile, that the rest of your body is in a stagnant condition including your lymph and circulatory system, since they rely on the liver.  This further indicates that many illnesses can be eliminated by cleaning your liver of stones and old bile as the other systems in your body begin to flow normally and do what they were intended to do; keep your body healthy and clean.

PLEASE NOTE:  This is just a simple overview of the theory of how this works.  THESE ARE NOT DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS.  Please buy the book and read it completely to understand the importance of a clean and healthy liver and complete instructions on how to do the flush.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE:  During my online research, I’ve seen many videos of people doing these flushes.  Specifically I watched two people drinking the magnesium sulfate, but instead of drinking the dosage outlined in the book, they were drinking 4 times the dosage at each drinking interval!  They were complaining of how miserable they were from drinking it.  I followed the proper dosing in the book and experienced no misery whatsoever.  My point:  BUY THE BOOK AND READ IT.

On the 7th day of the flush, I passed many brown stones, including the green ‘soap stones’ from the olive oil, with absolutely no pain or discomfort whatsoever.  I followed the instructions in the book exactly.

I will be posting a log of my experience very soon.

Next week I will be beginning my second round of the liver flush.

Brown gallstones I passed in 8 hours on the 7th day