Juicers & Juicing

Best juicers, especially for cancer patients

as well as for general health benefits

There is a bewildering maze of juicers on offer - and to help you find your way among them, here is a summary of my findings as to the question “Which are the ‘best’ juicers, especially for cancer patients?”

Juicers generally fall into three categories: triturating, masticating, and centrifugal. These have to do with the method of extracting and separating the juice from the pulp. To preserve the highest nutritional value of juices, juicers should be as low-temperature and low-speed as possible.

The very best juicers for cancer patients seem to be the Norwalk and the K & K juicer, both “Grinder and Press” (two-step triturating) types. The Gerson Institute confirms that “[b]ased on many years of experience, the best juicers [for a Gerson patient] are the Norwalk and K&K juicers.” (More here).

Second place appears to be taken up by excellent juicers such as the Green Power and Green Star (also of the triturating type), qualified as “excellent machines for the price” with “quality of juice far superior to centrifugal and masticating juicers” (more here for those looking for a “best” juicer for general health maintenance purposes).

Next in quality seem to be the masticating juicers such as the New Omega Model 8002. Masticating machines operate at a faster speed than triturating juicers but at a slower speed than centrifugal ones. They chew the fibers and break up the cells of vegetables and fruits. This gives you more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. Masticating machines are in their turn profoundly better than

Centrifugal juicers (which spin at high velocity e.g., Ruby, Santos, Miracle Growth) and which are definitely inadequate. Among other things, the high velocity kills enzymes. They seem to be coming in last for nutritional juice quality and are not recommended for cancer patients.

Healthy people may also want to avoid them since they seem to destroy much of the healthful ingredients normally found in fresh and fully ripened vegetables and fruit (more here).

From the Gerson Institute:

”Juicing is an essential component of the Gerson Therapy. To ensure reliable results, the Gerson patient will need to purchase an appropriate juicer. Dr. Gerson's research indicates that cancer patients must have a two-stage juicer with a separate grinder and hydraulic press.

One-step juicers generally do not produce the same quality of enzyme, mineral or micronutrient content, and some patients have failed to experience results simply by using the wrong juicer.

We do not recommend the use of any centrifugal-type juicers for Gerson patients. Other non-centrifugal juicers may be used for health maintenance or non-cancer diagnoses.”

There are several options for patients that fulfill Dr. Gerson‘s requirement of a separate grinder and press to accomplish the best extraction and highest quality in juicing:

Norwalk Juicer: Powerful Grinder and Automatic Hydraulic Press in a single unit. The grinder mechanism turns at a slow rate, and the separate, motorized hydraulic press extracts the juice from the ground pulp. Effortless to operate. Same machine used at Gerson approved Hospital. Costs $1995-$2095, works on 110 or 220 Volts. Available at the Gerson hospital from the local distributor (or see the Links page under “Juicers”).

K & K GRINDER & PRESS: The K&K juicer is actually two separate units, one a grinder (connected to an electric motor) and the other, a manually operated press requiring some strength of the arm and shoulder. The K&K juicers are usually less expensive but more labour-intensive than Norwalk juicers. Available through Al Hasser, 14410 Big Canyon Rd, Middletown, CA 95461 Telephone 707-928-5970 (Shredder all stainless $750, Press $275 + shipping & handling or $1000 + S&H if ordered together). (See Updated Buying Information for K & K Grinder & Press.)

Champion: Not used as a juicer but as a grinder only; plus for instance the K & K press (see above), Ito Juice Press or Welles press. (Also compare Updates and comments.)

Superiority of the Norwalk Juicer

General: The Norwalk triturating machine turning at a slower rpm employs a two-step process. The first step crushes the fruits and vegetables, while the second step wrings or presses the juice. This juicing process gives you more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. Pressing causes the least oxidation of the various juicing methods, i.e. ensures the best preservation of enzymes and nutrients, and produces a pulp-free juice, since the juice is strained through cheese cloth. This type of juicer juices fruits (especially soft ones) better than other types of juicers.

Greater extraction and mineral yield: “The Bailey Report”, a comparative study of the operation and efficiency of machine "A", a leading centrifugal juicer; machine "B", described as being a juicer, grater and homogenizer; and machine "N", a Norwalk hydraulic press juicer established the following:

The Norwalk produces a much greater amount of juice from a given sample than does either of the other juicers in much less time. The extremely fine pulp produced by the Norwalk and the very great pressure applied by the hydraulic press would appear to account for the greater yield of juice and the very marked superiority in the extraction of mineral content. (A similar result should be true for the K & K juicer.)

Storability and reduced oxygenation (i.e. little nutrient and flavour loss when not immediately consumed): Norwalk juices are expressed gently with a minimum of air mixed into the juice (oxidation). This is why most properly prepared Norwalk juices may be refrigerated in sealed, serving size containers for up to three days with little, if any, apparent loss of color, flavor or nutrients (allowing the convenience of drinking juice from the refrigerator instead of having to make it each time).

In addition, the Norwalk juices everything, the juice is pulp-free (while the pulp itself is dry and tasteless), it also chops, grinds cereals and nuts, makes baby food, ice cream etc.

Substitutes

A cheaper solution to substitute for the Norwalk juicer would consist in using the Champion Juicer as a grater, and then the Ito Juice Press, Welles press or K&K press, which are operated manually to squeeze the juice out of the produce.

Why liquefiers (blenders) and centrifugal juicers don’t work for cancer patients

From the Gerson Institute:

“Dr. Gerson said in his address to a group assembled in Escondido, California in 1956 (Appendix II, p. 406, A Cancer Therapy): ‘At first I thought that liquefiers would be the most wonderful thing. All the material was there, nothing was lost. But it didn't work.’ The rotating blade gives rise to a ‘dynamo effect’, causing electricity to be generated, thus killing enzymes. The same is true of centrifugal juicers. Juices must be made by grinding the vegetables first, mixing them, and then pressing them in a press.

We have come across cancer patients who tried to heal themselves on the Gerson Therapy using a centrifugal juicer, but they experienced no improvement [but compare this Anecdotal Case History: exclusive Gerson diet/therapy using centrifugal juicer leading to full recovery from terminal pancreatic cancer]. When they tried the Therapy with a Champion juicer, they did well. More seriously ill patients still need the grinding plus pressing type of juicer to properly heal.

In response to a question from a patient about the two-step juicing process, Dr. Gerson wrote that ‘the malic acid (contained in the apples) mixed with the ground carrots helps to release the minerals from the carrots.’

In other words, it is necessary to first grind the apples and carrots together into a bowl, using a grinder. Norwalk, K&K or Champion juicers can all be used as grinders, but the Champion cannot be used as a press. The ground materials are mixed and then the mixture is placed in a press cloth and put under pressure in the Norwalk or K&K press. This process produces the best extraction, that is richest in minerals, and best in taste.

Juice produced by the Champion juicer alone separates into a transparent liquid at the bottom and mush on top after a very short time. This juice is also harder for the patient to drink because of the particles, and is not as rich and homogeneous in nutrients.

More recently the Green Power juicer was introduced. It does a better job of extraction than the Champion when used as a juicer, but it offers no way (as the Champion does) to block the juicing action. It is impossible to use the Green Power juicer solely as a grinder, as it does the grinding and juicing in one operation.

While it extracts juice quite efficiently, it does not fulfill Dr. Gerson's requirement of mixing the ground apples and carrots thoroughly before pressing.” (The Gerson Institute also maintains a list of individuals with used juicers for sale.)

Side note re liquifiers (blenders)

In addition to Dr. Gerson’s caveat concerning the use of liquefiers, here is another advice to consider: if you're trying to detoxify or heal from cancer or another serious disease, simple liquifiers (blenders) may be totally inadequate because (1) by discarding the pulp and drinking only the liquid (which only a real juicer does), your stomach has room for much more juice, and (2) the nutrients are more concentrated in the juice (enabling you to ingest enormously more detoxifying and cancer-fighting enzymes and nutrients).

(While the above advice seems to make sense, there are those on the other hand who claim that juice is a “processed” food and that one should preferably consume the entire liquefied vegetable to get its full nutrient content and spectrum in its natural complex...)

While Dr. Gerson’s conclusions may seem to impose the use of a grinding-plus-pressing type of juicer (such as the Norwalk) for more seriously ill cancer patients to properly heal, there are others such as cancer victor Bob Davis who do not recommend any specific juicer while observing that “often a juice fasting procedure is all that is needed for successfully treating cancer. ...I have seen many people make complete recoveries from cancer by juicing alone”.

From my own research, the winner among juicers in the general category is the Green Star: it clearly appears to be the best juicer overall for health purposes - so much so that I purchased a Green Star myself and have made it the only product (apart from certain books) that I expressly endorse and highly recommend on this extensive site. I am fully convinced of its unrivalled value for people wishing to include juicing as part of a health-promoting lifestyle. More on the Green Star and a testimonial from a former cancer patient.

Update re purchase of the K&K juice press

(sent in by a visitor of Healing Cancer Naturally in August 2006) “I tried to contact Al Hasser with the phone number provided (707-928-5970) but it has been disconnected. I contacted the Gerson Institute and they referred me to kovacsbiz.com/juice/. One can purchase a hydraulic press very similar to the K&K press. It appears that the company that makes the K&K press is no longer in business. The Juice Press Factory also carry the champion juicer/grinder as well.”

Comment re quality of the Juice Press Factory press

(sent in by a visitor of Healing Cancer Naturally in January 2008) “I'd found [the above] reference to the Juice Press Factory on your page, and ordered two of these because the K&K is not available- two Champions, and two Juice Press Factory presses. One set for myself, and the second set for my aunt who is suffering from cancer.

The Champions arrived in good order. A week later, one of the two juice presses arrived.

I brought one of the Champions and the press to my aunt. Her brother rejected it outright, and suggested I take it home. So at home, I had a chance to try the Juice Press Factory press.

I found it cumbersome and difficult to use. Set on a standard height countertop, you have to wrestle with it to pump the lower tray to the top. Even set on an 18" high table, there is no handle to grab onto and the unit must still be wrestled with .

Eventually, I returned the juice press. A refund was sent, but less the expense of a re-stocking fee of $53.25 plus shipping both ways.

I cannot recommend The Juice Press Factory juice press, especially for use by elderly senior citizens. I am a young 56 myself yet found the press cumbersome. It's my opinion that the Juice Press Factory press is simply not a well developed product.

I haven't tried the Welles press. I will wait to see if the K&K returns into production.”

Answer to a question re using the pulp produced by a Greenstar juicer

(Update May 2007) Recently, a visitor of Healing Cancer Naturally asked me the following: “As a cheaper alternative to the Norwalk, you recommend using a grinder (or Champion juicer) and then a juice press for the pulp; I use a Greenstar juicer; is there a need with this juicer to use a press afterwards?”

As you can see from the above, personally I have the impression that it isn’t imperative to use a Norwalk, K&K etc. for a cancer patient to heal him/herself of cancer, for the simple reason that there are apparently a goodly number of former cancer patients on record, including those healed with the help of the Budwig diet, who healed themselves using other juicers, even centrifugal ones (or even without resorting to the help of a juicer though I’d recommend including a juicing routine in one’s health and recovery regimen).

The Greenstar already provides you with excellent quality juice (in fact some of the best after the Norwalk and K&K, with much easier handling). If you additionally wish to ingest all the nutients which may remain in the pulp, it might be best to look for recipes allowing you to incorporate the pulp into other dishes.

Alternatively, a well-known "internet physician" suggests to stir the pulp back into the juice and to eat the resulting mush like a soup.

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