What I’m about to tell you may sound like one of the most obvious things in the world, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the key to staying healthy.  It’s a sentiment that’s likely been instilled in you from the second you began eating solid foods up to whatever age you’ve reached, whether from a dietician, your doctor or your family.  So why is it then that if everyone knows how good fruits and vegetables are for them, so many people still fall short of eating their daily share?  I can’t speak for others, but for me, it boiled down to one simple thing:  time.

Eating fruits and vegetables requires a significant amount of prep work.  You have to wash them, peel them, chop them, then make sure to store them in a way to preserve their freshness.  So while I knew I should be eating fruits and vegetables, when I was short on time, I’d simply grab something less healthy and head out the door.

The problem was, the more I did this, the worse I felt.  I lacked energy, I lacked focus, and I just didn’t feel one-hundred percent throughout the day.  As someone that loves the outdoors and loves being active, I knew I had to make a change, and figure out a way to incorporate fruits and vegetables back into my diet, but in a way that fit my busy schedule.  The answer, as it turns out, was juicing.

When you hear the word juicing, the first image that probably comes to mind is one of those high-speed juicers you see in late night infomercials promising everlasting vitality.  Look at the science, however, and you’ll discover that high speed juicers destroy many of the very vitamins you’re trying to benefit from, due to the high amount of heat they generate.  In addition, high speed juicers waste significantly more than they need to.  As it turns out, the secret to juicing and gaining the full range of vitamins and minerals lies in slow juicing, which uses a masticating  process to crush and press the juice out with no heat generated and greatly reduced waste.  And at the forefront of slow juicing is a brand called Hurom, whose proprietary slow juicing technology has revolutionized the way juice is extracted.

Hurom offers several juicing models, all of which utilize slow juicing technology, with my personal choice being the Hurom HH Elite Series Slow Juicer.  It’s Hurom’s newest  model, offering 2nd generation slow squeezing technology, and simply put, it’s the best looking and easiest to use juicer currently on the market.

What makes the Hurom HH Elite Slow Juicer so fantastic?  You first have to understand slow squeezing technology works.  Firstly, don’t let the name fool you – a slow juicer doesn’t mean it takes forever for juice to be extracted, it simply means the auger spins at a slow speed (43 revolutions per minute, to be precise).  You begin by inserting your produce, and the heavy duty auger crushes and squeezes the juice out as quickly as other high speed juicers, but it does so without harming or destroying any vital nutrients.  And because your produce is never cut or shredded as it is in traditional high speed juicing, your juice won’t oxidize nearly as rapidly, keeping it fresher, longer.

A second key benefit to the Hurom HH Elite’s slow juicing technology is that it allows you to extract juice from foods that you can’t with a traditional juicer – think wheat grass, kale and the like.  You can even use the Hurom to make almond or soy milk.  And thanks to the included strainers, you have complete control over how thick the juice is. Use the fine strainer for traditional juices like apple or orange juice, or switch to the coarse strainer to create more smoothie-like drinks with bananas, tomatoes, avocados or strawberries.  The possibilities are endless.

Then there’s the age-old debate:  pulp or no pulp?  For me it varies depending on the type of juice I’m having. Thankfully, Hurom lets me make that decision quickly and easily each time I make a juice. The new HH Elite uses Hurom’s 2nd generation pulp extractor and allows you to easily set your pulp level with the Auto-Pulp lever. If you choose to have perfectly clear juice, open the pulp lever and once all the juice has been extracted from your fruit or vegetable, it will be ejected out. For more pulp, slide the pulp lever to your desired setting and the Hurom will do the rest.

Having owned several juicers in the past and seeing the amount of wet wasted pulp left over, I paid particular attention to the extracted pulp to see just how much was being wasted. To my surprise, the pulp was perfectly dry, and you honestly couldn’t squeeze a drop of juice out of it if you tried.

Not to be overlooked in the design of the Hurom Juicer is the cleaning of it. Consisting of five main parts that all fit perfectly into one another, the Hurom HH Elite is easy to take apart for cleaning and then reassemble, with no tools required. Because I use it daily, I’ve tried a few different methods for cleaning to see what worked the best, and I’ve found that once I’m done juicing, the quickest and easiest way to clean is to pour a glass of water in through the top while the machine is running and set the pulp lever to “clean”. Virtually all of the residual pulp is extracted from the machine, and all that’s left to do is give the parts a quick rinse in the sink.  Compared to other juicers I’ve used, the Hurom HH Elite is without question the easiest to clean.

And finally, it’s important to note the impressive build quality of the Hurom HH Elite.  Weighing in at 13.6 lbs, the HH Elite is built to last you through years and years of juicing, and its modern and handsome design means you can leave it out on your counter when not in use.  It’s the perfect compliment to virtually any kitchen.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably giving serious thought as to whether or not juicing, and the Hurom HH Elite in particular, is right for you.  My advice:  it is.  In today’s busy world, getting the right amount of fruits and vegetables is nearly impossible, but with the HH Elite, you can and with very little effort or time.  A glass or two of juice a day and you’ll get all the vitamins and minerals you need, and the Hurom HH Elite will create the juice for you in the quickest and easiest-to-make way possible.  It’s without a doubt the best juicer I’ve ever used, and I guarantee it will make a huge difference in how you feel and your overall well-being.

You can learn more about the Hurom HH Elite at the official Hurom website, including finding a list of authorized retailers.

While many think of juicing as the latest health and diet craze, the truth is, juicing has been around for over a millenia.  Used by the Ancient Greeks as a love potion, referenced in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a way to gain profound strength, and even through the 1500’s when Florida orange juice was made by Spanish explorers in St. Augustine.  The idea of fresh juice began to go away when pasturization of oranges and a national rail system in 1910 made it possible to store juice for long periods of time and ship when needed.  And while our country has become dependent on what seems like the convenience of pre-packaged juice, we’ve lost nearly all the benefits that fresh juice gives us.  Essentially, we’ve replaced flavorful, nutrient rich juice with enriched, colored sugar water.

So now that you’ve made it through my rant, what are we supposed to do about it?  The answer seems obvious, buy fruit and juice it, but there are several obstacles in the way:  time, space, efficiency and cost.

I’d heard the benefits of juicing for years, but for me the biggest deterrent from juicing was the amount of time and effort I thought I would have to put into it. Finally, after dragging my feet long enough, I decided to research the current state of juicers, and thus began my juicing journey.  I set out to find a juicer that made juice quickly and didn’t need an engineering degree to take apart and clean. A task that should have been simple but proved far harder than I’d imagined.  I tried four juicers in total, all of which were different brands and had different extraction styles, but for me, there was only one that met all of my requirements in terms of ease-of-use, space, efficiency and cost.  The juicer that exceeded all expectations was the Hurom Premium Slow Juicer and Smoothie Maker.

Juice that’s gently squeezed, not chopped by high speed rotating blades, results in purer juice and better nutrition. Hurom’s Slow Squeezing Technology preserves more nutrients, more minerals, more enzymes and more flavor.

Don’t let the Slow Juicer title fool you – it has nothing to do with the speed at which you can extract your juice.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  In a head to head juicing match, the Hurom Juicer produced the most juice in the shortest amount of time in addition to extracting the most juice and the least amount of waste from a set amount of fruits and vegetables.  So how quick is it?  I’ve been juicing for the past few weeks, and it’s become a routine that takes under five minutes to complete.  This includes juicing pulp-free apple and spinach juice for both of my children (ages 4 and 2) and making a juice blend for my pregnant wife and I (generally containing carrots, kale, spinach, apples or any other leftover fruit or vegetable that needs to be used up).  This five minutes includes washing and slicing the apples, peeling and cutting the carrots in half, and adding either a batch of spinach or kale.  From there I simply drop it into the top of the Hurom (a job usually undertaken by my kids), and then empty the contents of the juicing container into cups and it’s ready to serve.  To clean the Hurom I pour water into the top to extract any additional pulp which helps eliminate making a mess in the sink, and then remove the completely self-contained juicing assembly and rinse.  I’ve never had to scrub or soak the Hurom to clean it, all it ever really needs is a quick rinse.

As I briefly touched on above, the Hurom Premium Slow Juicer and Smoothie Maker is extremely efficient, outdoing all the juicers I tested when given the same amount of fruits and vegetables.  And in terms of simplicity, it took the least amount of energy and effort to do so. There is no need to press the fruits and vegetables down in between handfuls, it just sucks it down and it’s ready for more.  But it’s not just the amount of juice it outputs that’s higher than other juicers, it’s also the amount of vitamins and nutrients found in the juice that outdoes all other juicers as well.  Because of Hurom’s slow juicing method, fruits and vegetable are crushed and pressed, minimizing temperature increases that have been proven to damage live enzymes and reduce nutrient and vitamin content in juice.   As for comparing its nutritional value to store bought juice – even the ones you think are healthy – there’s really no comparison, as the benefits of fresh juice vastly outweigh anything offered in a store.

Control how the amount of pulp in your juice with the Pulp Control Lever, mix ingredients inside the juicer bowl and clean up easily with the Juice Cap. Using the included Fine and Coarse strainers, it’s now possible to juice anything from bananas and avocados to kale, wheatgrass, even nuts and soybeans.

Another thing I love about the Hurom is its size.  Space was a major issue in selecting a juicer, because I wanted to make juicing a part of my family’s everyday life.  As such, we wanted a juicer that could sit on the counter without taking up much space, as opposed to one we had to pack away after each use.  Again, the Hurom Juicer fit the bill perfectly, as its minimal footprint and compact design allows it to sit on the counter and easily slide under the upper cabinet.

So bottom line, is juicing for everyone?  Unequivocally yes. For me, it’s given me a tremendous energy boost in the morning; I feel healthier; and I’ve even lost weight.  For my pregnant wife, she’s in love with the juicer, and the fact that I make the juice for her.  This is my wife’s third pregnancy, and she too has noted significantly increased energy from juicing, which has translated into her being able to stay active and feel even better.  Add to that the vitamins and nutrition she’s getting from juicing and the subsequent health benefits for the baby, and the Hurom is really ideal for anyone expecting.

Takes up minimal counter space sizing up at only 6.6″ x 9.3″ x 15.7″.

What do my kids think of the juicer?  They absolutely love it.  Because there are no sharp parts to cut themselves on, they love loading fresh fruits and veggies into the Hurom and watching the juice come out.  And as I parent, I love it as well, as it’s pretty much impossible to get a 2 or 4 year old to consume any conventional dark leafy greens.  And you can choose no pulp which makes it perfect for their sippy cups which would otherwise clog with pulpy juice.  Other favorite juices my kids love include orange juice (sometimes mixed with pitted cherries or pineapple) and smoothies made from banana, avocado, mixed frozen berries and almond milk.

My advice:  if you’re interested in juicing, don’t run out and buy any juicer you can find, because honestly, if it wasn’t for the Hurom’s ease-of-use and efficiency, I wouldn’t use it nearly as much as I do now.  Make a point of buying the Hurom.  It’s simple to use, it leaves little waste behind, and is in my opinion it’s one of the best and easiest ways to instantly increase the health of your family.