What is the difference between a 20 yuan juicer and a 2,000 yuan blender? Is it true that the more expensive, the better?

When it comes to fruit, everyone knows that it is very healthy. Dietary guidelines of various countries also recommend that we eat fruit every day. For example, my country's dietary guidelines recommend that we eat about half a pound of fruit every day.

People who often eat fruits know that it’s easy to get sick of eating only fruits, and you can’t eat too much. Drinking juice occasionally is not only convenient and quick to drink, but also has a unique flavor.

There are all kinds of fruit juicers on the market, and the prices vary. Some cost more than 20 yuan, and some cost around 2,000 yuan or even nearly 20,000 yuan. They are all juicers, so why are the prices so different? Is it true that the more expensive, the better? Is a wall-breaking juicer really worth buying?

E-commerce platform screenshots

What is a wall breaker?

What's the difference with a juicer?

A juicer, also called a juicer or blender, is used to crush fruit into pulp. If the pulp is filtered out, it becomes juice. If it is not filtered, it becomes "fruit puree". Cheap juicers usually have a slower speed, and some are manual.

The wall breaker is actually a kind of juicer, but with a higher speed. Because of the high speed, the stirring effect is stronger and it can break the ingredients more effectively, so many businesses say that it can break the cell wall, and it has a domineering name - wall breaker.

The wall-breaking machine claims to use wall-breaking technology to break the cell walls of food, which makes people feel that it is very high-end and powerful. In fact, breaking the cell walls is not so magical. We break the cell walls every day when we eat. For example, when the teeth bite through an apple, many cells of the apple are broken; the cell walls of food digested by the stomach are also broken.

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Is a blender really healthier?

In marketing, many businesses will say that a blender is better than a juicer. Let’s analyze them one by one.

1. Will biochemicals be produced when a food cell wall is broken by a food wall breaker?

Many businesses claim that: "When the wall breaking machine breaks the cell walls of food, it will produce a biochemical nutrient that has special health benefits."

Let me first give you the answer: There is no scientific basis for this statement. Breaking food is a physical process, and no new substances will be produced in this process, even if its speed is higher. So don't believe that a wall-breaking machine can produce new nutrients.

2. Can the wall breaking machine fully release the nutrients in fruits?

There is also a saying that: "The blender can beat the whole fruit into juice, fully releasing the nutrients in the fruit. The fruit and vegetable juice after breaking the wall is more nutritionally comprehensive and has a higher absorption and utilization rate by the human body."

Let me give you the answer first: For normal people, it does not need to be crushed to be absorbed normally.

After the fruit enters the human body through chewing, the gastrointestinal tract can directly absorb the nutrients in it. If you crush it before eating, in addition to the fact that some fruit seeds contain certain toxicity, crushing them together may be dangerous. Due to the high speed of the wall crusher, the fruit will be crushed into very fine particles, and such overly fine particles will not only lead to the loss of nutrients, such as some vitamin C, but also be harmful to the stability of blood sugar and gastrointestinal function.

Except for the elderly with bad teeth or infants and young children who are eating complementary foods, it is better to eat fresh fruits directly under normal circumstances.

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3. Are some fruits more beneficial to blood sugar if they are eaten without their skin?

There are also some claims on the Internet that "the wall-breaking machine is good for processing fruits, and some fruits are even more beneficial and healthier for blood sugar after being broken."

Network screenshots

This type of statement mainly mentions three studies, two of which were conducted by the same researcher from the University of Plymouth in the UK.

One study gave subjects a mixed fruit containing 6 kinds of fruits, including: 25g banana, 25g mango, 50g passion fruit, 50g pineapple, 50g kiwi, 50g raspberry. The results showed that except for mango, the blood sugar response of other fruits made into smoothies was lower than that of eating whole fruits. The blender used in this study was a blender of a certain brand, which has a power of 600 watts and a speed of 20,000 rpm, claiming to break the cell walls of ingredients.

Another study compared the responses of healthy-weight and obese people to different fruits and found that both healthy-weight and obese people had lower GIs for cracked raspberries and passion fruit mixed with mango compared to whole fruit. This study used the same blender from the above brand and was also funded by a company.

There is another study that used the same fruit (190g gala apple + 184g blackberry) in its whole form and in the form of fruit smoothie, and then observed the blood sugar response of the subjects 1 hour after the meal. The results showed that juicing and making fruit smoothie not only did not worsen the postprandial blood sugar response, but it actually lowered the postprandial blood sugar response. However, the blender used in this study was an ordinary blender, not a wall breaker.

Overall, there is currently very little research on the health effects of processing fruits with a blender, and it is difficult for us to draw an objective conclusion that processing fruits with a blender is healthier. We recommend that you do not trust the health effects of a blender too much.

Is it necessary to buy a wall breaker?

To sum up in one sentence: If you are pursuing a healthier life, whole fruit is the best choice, and there is no need to buy a blender or juicer.

If you want to squeeze juice occasionally, it is completely sufficient to buy an ordinary juicer. You can also make fruit smoothies and fruit milkshakes at home occasionally to adjust the taste. Of course, if conditions permit, you like to eat fruit smoothies made by a wall-breaking machine and often make them yourself, you can buy one and use it.

The essence of a juicer and a wall crusher is to crush the fruit, but the particle size will be different. The wall crusher will make the particles smaller, which is more convenient to drink. From a health perspective, there is a big difference between drinking juice and eating fruit. Eating the whole fruit directly is more nutritious and healthier.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that you eat whole fruits as much as possible. If you really can’t eat enough fruits, 100% fruit juice, unsweetened dried fruits, and frozen fruits are also OK. However, if you drink fruit juice, it can only account for half of all the fruits. Try to eat whole fruits as much as possible.

The Chinese Dietary Guidelines recommend eating fruit every day, ensuring a daily intake of 200g to 350g of fresh fruit. Juice cannot replace fresh fruit.

When fruits are made into pulp or juice, some nutrients will be lost, such as vitamin C and polyphenols in the fruit will be oxidized and lost. In addition, the sugar in the fruit will become free sugar, which will greatly increase the blood sugar response.

What is even more troublesome is that after the fruit is made into pulp or juice, it is easy for people to eat too fast and too much, and it has a poor sense of fullness, is quickly emptied from the stomach, and is absorbed quickly in the intestines, so blood sugar rises much faster, which is very unfavorable for blood sugar and weight control. This is why eating whole fruits in moderation can reduce the risk of diabetes, but consuming juice can increase the risk of diabetes.

In short, it is okay to use a blender to process fruits to make juice, smoothies or milkshakes occasionally, but if you do this frequently, it is actually not healthy. It is better to try to eat whole fruits.

References

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28991222;PMCID:PMC5678208.

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[3] Crummett, Lisa T., and Riley J. Grosso. "PostprandialGlycemicResponse toWholeFruitversusBlendedFruitinHealthy,YoungAdults." Nutrients14.21(2022):4565.

[4] LiL,etal.Wholefreshfruitintakeandriskofincidentdiabetesindifferentglycemicstages:anationwideprospectivecohortinvestigation.EurJNutr.2023Mar;62(2):771-782.doi:

10.1007/s00394-022-02998-6.Epub2022Oct19.PMID:36261730;PMCID:PMC9941276.

[5]XiB,etal.Intakeoffruitjuiceandincidenceoftype2diabetes:asystematicreviewand

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[6] dietaryguideline2015-2020

[7] Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2022

Planning and production

Author: Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert