Do Masticating Juicers Retain Fiber? (How Do They Do It?)

Image of masticating juicer making a juice

Masticating juicers use cold-press methods to extract only the liquid and leave the solid part of the ingredients behind. This juice is nutritious. However, it doesn’t retain 100% of the original ingredients. So, do masticating juicers retain fiber?

Masticating juicers retain some fiber, but all of it isn’t retained from the ingredients being juiced. Depending on the make and model of the masticating juicer, it will retain some soluble fiber in the juices that it produces. However, most of the insoluble fiber is lost during the juicing process.

Let’s talk about this in more detail.

How Masticating Juicers Remove Fiber?

Juicing is an easy way to add fruits and vegetables to your diet.

You can use either centrifugal or cold-press juicers to prepare your juice.

The main difference between these two appliances is the method they use to extract the juice.

Centrifugal juicers have sharp blades to chop and shred ingredients.

These devices use centrifugal force to separate the juice from the solids.

Masticating juicers use high pressure to crush the ingredients and separate the juice from them.

Cold-press or masticating juicers extract more nutrients than centrifugal juicers.

These devices operate at low speeds and don’t generate heat during the extraction process.

Hence, they can preserve more nutrients and enzymes.

However, masticating juicers also remove fiber.

Like centrifugal juicers, they don’t strip all the fiber from the produce.

However, they remove nearly 90% of the available fiber.

Fiber In Fruits And Vegetables

Raw produce has two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble.

As the names suggest, soluble fiber dissolves in liquid while insoluble fiber does not.

So, soluble fibers in fruits and vegetables dissolve in the fluid or water.

Meanwhile, insoluble fiber is present in the solid part or pulp.

Both types of fiber help with digestion and improve our ability to absorb nutrients.

Experts recommend fiber-rich diets to regulate weight gain, lower the risk of diabetes, and reduce the risk of cardiological disorders.

Now, juicers separate the liquid part of the ingredient from the solid pulp.

Many phytonutrients, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients are present in this liquid.

Soluble fiber will also appear in this juice.

So, you can enjoy the health benefits of all these components when you consume the juice.

However, insoluble fiber is not present in the liquid part of a fruit or vegetable.

It belongs to the pulp.

When you juice the produce, the insoluble fiber stays in the pulp and remains in the mesh or sieve.

All the insoluble fiber goes to waste when you throw this solid pulp away.

Cold-press juicers extract all the liquid, leaving the dry pulp behind.

This pulp contains insoluble fiber.

Unless you include this leftover pulp in your diet, you will lose out on most of the insoluble fiber in the ingredient.

Recommended Further Reading:

Do You Need Both Soluble And Insoluble Fiber?

Regular intake of fiber is essential for overall digestive health.

This includes both soluble and insoluble fiber.

When you restrict your intake of insoluble fiber, you will not receive all the benefits of dietary fiber as a whole.

Soluble fiber helps to control sugar levels. It also improves waste elimination and reduces cholesterol levels.

However, it doesn’t compensate for the benefits of insoluble fiber.

Insoluble fiber helps you feel fuller. In addition, it prevents hunger pangs and helps with weight control.

Hence, if weight loss is your main aim, you should consume significant amounts of insoluble fiber.

The soluble fiber you get from juicing fruits and vegetables is not enough to produce a big difference in your digestion.

While cold-press juicing is more beneficial than centrifugal juicing for nutritional quality, it doesn’t make much difference when it comes to retaining insoluble fiber.

How Do Masticating Juicers Compare With Other Types Of Juicers?

Masticating juicers are generally considered better than other juicers because of their juice extraction method.

They draw more liquid than centrifugal juicers by using high pressure.

They also preserve more nutrients and enzymes because the extraction process doesn’t involve heat.

Fruits and vegetables don’t undergo oxidation when you run them through a masticating juicer.

These juicers produce juices with better color. They also last longer.

You can keep cold-press juice for up to three days if you store it well.

Meanwhile, juice made by centrifugal juicers spoils fast.

Related Further Reading:

How Can You Compensate For The Lack Of Fiber In Cold-Pressed Juice?

Juicing removes most of the fiber from fruits and ingredients.

So, you will not get the benefits of insoluble fiber when you drink them.

Hence, you should compensate for the lack of fiber in your fruit and vegetable juices.

If you have juice with balanced meals, this shouldn’t pose a serious problem.

However, if you do juice fasts, the lack of fiber will leave you feeling hungry.

You will have hunger pangs and crave more food. Drinking more juice will not solve the problem.

Fruits have natural sugars, and consuming more juice will cause your sugar levels to rise.

You will also continue to feel hungry.

So you should compensate for the lack of fiber by consuming it separately.

One way to do this is to add some of the pulp back into the juice.

Some juicers have the option for pulpy juice.

They add some part of the pulp into the juice to provide the benefits of fiber with the juice.

While the juice will be thicker in this case, it will still be easier to consume than the whole fruit.

If your juicer doesn’t do this, you can add the fiber separately.

Get the fiber back into your system and continue with juicing to enhance your intake of healthy nutrients.

You can also opt for blending instead of juicing to enhance your intake of fruits and vegetables without losing the benefits of fiber.

Does Blending Retain Fiber?

Juicing is quick and convenient.

Fruit and vegetable juices provide a large dose of vitamins in a single serving.

It makes it easy for the body to absorb nutrients.

If we overlook the part that insoluble fiber is lost from the ingredient, juicing is an excellent way to enhance your intake of plant-based nutrients.

Blending is another way to improve your intake of fruits and vegetables.

Here, you use the entire fruit or vegetable. It allows you to enjoy not only the same nutrients but also fiber.

Blending will pulverize the entire ingredient into a smooth puree.

They don’t separate the liquid from the solid pulp.

They instead liquefy the solid ingredients into a homogenous mixture that you can easily consume.

So, blending uses the whole product.

It keeps all the nutrients, including the soluble and insoluble fiber of the fruit or vegetable.

Interesting Further Reading:

Juicers That Keep Fiber

During juicing, losing some fiber is inevitable.

However, some masticating juicers will leave some pulp in your juice.

This improves the fiber content of the juice.

The Shine Kitchen masticating juicer and Omega VRT-350 are two such masticating filters that retain fiber in the juice.

These juicers have two filters, both of which are removable.

One is a coarse filter, while the other one is a fine filter.

If you wish to retain some pulp in your juice, you can use the coarse filter.

It will leave some pulp in the juice, and this pulp contains insoluble fiber.

References

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