Health & environment – two sides of the same coin

Environment and health are in many ways two things that are strongly linked. If you put it all together, you could say that if we destroy the environment, there will be no health left. So it is wise to live both environmentally friendly and healthy.

Below are a number of products that can help consumers live healthier and more environmentally friendly lives.

All carbonating machines are environmentally friendly in that they reduce the transportation of plastic bottles filled with water around our planet. Wilfa offers an extra environmentally friendly model called Mysoda Woody, made from wood-based biocomposite that consists of almost 100 percent renewable raw materials. And tap water – with or without bubbles – is among the healthiest things you can drink.

If you want more flavor than water offers, you can purchase a juice extractor or a slow juicer. Severin offers both variants and you just need to feed the juicer with fruit or vegetables to get fresh juice of your choice in the glass.

While the juice extractor centrifuges the fruit at high speed, the slow juicer uses meat grinder technology where the fruit is slowly pressed through the micro sieve. The advantages of the juice extractor are that you don't need to peel or core the fruit and that it's fast. The advantages of the slow juicer are that you extract more juice from what you put in and that the process is quieter.

The slow juicer produces a more concentrated juice with a lot of fiber, but according to the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU), which has researched the nutritional content of juice from juice extractors and slow juicers, both techniques generate juice with a high nutritional content and lots of vitamins.

Smoothies are appreciated by many people of all ages, and can be easily made in a regular blender (where, however, it is not particularly good for making juice, as the pulp is not separated from the juice like in a juice extractor or slow juicer).

Today, there are a variety of different types of blender (or mixer) on the market, and one example is OBH Nordica Twister Go – a To Go Blender, perfect for those who are often on the go and want to take a smoothie with them on the go as easily as possible, as you mix your smoothie directly in the bottle, which you then put a lid on and take with you.

Another variant is Bosch vacuum blender VitaPower Series 8, where a vacuum pump creates a vacuum and the ingredients are blended with minimal contact with oxygen, which means vitamins are preserved longer. According to Bosch, a smoothie blended in a vacuum blender contains up to five times more vitamin C after 24 hours in the refrigerator compared to a smoothie blended in a regular blender.

As accessories, there are vacuum storage boxes with date settings where you can vacuum pack and store, for example, fresh fruit and vegetables, and vacuum-packed foods stay fresh in the fridge for up to twice as long, which should reasonably reduce food waste.

Living exclusively on water, fruit, vegetables, juice and smoothies can certainly work, but if you want something fried every now and then, you can use an Airfryer to enjoy crispy and fried food, where little or no oil is used in the cooking process.

Electrolux says that their versatile Explore 6 AirFryers – with a removable 5.4 liter basket – can be used for deep frying, grilling, roasting – and even baking.

Philips says its Airfryer delivers maximum flavour and minimal fat, effortlessly, because Smart Sensing technology does the thinking and cooking for you, and says that Philips Premium Airfryer XXL is the only Airfryer that automatically adjusts time and temperature during cooking for perfectly cooked dishes.

Ola Larsson

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