Who can honestly say that they've gone out and bought a fondue set, a bread-maker or a yoghurt making machine that they are still using months down the line? For most of us, kitchen, gadgets are items that we use a couple of times and then stuff in the bottom of a cupboard never to see the light of day again.

But one kitchen gadget that appears to have a more enduring appeal is the juicer.

The list of fruit and vegetables you can juice is endless and as long as you have the right equipment, you can juice anything from lettuce to sweet potato. Most commonly though, people start off with soft juicy fruits, and for those who like a bit of experimentation, they can be mixed in endless combinations to suit your mood and taste.

There are a huge range of juicing machines on the market, some of which squeeze the juice out through a press. Others chop up the fruit and then spin it around until all the juice is separated from the pulp. If you want to keep it simple, you can use a normal blender, although, strictly speaking, this isn't juicing as it will just produce a pulpy liquid as the fruit becomes blended together.

Government guidelines recommend that we should try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, although they say that fresh juice should only be counted as one portion as it tends to contain smaller amounts of dietary fibre. However, fresh juice has many other health benefits and different types of fruit and vegetables have their own unique health-giving qualities.

Lemons and grapefruits, for example, have great cleansing properties and pineapple can boost the immune system. A mixture of fennel and ginger is good for soothing upset stomachs and relieving nausea. You can create unusual flavours by adding aromatic spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon (or if you need an extra kick, even some fresh chilli).

Fresh juice has high concentrations of nutrients and vitamins, largely because you use more fruit and vegetables in order to get one glass full.

Because the pieces are juiced raw, they retain all the goodness that may normally be reduced by cooking.

These nutrients can help improve the condition of skin and hair, and boost energy levels, as well as making it easier to fight off colds. Many juicing fans say that they find the process addictive and they are constantly looking for new and unusual ways to combine their fruit and veg.