Eat more fruits and veggies is generally a floating resolution at the top of all our self-improvement lists. And this is one resolution we are probably in desperate need of making; the average American is eating less than five servings per day from the produce aisle, when it should be upward of seven to 13 servings for most adults. We know we should be getting more than we are; the problem is we lead active, full lifestyles, in which preparing tons of fresh fruits and veggies for digestion – all of which go bad after a few days, and none of which are exactly “fast” or clean-up free, if you count the peeling and the pitting and the chopping and cooking – is hardly easy to add onto the daily routine.
2 pounds of fresh produce are squeezed into the average 16 oz glass of fresh juice. If you were even capable of eating at least 2 lbs of fresh fruits and vegetables each day – in between your carpools and workouts and commutes and jobs – your body loses a good portion of those precious nutrients in the long digestive process. Yes, the fiber of these fruits and vegetables is good for you, but not as necessary as you might think – unless you are otherwise subsisting on Wonder bread and white pasta (is this 2001? when was the last time you even saw refined carbs?). However, with juice, there is no digestion involved, so the live nutrients can be absorbed and assimilated by your body within minutes of drinking . This is why the folks drinking the koolaid juice can say vegetable juice is better for your body than both raw and cooked vegetables.
You also may hear something about how you need “cold-pressed” or “fresh-pressed” juice, and possibly, depending on how informed and hip you are, you may have heard the term “HPP” thrown confusingly around. If you are standing in line at Starby’s or Whole Foods, and you’re the average multi-tasking yet health-conscious American, maybe you ditch this juice idea altogether. After all, wasn’t there just recently some big scandal about Naked? Is juice one more trendy fad that will have its moment and then be revealed to be unnecessary or, gasp, unhealthy?
Here’s the deal.
Cold-pressed. Some studies suggest that if your juicing process heats the fruits and veggies up (which is done by centrifugal juicers, where the blades get pretty hot), they may be losing a hefty percentage of those disease-preventing phytonutrients that enticed you to juice them in the first place. Cold-pressing however has been shown in at least 3 studies to give you the most bang for your nutritional buck.
Fresh-pressed. If you went out and bought yourself the best cold-pressing juicer on the market, a bag full of produce and sealable glass bottles, and made a big ole fresh supply for yourself right then and there, your juice would stay good and edible in your refrigeration for a shockingly short time period: fruit juices can last 24-48 hours and vegetable juices 12-24 hours. This is where that term “HPP” comes in. It stands for High Pressure Patalization, and it is part of the juice-making process when distributed from greater distances to national stores like Whole Foods. IT IS NOT PASTEURIZATION. The juice is not heated up, which would definitely result in a big hit at the nutrient level. Remember, we need our [some of] our produce alive and fresh to really impact our bodies. With HPP, the already-sealed bottles of juice float in high pressure in water for a grand total of 80 seconds, stunting pathogen growth. This process gives the juice a shelf-life of up to 3 weeks. However, some believe this could also affect just how “live and active” the good stuff can be in HPP-processed juice, where there is such a drastic difference in shelf life from the fresh-pressed. The argument is, it simply can’t be as potent for your body.
Its important to keep in mind here that, if you start reading past the BuzzFeed articles, you may be shocked to realize that even respectable biologists still don’t fully understand how exactly phytochemicals and vitamins work in our bodies. We have seen undeniable correlation between vegetable/fruit intake (both cooked and raw) and a prevention/cure of a myriad of deadly diseases. However, the way in which they work is not yet something we can break down and determine with absolute certainty. It is believed they work synergistically. If your goal is to get as many phytonutrients as possible into your system, grabbing a bottled juice from WF or Starby’s is a great and totally acceptable way, but the thinking is, can it really be the best when you compare the freshness of living organisms that you absorb within minutes of cold-pressing?
Non-negotiables. Whether in your home or a boutique juice bar, you are paying a fair price for a high-quality, nutrient-rich product. We already talked about how many fresh fruits and vegetables can be packed into one small juice; even non-organic, this would be pricey. No matter what side you may fall on when it comes to the also-inconclusive debate about organics, most people generally accept that ORGANIC is the obvious choice with juices. If you assimilate the contents of juice within minutes, you don’t want that to include a cocktail of chemicals from the pesticides on your produce.
You probably also want a juice that you don’t gag on, but that isn’t a primarily fructose-filled fruit drink – the demise for the sweet and misleading Naked products. And while juicing everything yourself might be tempting, when you weigh all the prep-work and clean-up, you may find it more doable to simply commit to replacing a few meals out at a local juice bar. When it comes to the product itself, and the labor required to bring it to your lips, the actual cost of a fresh-pressed juice set next to the price tag, even from the poshest of juice bars, is usually more than fair. And you don’t treat it like a healthy frappuccino that’s triple the price; think of it more like a meal in a glass, to be consumed with a nut-bar (or something similarly protein-dense and small).
We in Charlotte are lucky to have several legit options for fresh, cold-pressed juice. We are currently having a moment with VIVA RAW – our own, Charlotte-based juice boutique. Viva is all about supporting local farms. “We buy locally grown, organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible, and are always looking for ways to minimize our carbon footprint on the community.” In this holistic, community-enriching case, I’d venture to say you are getting more than you pay for with this product, not less.
Check them out at their 7th Street location in the Public Market – Monday thru Friday, 8am to 6pm; Saturdays, 8:30am-4pm; Sundays 11am-3pm.
