A decade ago when you heard the word juicing images of a gaunt-like person dressed in earthy clothes and living off acai berries came to mind. A few years ago, the juice cleanse became the trend: people traded solid food for several days of vegetable-and-fruit blends and nut milks as a way to reset their bodies and maybe drop a few pounds. Bottles of bright green and beet red liquids became the must have accessory, turning up during New York Fashion Week, red-carpet events and in cities like LA, Miami, and Atlanta.
Today, fresh, organic, cold-pressed juices have gone mainstream, and bottles of veggie-heavy blends are displayed prominently in grocery stores around the world. However, the thinking behind the best way to juice has changed – before it was about the 3 to 7 day cleanse or ‘detox’, now it is about incorporating a cold-pressed juice into your daily routine to add energy and nutrients. Cold pressing is a production method believed to preserve nutrients better than centrifugal juicing.
At The Pantry in Birmingham you can stop by for your daily juice and choose one of their delicious concoctions from their juice menu. You can also opt to do a 1 day cleanse which is truly a ‘rest’ for you body. It is a nice way to reset your stomach, especially after too much holiday food. The first time I did a 1 day cleanse I was amazed to find that:
1. I Was Not Hungry – I wasn’t hungry at all, in fact there were some juices I drank over the course of 2 hours.
2. The Juices Were Delicious – While there was one juice that was quite bitter and hard to get down, most were absolutely delicious and something I could drink everyday.
3. Almond Milk Made For A Great Night Cap – Capping off the day with a bottle of almond milk was a great way to ease physically and mentally off to sleep.
What juices are best? Most people opt for a green juice with kale and spinach flavored with lemon and other fruits. Blue Point Green Juice found at Whole Foods Market boasts six pounds of leafy greens in every bottle and is made from kale, apple, ginger, romaine, spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, and lemon. Proving green juice has mass-market appeal, it outsells every other flavor two to one. Starbucks recently got into the juicing game with Evolution Fresh and is poised to bring green juice all over the country. Its bestselling Sweet Greens and Lemon includes celery, parsley, wheat grass, apple, romaine, clover sprouts, cucumber, lemon, lime, spinach, and kale. And it actually isn’t all that sweet. It’s about 16 grams of sugar compared to many others that approach or exceed 30 grams.
Why drink juice instead of just eating fresh vegetables and fruit? While some of the healthy components in whole vegetables and fruit can be lost when pressing the juice, most people are not going to eat a mouthful of raw beets so juicing allows you to get those nutrients with flavors that are easier to swallow.
What if you can’t stomach the taste of bitter greens? All juices can be enhanced with fruit like pineapple, apples, lemon, etc. Just remember fruit is higher in sugar so keep the fruit intake low in your juices.
What time of day should you drink your juice? Whenever you want and whenever you need a boost of energy.
Why organic? Remember just like juicing provides a boost of nutrients, if the vegetables and fruits are not organic it will provide a boost of pesticides as well.