The Ultimate Choice for Healing and Nutrition
What is it? Why is it different? How do you make it?
Author: David Feinberg, Founder and CEO of PURE Juicer
With a quote from our new Chief Medical Officer at PURE Juicer, Ilene Ruhoy, MD, Ph.D.
Inside this Article:
- What is true cold-pressed juice?
- Why is homemade cold-pressed juice the very best juice?
- The medical benefits of cold-pressed juice
- A video tutorial on how to make cold-pressed juice
- Dr. Ruhoy shares her favorite immune-boosting juice recipe
Including fresh juice as part of a well-balanced diet is an important way to achieve a healthier, more energetic, and disease-free lifestyle. Fresh and raw foods are rich in proteins, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals, the most essential building blocks for our body. My hope is to explain the cold press juicing process and to educate you about why true cold-pressed juice is so much better than juice made by any other process.
What Is True Cold-Pressed Juicing?
Cold press juicing is a two-stage process that involves the grinding and pressing of fruits and vegetables. This process is the same one that has been used for centuries and to this day for apple cider and extra-virgin olive oil production. It is the tried and true method to extract delicate flavor esters, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients from produce.
The first stage quickly and efficiently grinds the pulp to a fine mash. Preventing heat build-up is the key to preserving enzyme levels, preventing oxidation and acidification. The grinding process uses a powerful and fast (3450rpm) stainless steel cutter. Because the process is fast, the produce remains cool while being ground and the nutrient quality is preserved. The second stage presses the juice from the ground mash. Optimizations made in the last seven years have improved the grind quality and added efficiency to the pressing process. This means better juice quality and higher yields but the true cold press process remains unchanged.
True cold-pressed juice has the highest yields. For example, if we start with 1000g of produce and make 750ml of juice, that is a 75% yield. With celery up to 88-90% can be achieved, leafy greens 53-58%, carrot 67-73%. The average yield of a true cold press juicer is 67% and this is the most complete, longest-lasting, freshest, most nutritious, pulp-free, silky-smooth juice you have ever tasted. Perhaps I used too many superlatives but they all apply. The point is, there is a correlation between yield and the completeness of the juice. When juice is complete, it stores longer, tastes better, and has the most beneficial content to improve vitality. It is generally agreed, true cold-pressed juice is the best there is when used for healing the body.
Why Should You Drink Cold-Pressed Juice?
Cold-pressed juice is easily absorbed by the body. By removing the fiber, the juice is almost instantaneously digested. Where in a healthy person food takes two to three hours to digest, it is estimated that the body can absorb the nutrients from a cold-pressed juice in 10-15 minutes.
Before we move forward, let’s talk about fiber.
People always ask, “what about the fiber? Isn’t it important, why remove it?” The entire point of true cold press juicing is to remove the fiber so the body can unlock the juice’s energy without having to expend energy “Yes, but isn’t fiber an essential element in our diet?” Yes, it is; fiber is still a valuable component in our daily diet. I believe in a healthy diet with salads and fresh fruit. It is easy to consume as much dietary fiber as is required by the body to maintain optimal health. I do not recommend removing fiber from all meals but simply suggest adding pulp-free juice to a diet that already has plenty of fiber built into our daily routine. Think about it this way, if we drink 1 quart of juice daily, that is the same as eating 3 pounds of fresh produce; who eats that many carrots, celery sticks, or salads? By adding fresh raw juice into our diet we are making tons of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals available for rapid uptake into our body in a gentle and natural way so we can heal and regenerate. In closing, eat well, and get plenty of dietary fiber in your daily meals.
The key to absorption into the body is removing the fiber; by eliminating fiber, the body wastes no energy digesting it. The purpose of the press cloths is to filter the fiber out, allowing only the nutrient-rich juice to flow through. This is the essence and core of true cold press juicing. By following this time-tested process, we are providing our body with the easiest meal for our body to absorb. As an aside, smoothies take more energy and are harder to digest than regular food. Step one of the digestive process is the act of chewing and moistening our chewed food with saliva. Without this step, the rest of the digestive system has to do more work to do. When drinking juice, the best practice is to ‘chew’ your juice and add saliva is a critical component of digestion. Potentially, allowing the juice to warm to room temperature, would aid digestion as cold liquids shock the stomach whereas warm fluids enter the small intestine immediately. I hope this explains why pulp-free juice made by true cold pressing is the easiest food for the body to absorb.
Our new Chief Medical Officer shared when she likes to drink juice: “My favorite time of the day to drink juice is immediately after waking up before I have had anything else. This is because our body’s cells have fasted overnight, and the body is primed to absorb all of those nutrients,” explains Dr. Ruhoy. “When you drink juice first thing in the morning, all these nutrients are absorbed so efficiently and effectively that your body can use the energy immediately.”
Why Make Cold-Pressed Juice at Home?
True cold-pressed juice is the very best juice that can be made because it is completely extracted juice that is raw and unpasteurized. I recommend making cold-pressed juice at home or finding a small business that makes it in small batches. The best juice is the one you can drink immediately after pressing because it guarantees it is the highest quality possible.
Juice made with a true cold press juicer retains its health benefits longer than the juice from other types of juicers (centrifugal, slow, masticating, etc.) Juices will keep for 24 to 72 hours, depending on the type and freshness of the produce. Always start with the freshest produce for the highest quality and longest storage life. Green juice is the most delicate and will keep for up to 24 hours. Carrot-apple and similar juices will keep for up to 72 hours with little difference in taste.
Freezing juice: Did you know you can even make large batches of juice and freeze it into single servings? I know one family the juices every other Sunday and make 8-10 gallons for the following two weeks. This is an incredibly efficient way to juice. Laboratory testing for enzymes with an electron microscope confirms that fresh frozen juice retains up to 95 percent of the original enzyme count and nutritional value when measured after 30 days. Finally, previously frozen juice made by the true two-step process tastes just as good as fresh-pressed juice – yes really.
What Are the Medical Health Benefits of Cold-Pressed Juice?
Fruits and vegetables are essential to health. Cold-pressed juicing can help meet or even exceed the recommended daily intake of these powerful foods.
Research related specifically to cold-pressed juice follows:
- Improve Diet Quality: A recent study associates drinking 100% fruit juice with improved diet quality. People had a higher intake of nutrients like calcium, magnesium, vitamins C and D, and potassium. The report shows that those drinking juice also had more energy.
- Possible Weight Loss: In one study, people who participated in a three-day fruit/vegetable juice cleanse lost weight.
- Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A study shows that drinking fruit and vegetable juices can improve cardiovascular health. Specifically, the right juices can help lower blood pressure.
- Meet Daily Fruit/Vegetable Requirements: The 2005 USDA Dietary Guidelines increased the number of vegetables people need to consume daily. A recent study shows that drinking vegetables help people meet daily intake requirements.
What Are Other Potential Health Benefits of Cold-Pressed Juice?
Other benefits to drinking cold-pressed juice include healthier-looking skin, looking younger, improved bowel and gut health, and overall looking and feeling better. While not all these benefits are medically proven, they are easy to see and feel in ourselves and others. And we believe, like Hippocrates, that food is medicine.
Additional potential benefits of cold press juicing:
- Anti-Aging: Including fruits and vegetables high in vitamin A may help decrease inflammation and slow the aging process. Two vegetables rich in vitamin A are kale and carrots.
- Reduce Stress: Vitamin C can significantly lower levels of the body’s stress hormones like cortisol. Oranges, grapefruit, spinach, tomatoes, and red peppers are all good sources of vitamin C.
- Cleanse the System: Doing a one-day cleanse can be highly beneficial to your system. “Sometimes, the gut just needs to rest and heal,” explains Dr. Ruhoy. “Since you’re not consuming anything during a fast, blood, nutrients, and oxygen can be sent elsewhere to let the other organs do their job.”
- Help Treat Chronic Disease: Eating a diet filled with fruits and vegetables can be helpful when combined with therapies to treat chronic disease. If you’re grappling with a chronic ailment, be sure to speak with a healthcare professional to learn more about your condition and the effects of juicing.
- Brighter and Shinier Eyes: Fruits and vegetables known to be good for the eyes include sweet potatoes and carrots.a name=”4″>
- Decrease Bloating and Water Retention: If you want to reduce bloating, you need fruits or vegetables full of helpful digestive enzymes like pineapple. Fennel and ginger can also reduce bloating. Dr. Ruhoy says that celery juice is particularly good for the gut.
- Help Keep Colds and the Flu Away: Drinking cold-pressed juice can help support the immune system. Apples, carrots, oranges, kale, and beets are beneficial.
- Work to Reduce Cell Damage: Drinking fruits and vegetables high in vitamin E may help slow cell damage. Think spinach, kiwifruit, and blackberries.
- Improve Your Skin: Drinking juices that target inflammation can help fight acne. Consider adding apples, cucumbers, carrots, ginger, and blueberries to help minimize acne and get glowing skin.
How to Make Cold-Pressed Juice at Home
There are only two options for two-stage cold press juicers with hydraulic presses that truly maximize nutrition and juice yield. (Here’s a comparison of the top two cold press juicers.)
This video will show you how to make juice using a true cold-pressed technique with a two-stage juicer. Today’s juicer is the PURE Juicer (Full disclosure; I created and built the PURE Juicer).
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make cold-pressed juice at home with the PURE Juicer.
I am using Dr. Ilene Ruhoy’s go-to juice to build my immune system during the ‘flu-season’ months. It includes some ingredients that she will try to use in every recipe, like ginger and turmeric. And with the addition of lemons, apples, cucumbers, celery, and yellow beet, there is more than enough juice to share with loved ones.
Dr. Ruhoy’s Immune Booster Juice Recipe
Link to video: https://youtu.be/rBsjl82HNyE
- 2 Lemons
- 2 Cucumbers
- 2 Apples
- 1 Bunch of celery
- 1 Yellow beet (or substitute a red beet if needed)
- 1 inch of Ginger
- Small piece of turmeric
Thanks for taking the time to learn about cold-pressed juicing. In my next blog, we will dive into one of our favorite topics, green juice. We will include more helpful tips about why green juice is essential for our bodies and share a few recipes that everyone in your household will love.
Happy Juicing,
David Feinberg,
Founder & CEO of PURE Juicer
Norwalk Update: November 2021
The Norwalk Juicer Company closed its doors this month after 87 years, they will be sadly missed by the entire juicing community. PURE Juicer will now be the only two-stage juicer available. Created in 2016, PURE Juicer innovated two-stage juicing and the juicing experience through modern technology and customer input.
We did not anticipate Norwalk going out of business. Our community is full of Norwalk and PURE Juicer owners with the same goal of living healthy lives and drinking the best true cold-pressed juice a home juicer can make. Knowing many in our community will need parts and/or services for your Norwalk, we are working on ways to support you.
PURE Juicer makes all its juicing parts from food-grade stainless steel, we redesigned the feed tube for easier use and less kickback. We incorporated an eight-tooth stainless steel cutter and increased the pressing force to 2.5-tons. These changes produce the highest yield and a better juicing experience.
In an effort to carry the legacy of two-stage juicing forward and to support the community who is unsure what to do next, we would like to share what we can do:
- PURE Juicer cloths, bags, and liners are compatible with all Norwalk Juicers. Link to all items are here:https://purejuicer.com/collections/cloths_and_bags
- PURE Juicer parts are not compatible with Norwalk Juicers. Please contact our support team if you have any questions at support@purejuicer.com
- Sign up to receive emails from PURE Juicer. We will update you on connections to service for your existing Norwalk juicer and other ways you can keep juicing with the machine you have. We are in the process of developing resources, where possible, to continue to support you.
- A reminder that PURE Juicer is Gerson-Approved, just like Norwalk. You are in good hands with PURE Juicer and we are here to continue to serve our community for years to come.
Our commitment is to our community. We welcome your questions and comments. And we hope to see everyone juicing for years to come.
Sincerely,
David Feinberg
CEO & Founder of PURE Juicer
