A Note from Jen
Kim and I have been on a health journey together this past year. We both love juicing and we both love caring for our families, but there has been a piece missing.
Healthy living is important on many levels. It helps our cells, our organs, our quality of life. But so does joy and connection. What happens if we move to a healthier lifestyle but lose the connection we have with our loved ones because of these changes?
After a year of connecting, I believe Kim has helped us find many answers. The most important is that you CAN be healthy and KEEP your community strong through these changes. We have found they become even stronger because we all naturally crave what is in plants. But the PURE Juicer has allowed us to do more than just eat healthy. We are making beautiful juices and foods that complement our community-cravings and complement a healthy and nourishing life. The key is to JUST START.
I hope you enjoy this interview with Kim. Please add comments to the interview on YouTube or below, in the comments section. Help us continue to build health and community with your ideas. – Jen Longtin, Chief Juicing Officer
Transcript
Jen – Hi everybody. We are here again for another PURE Juicer Spotlight and I am absolutely thrilled that it is Kim Burrell. Kim Burrell is part of the PURE Juicer team on engagement. She is also the assistant to the Housleys on social and other business affairs. And she has really grown in fame through COVID by sharing her recipes and sharing her passion for community and cooking, which is why we are so grateful that she is part of the PURE team. She’s been juicing for a couple of years and I’m just gonna go ahead and jump in and say welcome to Kim. And Kim, tell us about yourself. Thank you for joining me and being part of our spotlight video series.
Kim – Thank you, I’m so excited. I’m so excited. Excited to be a part of PURE. Excited to be a part of the world of juicing, which has helped my health journey so much. Just joy filled is what I would describe myself.
Jen – So, how did you get started with juicing? Let’s start with that. When was the first time you heard about juicing and when did you actually start juicing? Because I believe it was before PURE, right?
Kim – It was.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – So, I have known about juicing, probably all of my life. I never really was a juicer. I thought it was medicinal. It was something that you do as a detox or for a short period of time to cure something. I never really thought of it in the terms that I do now as being a part of my lifestyle. So, the first time I really juiced was during a detox, which was probably three years ago. And it was a challenge. It was a, I believe it was a three day challenge. It could have been a four day juicing only. And I juiced and then I went back to whatever I was doing before that. So, it was great-
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – but it didn’t stick with me. It was just something that I did, a challenge, and it was done.
Jen – And when you did the detox, did you notice health benefits right away from it or-
Kim – Absolutely.
Jen – Yeah. What, like, maybe your top three things that you noticed.
Kim – Weight loss.
Jen – Okay.
Kim – Number one.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – My skin and my energy level.
Jen – Nice.
Kim – So, why did I go back to doing what I did before juicing? I don’t know.
Jen – Yeah, so, let’s talk about what it is that you, that got you started to doing juicing on a regular basis then. When did that happen?
Kim – So, fast forward, I was introduced via social media to Tabitha Brown. And she was doing a juicing detox, again, a second time. Prior to that, my husband had decided he was going to be a vegan. And he adopted that lifestyle for probably three years. Only 100% vegan.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – I was not doing that at the time, but I saw Tabitha and I thought, “Okay, I’ll try this.” And this was a 10 day thing, but I went into it with a different mindset because I had been watching my husband and all of the differences that were happening in his body and just in his mind is 100% different from the lifestyle he was leading.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – So, instead of me thinking of it as just a challenge, I thought of it as a gateway into a different lifestyle.
Jen – Love that.
Kim – So, that time, it was just mind opening, a lot more freeing. It was me embracing things as opposed to doing it to get to the end of it.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – And then I became a vegan after that. For probably two years, 100% plant-based.
Jen – Yep.
Kim – And all of the… And then I was incorporating juicing. I did not have the PURE Juicer, but I was juicing regularly and using that in tandem with healthy eating.
Jen – So, then you got the PURE Juicer, and I know what we always like to try and just dive into the meat of this too, which for me is the PURE Juicer. And I was fortunate enough to be part of your life when you added it, but other people don’t know your story around it and what you noticed the difference was with the PURE Juicer and also how it’s grown to be part of your whole family’s lifestyle.
Kim – So, I saw the PURE Juicer on Instagram and I work with the Housleys and they love juicing and I saw the juicer that they were using and I said, “You need to try this juicer. You should get this juicer.” And so, I reached out to you.
Jen – Yes, you did.
Kim – And the relationship was formed and I saw how amazing the juicer was in their life and I knew that I had to have one as well. So, when I got my juicer and just, I would say the number one thing that stood out with me, because I had already been juicing now regularly, so it wasn’t like new to me, but the texture and the yield blew my mind.
Jen – Yeah, yeah.
Kim – And that’s not… It’s not just cliche, it’s real.
Jen – There’s something about the texture too. We’re trying to get better at describing it, but it’s a thicker, I mean the juice is very filling and we don’t know if it’s just the microparticles of the insoluble fiber or just soluble fiber or a combination of both, but we’re getting closer at being able to describe that texture better. Not just from a texture point, but also from a health benefit point because we know that there are clear benefits to what is getting through and being able to be absorbed into your body. So, that’s cool ’cause those are the things that everybody that we hear about, talks about texture.
Kim – And totally more filling.
Jen – It’s more filling.
Kim – Yeah.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – So, of course, everyone in my house was blown away. And the taste, so I could never get my family, especially my son to drink green juice.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – Tasted, it was just always like, ugh, it was so gross or whatever. And everyone drinks PURE green juice.
Jen – Love it.
Kim – It’s just different.
Jen – I love it.
Kim – Mm-hmm.
Jen – And it’s so easy to add pineapple in there too. That is subtle enough that it makes everyone drink their greens in a variety of greens, right.
Kim – Of huge variety. Thanks to you, I juice everything.
Jen – Yeah, yeah, good, I’m glad. Are there, what are your favorite juices? Like, go-to juices for the family?
Kim – My husband loves carrot apple.
Jen – Yep.
Kim – And my son loves anything with pineapple.
Jen – Yep.
Kim – My favorites though are I love the beet. Juices, orange and the traditional red beet. I love pomegranate juice, pomegranate pineapple, pomegranate orange, straight pomegranate.
Jen – Yeah, I’m big on pomegranate.
Kim – Oh, yeah.
Jen – I’m Bubba Pomegranate.
Kim – And I’ve been lately loving cucumber and greens. Any green with the cucumber.
Jen – Yeah, so juicy. And I love the pulp. I’ll literally just nibble on the pulp because it’s flat, but it’s still so refreshing, so it’s kind of a talk about a different way of actually eating your cucumber. You get to drink the juice and then nibble on the pulp, but it’s so good. So good.
Kim – It is.
Jen – What is your son’s favorite?
Kim – He loves anything with pineapple.
Jen – Oh, yeah, anything with pineapple.
Kim – As long as I tell him there’s pineapple in there.
Jen – And so, you’ve had the benefit, I mean benefit of being a part of the Test Kitchens and you’ve seen that there’s so many more uses to the juicer. I think that’s really important to be able to share that this is not just for juicing although that is the primary reason we created the juicer is the health benefits that you get from giving your digestion a break and being able to drink the juice, being able to absorb the nutrients. But sometimes we don’t always wanna have juice. Sometimes we actually wanna cook, we wanna entertain. What are some of the favorite things that you make with the juicer? ‘Cause you’ve had some things that blew my mind and I just thought it’d be worth sharing those with the community.
Kim – I am a huge foodie, as you know, and everyone who knows me knows. I love creating things and the PURE is an extension of that. So, I love making pie crust, salsa, marinara, guacamole, everything, like, nice cream.
Jen – Yeah, the nice creams. Yeah, the nice creams. That you really took the nice creams to a new level.
Kim – I love it, love it. I love making nut milk. Love it.
Jen – Yeah. And I don’t drink, you know, regular, traditional dairy milk.
Kim – Yeah.
Jen – You neither.
Kim – Cows milk. So, and I don’t really like store bought nut milks at all.
Jen – No, when you taste the different-
Kim – Whole new world.
Jen – Yeah, yeah. And your husband has, he has to watch his sugar content. So, you found a way through that and your husband’s still able to have juice and manage his sugar levels.
Kim – He does.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – So, he was diagnosed with prediabetes, and he has a family history of diabetes, but he has managed his diabetes with his diet and exercise. It was one of the reasons he thought it would help him to go vegan.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – He wasn’t getting as much of some of the things that he need. Well, I won’t say that because it’s possible to do as a vegan, but it was very difficult for him to get what he needed, so he did add some animal proteins back. But as far as juicing goes, it does not affect his blood sugar at all.
Jen – Do you, this is, I’ve never asked you this, but is there a difference between the juices that you’ve had, like, the other juicer versus this juice? Is there, was there a difference? And there doesn’t have to be, but-
Kim – Was there a difference as far as-
Jen – For his health and-
Kim – Blood sugar?
Kim – That’s a really good question. He didn’t really drink as much juice though before.
Jen – Oh.
Kim – Like, now he asks for juice.
Jen – Okay.
Kim – Where before, he may have had the same… We never talked about that, but he may have had the same mentality that I did, that it was like for a fast or, you know, for medicinal purposes. Whereas now he just enjoyed drinking juice-
Jen – That’s great.
Kim – as part of his lifestyle.
Jen – Yeah, yeah. Well, I’m excited. I know that you and he are willing to do some glucose just testing and monitoring to see what the results are, so stay tuned for that. That’ll be a really interesting sort of science project. We need to have a bigger scale of course, but that is one of the most common complaints or myths around there about juicing. Okay, let’s get to new juicers because you talk to new people all the time. You’re on our social media and you’re educating, you’re doing demos, we’re doing lives together, and you’re talking to a lot of people who are new. And what juices do you recommend that people start with? Or how do you get started juicing if you’re new to juicing? That’s the question I want.
Kim – I think the number one thing, and this is what I tell people when they ask me, especially if you’re new to juicing, juice what you like to eat. So, if you love pineapple, juice pineapple. If you love carrots, juice carrots. And then from there, move into things that maybe you wouldn’t normally eat, but you would like to incorporate into your diet. Like, I would’ve never juiced a beet, ever. I would’ve never juiced broccoli. And I actually like broccoli juice better than I like broccoli to eat. So, it’s just, it seems to be easier on my digestion to drink it.
Jen – Oh, it does. I was on a photo shoot with a model and they were not allowed to have any cruciferous because it caused gas and they need to have the flattest abs around and… Yeah, so it’s a lot easier to drink the juice.
Kim – Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So, I would start with that. Obviously, pineapple is so easy. You get so much juice from one pineapple, I mean it almost never stops.
Jen – I know. You could just press those little pulp into pieces.
Kim – And carrot apple, I would say add green apple to everything.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – Add it to your green juices, brighten it up with lemon, but drink what you like. I think that’s part of anything though. Like, if you try to make yourself eat or drink things just because somebody else says it’s healthy or somebody else likes it, you’re not gonna… It’s not sustainable.
Jen – Yeah. The other thing I always like to share too is when you’re getting started or if you’re afraid, maybe involve everybody in it, so that when you might be having a bad day, somebody else might be craving it and then you’ll, all right, well I’ll do it for you, but maybe I don’t wanna do it for myself. But the more you get everybody in your family into it, it becomes a part of the family.
Kim – 100%.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – 100%. Couple days ago, I didn’t feel like juicing. I had gotten all of this produce, but my son’s like, “Mom, I would like to meal prep and can you make this juice or done? Oh, I would like for you to get, you know, carrot apple. I need some more of that in the fridge.”
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – If it were just me, I would not have juiced that day.
Jen – Yeah, yeah, so self-care is also caring for others because then it is good for us too. How are you feeling these days? So, you did the detox years ago, you’ve been vegan and I know you’re heavy plant-based, so even if you’re not a hundred percent that still is, you know, it’s… Many people say that is still so beneficial not only for our bodies, but for the planet. How are you feeling health wise three years ago versus today?
Kim – Night and day, and honestly, I did not realize how bad I felt until I didn’t feel that badly anymore.
Jen – Wow.
Kim – If that makes sense.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – I just… That was my normal. Low energy, lethargic, joint pain.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – Just kind of trudging through the day because I needed to do what I needed to do. Whereas now, I mean, obviously everyone has a day, but most of my days, I am up early. I sleep like a rock.
Jen – Yeah.
Kim – My skin is the best it’s been. My hair is the healthiest it’s been. My joints don’t hurt. My energy level is amazing. I just… And I know that part of that is juicing.
Jen – Absolute, I mean, it all feeds on itself, right? I mean, sometimes I was joking this weekend, like, I went to a dance class and then I was like, “Oh, my God, and then I’m gonna go to another dance class, and oh, I’m right by the grocery. I’m gonna pick up beautiful fruits and vegetables.” Coincidence that moving my body is also connected to wanting to like, buy beautiful, healthy foods? I think not. So, they really do all come together-
Kim – They do. and compliment each other.
Jen – I agree, I agree. And it’s just adding it to my lifestyle, makes me crave healthier foods, makes me want juice, makes me want to move my body, makes… It just, they do all go together.
Kim – Yeah,
Jen – One last parting, maybe message for people that is from your heart, that, again, you talk to so many folks who are at different spectrums of health, but let’s just talk to anybody out there who might be having a difficult time or may not think that, you know, or may think that they have to do X, Y and Z before they can achieve some, a juicer or achieve health or whatever. What do you wanna say to those folks?
Kim – I would say just start. Just start with one thing. One thing that… Because I’m still on a journey, I’m still losing weight, I am still finding new ways to be healthy. But if I had not taken one step, I would still be where I was years ago. So, if anything, if you don’t wanna look at a person who is already where you want to be, then look at me. Look at someone who is still on the journey, taking it day by day, one step at a time, one thing at a time.
Jen – Yeah, that’s beautiful. And then, I would also just add to join the community if you’re seeing this video and you’re not part of PURE Juicer, just know that community comes first. You have to have a sense of wellbeing and connection, if you’re… What’s the point of being healthy if you don’t have that connection and a sense of joy with other people? So, do join us.
Kim – It’s a great community.
Jen – It’s a great community.
Kim – It really is.
Jen – Kim really, really runs the community, so know that you’ll have a much… You’ll have a regular connection with you and a little bit with me too, so I love going on there. I love to see what every-
Kim – Oh, my gosh, you are a huge part of the community.
Jen – I love the community. I love the community. I’ve been there for over three years and I just can get lost in just the conversations and amazing-
Kim – There’s so many amazing people.
Jen – So many amazing people. All right, well, that will wrap it up for this time. Please post any comments that you would like to, just about this. Any questions that you have. Definitely join one of our communities. We’ve got YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, so many places, so please join us there and we’ll see you again on another PURE Juicer Spotlight. Thanks.
Connect with Kim Burrell on instagram @kimmiebee_cooks and on her blog, Yumola: Cooking with Kimmie Bee
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