Cold Pressed is Best: Discover the Benefits of Fresh Juices from Heinen’s
The following article was written by Heinen’s Chief Dietitian, Melanie Jatsek RD, LD.
Have you ever counted the number of times you chew a bite of food before swallowing it? If I had to guess, most of us probably chomp between 5 and 15 times with each mouthful.
You may be shocked to learn that you need to chew 30 to 50 times per bite to completely break down foods and release the rich nutrients locked inside. If you eat three meals a day, this means chewing a minimum of 1800 times before you go to bed!
Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to sitting down to a meal with friends and family; it’s one of the greatest pleasures in life! But I’m always in search of other ways to squeeze more nutrition out of my food. Adding fresh cold pressed fruit and vegetable juices is one of the most effective ways to do this.
Cold Press Juice Defined
Cold pressed juice is made by putting fresh fruits and veggies through a “press” designed to apply enough pressure to extract the juice. It’s called cold pressed because no heat is involved, preserving naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and enzymes.
In contrast, conventional juices you may see in the juice aisle or refrigerated section use a heat generating extraction method which oxidizes and depletes the nutrients in the juice at a faster rate. They are also heat-pasteurized, which kills valuable enzymes, vitamins, and antioxidants—the nutritional impetuses for choosing juice in the first place!
3 Reasons to Drink Fresh Cold Pressed Juice
1. Rapid Delivery of Vitamins and Minerals
When you drink a bottle of cold pressed juice, the concentrated nutrients bypass most of the digestion process and go right into your blood stream. It’s like receiving an intravenous (IV) infusion of large amounts of pre-digested vitamins, minerals and antioxidants with minimal digestive energy.
2. Concentrated Nutrition
It takes about one pound of raw vegetables to make 8 ounces of vegetable juice. This means you would have to eat 3.5 cups of raw carrots or 7 cups of raw kale to get that much nutrition. In this way, cold press juice offers a superior source of concentrated nutrition in a quantity you can reasonably consume.
At first glance the price of cold pressed juice compared to conventional juice may surprise you. But when you consider the abundance of nutrients from the mass of organic fruits and veggies inside each bottle, the value becomes very clear.
3. Live Nutrients
Raw fruits, vegetables and cold pressed juices contain living enzymes to help you digest food. This in turn delivers more nutrients to your cells. Thinking of cold pressed juice as “living” juice helps explain the healthy energy rush people often get after drinking them.
100% USDA Organic Cold Pressed Juices at Heinen’s
There’s no better place to begin your juice journey than at your local Heinen’s. We offer a wide variety of fruit and vegetable juices to please all palates, from straight vegetable juices for hardcore health warriors, to gentler fruit and veggie blends for those who prefer a little sweetness.
The juices below are made with 100% USDA organic fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices and contain no added sugar. Look for them in the refrigerated juice section!
Heinen’s Organic Cold Pressed Juice Shots
Heinen’s 2-ounce juice shots are perfect for when you need a quick hit of nutrition. The ginger and turmeric blend is a great immune system-booster, while the wheatgrass and pineapple combo offers a nice, clean source of caffeine-free energy. Did I mention they are super tasty too?
Garden of Flavor Cold Pressed Juices
Cleveland, Ohio based Garden of Flavor’s tagline says it all: Nature. We have nothing more to add. And they mean it too!
Choose from any one of their unique combinations of fruits, veggies, herbs, spices and greens. My three favorites are Turmeric Crush (oranges, carrots, ginger, turmeric, lemon, and sea buckthorn), Mean Greens (celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, romaine, lemon, and parsley) and Twisted Roots (carrots, beets, spinach kale, lemon, ginger, turmeric, and 500 million CFUs of probiotic cultures).
Heinen’s also carries Garden of Flavor’s one day 6-pack juice cleanse. Made with nearly 20 pounds of organic, raw fruits, veggies, nuts, and berries, this gentle cleanse is designed to flood your body with liquid nutrients while giving your digestive system a much-deserved break.
For maximum freshness and nutrition, refrigerate your cold pressed juices, watch the expiration date, and enjoy within 2-3 days of opening.
Key Takeaway
Fruits and vegetables are the cornerstone of a healthy diet. To catapult your health to new heights, try a produce-packed smoothie for breakfast, a leafy green salad for lunch, and a mix of raw and lightly cooked vegetables with dinner.
If you’re ready to take it one step further (or maybe you want to start here), add a serving or two of fresh cold pressed juice to the mix! But don’t take my word for it; test it out for a week and feel the difference for yourself!
