We Should All Be Drinking Cold-Pressed Juice

  • Recipes
  • By PURE
  • 9 min read
David Feinberg holding an armful of carrots next to the PURE Juicer

The Ultimate Choice for Flavor and Nutrition

What is it? Why is it different? How do you make it?
Author: David Feinberg, Founder and CEO of PURE
With a quote from Ilene Ruhoy, MD, Ph.D., then PURE’s Chief Medical Officer

Inside this Article:

  • What is true cold-pressed juice?
  • Why is homemade cold-pressed juice the very best juice?
  • Nutrition research on cold-pressed juice
  • A video tutorial on how to make cold-pressed juice
  • Dr. Ruhoy shares her favorite ginger-turmeric juice recipe

Including fresh juice as part of a well-balanced diet is an important part of a healthier, more energetic 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 nutrient content. In my view, true cold-pressed juice is the best there is.

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 the body needs. 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. 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.

Dr. Ilene Ruhoy, then PURE’s 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.”

Green cold-pressed juice in a glass jar beside a pressed pulp pack

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 stays fresh 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.

To keep juice fresh a little longer in the refrigerator, our MVP pump pulls 80–85% of the oxygen out of a wide-mouth mason jar in about six seconds. Keep vacuum-sealed juice in the refrigerator.

Freezing juice: Did you know you can even make large batches of juice and freeze it into single servings? I know one family who juices every other Sunday and makes 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 Does Research Say About Cold-Pressed Juice?

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet. Juicing is one way to help meet the recommended daily intake of these foods.

Research related to fruit and vegetable juice follows:

Pomegranates, kale, and lemon

What Else Do People Enjoy About Cold-Pressed Juice?

Many people who juice regularly describe feeling good about what they eat and drink. These are personal impressions, not medically proven effects.

Some of the nutrients in popular juicing ingredients:

  • Vitamin A: Kale, carrots, and sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A.
  • Vitamin C: Oranges, grapefruit, spinach, tomatoes, and red peppers are all good sources of vitamin C.
  • A Day of Rest for the Gut: Dr. Ruhoy’s view on a one-day juice fast: “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.”
  • A Balanced Diet: Fruits and vegetables are part of a balanced diet. If you have a chronic condition, speak with a healthcare professional before changing your diet.
  • Digestive Enzymes: Pineapple contains digestive enzymes, and fennel and ginger are common additions to juice for their flavor. Dr. Ruhoy says that celery juice is particularly good for the gut.
  • Everyday Favorites: Apples, carrots, oranges, kale, and beets are all popular juicing ingredients.
  • Vitamin E: Spinach, kiwifruit, and blackberries contain vitamin E.
  • Fresh Flavors: Apples, cucumbers, carrots, ginger, and blueberries make a bright, refreshing juice.

How to Make Cold-Pressed Juice at Home

There were only two options for two-stage cold press juicers with hydraulic presses. (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. In this video the juicer is the PURE Juicer (full disclosure: I created and built it).

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 for 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.

The PURE Juicer with chopped cucumbers, apples, celery, ginger, and lemons

Dr. Ruhoy’s Ginger-Turmeric Juice Recipe

Watch the video

  • 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.

Happy Juicing,

David Feinberg,
Founder & CEO of PURE

Norwalk Update: November 2021

The Norwalk Juicer Company closed its doors in November 2021 after 87 years, and it is sadly missed by the entire juicing community. PURE Juicer then became 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 would need parts and/or services for their Norwalk, we worked on ways to support you.

PURE Juicer made all its juicing parts from food-grade stainless steel. We redesigned the feed tube for easier use and less kickback, incorporated an eight-tooth stainless steel cutter, and increased the pressing force to 2.5 tons. These changes produced 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 were unsure what to do next, we shared what we could do:

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

This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before changing your diet, especially if you have a health condition or take medication.

The PURE MVP

Ten strokes and you're done

Vacuum-seal the wide-mouth mason jars you already own. No batteries, no charging, no motor.

Shop the MVPPress cloths and bags

Jars sold separately. Works with any wide-mouth mason jar.