Cold-pressed juices had been in the health and fitness market for a while. However, a bottle of nutritious juice usually cost as much as a proper meal. Why does it cost that much and what is the hype about drinking cold-pressed juices?

In order to answer my curiosity, I decided to buy my own cold pressed juicer and try making my own cold-pressed juices. I decided to share my personal options and thoughts on cold-pressed juices with you.

The first question anyone would ask about juicing is what is the difference between a cold pressed juice and normal blended fruit juice? Although both processes extract the nutrients out from the fruits and vegetables. Cold-pressed juices seem to be more premium in price. When I did my own cold-pressed juicing, I realised the huge quality of fruits and vegetables needed in order to extract enough juice.

A normal blender uses the blade to cut and break down the fruit in order to extract the nutrients out. At the same time, heat is generated due to the high speed and from the motor. Hence, some of the enzymes and nutrients that are heat sensitive would be broken down and oxidised.

A cold press machine as the name suggests does not generate heat. Instead, it uses mechanical force to press the fruit/vegetable into releasing the juices. Hence, no heat is generated in the process.  The enzymes and nutrients are not destroyed during the extraction process.

I jumped into preparing a full juice diet for 5 days. I did my own research on different cold pressed recipes and selected the vegetables and fruits that are beneficial particularly for someone who has an active lifestyle and gyms regularly (I will share some of the ingredients later on).

being OCD, I wanted to make an array of colours for my cold-pressed juices. Pretty isn’t it? 😉🌈

My initial thought on liquid diet was that I will be very hungry since there’s no solid food for digestion. However, to my surprise, I did not feel hungry and I actually looked forward to tasting my next juice creation! It is not because I am hungry but I am excited to try the next flavour I had made!

I did not feel any weaker compared to when I was on a normal diet and was able to gym as well.

I did several experiments with cold press juices to make sure my amino/ nitrogen profile was not compromised during the juice diet. So I added protein isolates into my cold-pressed juices.

Interestingly, some of the juices seem to have reactions to the protein and created lots of gases (I would think it’s carbon dioxide) when I opened the bottle – it because like a soft drink bottle that had been shaken before opening it! The drink became very acidic. Some recipes caused the juice to curd. However, most of the recipes turn out fine.

I find that my cold-pressed juice diet was refreshing and it helped me to read up on the nutritional benefits of the different fruits and vegetables.

However, I would not suggest anyone depriving themselves of eating solid food and lives on a liquid diet.  Eating is more than just taking in nutrients but it comprises of the different sensory experiences. I would recommend having cold-pressed juices once a while since they do its benefits.

I went back to my normal diet after a few rounds of experiments.

Here are some of the ingredients I had selected previously because of their nutrition benefits.

1. Pineapple contains bromelain that is an enzyme that helps to digest proteins.
2. Pineapple is rich in Vitamin C that helps boost immunity.
3. Pineapple is rich in B vitamins helps to reduce levels of homocysteine in the blood. High levels of Homocysteine increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

1. Cherry helps in post-workout recovery due to high levels of potassium, it helps maintain blood pressure, hydration, muscle recovery, nerve impulses, digestion, heart rate, and pH balance.
2. Cherry can reduce pain and inflammation from osteoarthritis.
3. Cherry adjust your body’s metabolism and your ability to lose abdominal body fat.

Benefits of Dragon Fruit juice

1. Dragon fruit improves cell metabolism and burns fat.
2. Dragon fruit has phosphorus and antioxidant which prevents ageing.
3. Dragon fruit is rich in amino acids.

Benefits of Beetroot juice

1. Beetroot contains a colour pigment called betalain. This is a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, fungicidal and aid in detoxification substance.
2. Beetroot also contains oxalic acid that is known to be a good solvent of inorganic calcium that is deposited in the body.
3. Beetroot juice is also known to be excellent for healing gout, kidney and gallbladder.

I have always stressed this on my blog that you should always have things in moderation no matter how beneficial the food is. Have fun experimenting juicing and till next time!