Raw. Organic. Superfood. Buzzwords that would have been roasted in an early 2000s episode of Sex and the City have turned into the pillars of modern wellness. The green juice trend and the celery juice trend are the ones that have really taken off, and drinks made with nothing but fruits and veggies can be a really good thing — when done right.
For people who simply don't want a side salad for every damn meal, juicing is a way to keep up with veggie intake in a few swigs. Consistent supplement takers might switch their loyalty to raw juice after finding out that their vitamin C capsules probably aren't doing much. Though juiced fruits and veggies are *not* a meal replacement and can't take the place of eating a regular old carrot, they're still a healthy, refreshing drink with less sugar than a smoothie or orange juice from the carton.
A bottle of green juice also makes a great prop for an Instagram photo with serious LA yogi energy, just saying.
But bar-bought or store-bought juice isn't the best you can do. Grabbing a spinach-apple-whatever from Pressed Juicery might save time in the morning, but green juice ain't so green when it comes in a single-use plastic cup with a plastic lid and straw, which is the norm over the few places that use glass. The habit doesn't make for responsible spending, either: A 17-ounce cold-pressed juice from Juice Press is around $10, which can easily add up to $50 per week or more depending on how often you go.
If you're going to drink juiced fruits and veggies, we ask one thing: Skip the daily juice bar grind and buy yourself a cold-press juicer. Even an expensive $400 model would pay for itself in just a few months of skipping the bar.
Is cold-pressed juice better for you than juice from a centrifugal juicer?
Both types of machines allow you to control the ingredients in your juice, which is a step in the right direction. But the meticulous juicing process performed by a cold-press juicer is probably the better choice for anyone on a hardcore quest to keep up with daily nutrient values. Cold-press juicers (also referred to as slow juicers or masticating juicers) use an auger that chews up and wrings out produce, releasing juice from one spout and pushing pulp out another. This slow and steady extraction process typically derives cleaner, better-tasting juice. (This is why the cold-pressed section of the juice bar menu is always more expensive.) The downside, as suggested in the name, is that the process is slow. It takes time to extract juice in this way, so don't expect to have an instant cup of juice with a cold press juicer.
Spinning centrifugal juicers can fill a glass in seconds rather than five minutes, but that spinning creates heat that potentially destroys water-soluble vitamins along the way. You know, kind of defeating the whole purpose of juicing in the first place. A few food scientists argue that there's not enough evidence to assert that centrifugal-made juice has fewer nutrients, and no one is saying that centrifugal-made juice isn't healthy at all. Of course, juice of any kind is loaded with sugar (with some juices, like celery, being better on that front than others) and the best way to ingest your vitamins is alongside some insoluble fiber. (Thus this Vox article that asserts juicing is a waste of money.)
But if drinking your fruits and vegetables is your thing, a cold-pressed juicer is where it's at.
How long does cold-pressed juice last?
One difference that's hard to ignore is how fast a centrifugal juicer's juice loses its natural color. The heat produced by the spinning breaks down enzymes and speeds up oxidation, lightening the color and giving it a not-so-fresh taste. Many people who use a centrifugal juicer are planning on drinking that juice within the hour, as separation of the ingredients due to oxidation can happen in as little as 20 minutes.
Cold-pressed juice doesn't oxidize nearly as quickly and has a shelf life of up to three days, which makes much more sense for a serious juice drinker who would like to do some meal prepping.
The money and plastic that you'd be saving are pretty obvious, but if you're on top of your juicing game enough to make it ahead of time, you'll also be saving yourself a few mornings of not having to wait in line for your morning green drink. However, cold-press juicers typically have smaller chutes that will require some extra prep time for chopping.
Here are the best cold-pressed juicers on the market right now:
