Juicing is the new eating, and with reason. It's no secret that veggie and fruit laden beverages pack a ton of antioxidants and help cleanse your body. But when you're drinking juice and only juice, you can get a bit, um, irritable.
See also: Ten Fruit's Juice Cleanse: What It's Like To Live on Fruit For Two Days
My Raw Juice is trying to make the whole thing easier. Founder and health nut Veronica Rodriguez discovered the benefits of juicing after going through a funk after a bad break up. "Like a lot of girls, I got depressed and gained weight."
So she began making juice to counteract the pounds. "I started feeling good and my humor got better and I thought, Wow this is kind of cool, so I sort of turned it into a lifestyle." It wasn't long before she purchased a real deal juicer and was making concoctions for her family. "The more I drank, the more I craved it, and the more curious I became about it."
The daughter of a doctor, she gained some knowledge from dad, as well as a couple of courses. "I got really into it and started learning more, watching documentaries, but my dad is my biggest professor." He taught Rodriguez that food is the biggest remedy that exists for the body. "He's seen it cure diseases."
Although she's no doctor herself, Rodriguez realized she wanted to follow in pop's footsteps and help people, so she decided to start a juice business. "People in this country don't nourish themselves because of this fast system of life. I wanted to raise awareness, even if it was with juice."
Just a year ago in March 2014, she delivered her first cold-pressed juice. "I'm helping people." Indeed, one of her first clients had suffered from acid reflex for 18 years. "My Raw Juice made her feel better." Another client suffered from arthritis and inflammation, so she created specific anti-inflammatory juices to help aid her. "Certain vegetables have anti-inflammatory properties. Everything has a purpose." She's strategically thought all her recipes out, from her filling and protein laden "milk" nightcap to balance out your daily dose of liquid greens to using green apple as the base for most of her juices. "Green apple is anti-inflammatory and helps you detox. It also has little sugar. When you drink a juice a lot of that is going to your blood stream so you don't want too much sugar."
I decided to take on a three-day challenge and see how my body would react.
I had attempted four juice cleanses and failed. Because My Raw Juice uses all organic ingredients and the juices are non-pasteurized, they expire within three days.
My numbered juices arrived without any descriptions. "When people are doing a cleanse I don't label them because they get picky about what they eat." You'll probably want to know what you're getting yourself into, however, so here's what the cleanse consists of:
- Juice #1 Wellness - pineapple, cucumber, kale, spinach and romaine
- Juice #2 Oxygen - chard, apple, celery, spinach, coriander, kale, romaine
- Juice #3 Zest - green apple, alkaline H20, turmeric, lemon, cayenne pepper
- Juice #4 Choice - carrot, apple, coconut water, lemon
- Juice #5 Temptation - apple, beet, kale, spinach, romaine
- Juice #6 Zone C - raw cashew nuts, agave, alkaline H20, sea salt, cinnamon, love
Yes, that last ingredient is love, and it's the most important.
The cleanse also comes with a care package that includes organic kombucha tea (in case you get tired and headaches), an organic lemon, and probiotics to take with your first and last juice of every day. "The lemon is to flush you out in the morning. You should always start the day like this."
While picking a favorite is hard (I loved every juice in a different way), Zone C left me craving more. Hunger kicked it out of natural habit, but the moment I reminded my brain that no food was allowed, it instantly subsided. "Food and cravings is mental. As long as you're balanced and the necessary nutrients are going to your bloodstream, your body will communicate that to the mind." For the first time ever, I can say I didn't miss food.
A three-day cleanse doesn't come cheap (it costs $198), but when you compare it to JugoFresh, which charges $203 for three days without delivery, and considering there's 4 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables per juice, it's well worth the splurge. Also, unlike JugoFresh's jugos, which are very concentrated, My Raw Juice is heavy, hearty, pure extract. "If I miss a drop that's like gold to me."
And just in case cleansing is too much for you, there's always starting off slow and with individual juices, so long as you order six at a time (that's the minimum order). Prices range from $10 to $12.50 (with delivery included). Also, My Raw Juice comes in mason jars, which besides being cute are recyclable and don't lend any chemicals to the juice itself.
The only negative? My Raw Juice takes Sundays off from delivery. Even juicing has its cheat day.
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