Juicing trend gaining popularity in Sonoma County
When Wes Coffman started pressing his own raw juices, his mother didn’t eat many vegetables. Then she became his taste tester for a new, cold-pressed juice shop in Santa Rosa, and her eating habits flipped 180 degrees.
“Now I’m hooked,” said Theresa Chavarria, a partner with her son in Juice on the Square in Santa Rosa. “Anything that natural is good for you.”
The craze for drinking fresh, raw, unpasteurized juices - not exactly new, but one that’s riding high on the “eat local and organic” trend - is growing here in Sonoma County, with three, cold-pressed juice outlets recently opened in Petaluma, Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.
The idea behind juicing is to provide your body with the recommended 5 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, without having to think about it every meal.
“Each (16-ounce) juice contains 2 pounds of produce,” Coffman said. “The juices can be a meal supplement or a way to get a lot of nutrients.”
During the long, hot days of summer, when it’s easy to get dehydrated and lethargic from the heat, raw juices are also a good way to replenish lost fluids and boost energy with superfoods such as fresh greens and carrots, cucumber and beets, apple and ginger, mint and turmeric, all high in vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytochemicals (chemical compounds that appear naturally in plants).
Juice aficionados believe the addition of extracted juices to the diet can ward off many of the common ills plaguing Americans, who have become overly reliant on processed, fast foods. The raw juices are believed to promote alkalinity in the body, which is supposed to help boost immunity and metabolic function.
In addition, raw juice is easier to digest, because some of the enzymes, vitamins and minerals that are trapped in the indigestible fiber can be assimilated into the body more quickly than from solid food. And that gives the digestive system a cleansing rest.
“One glass of pure, raw, fresh juice per day will help improve the immune system, increase energy, strengthen bones, clear skin and lower the risk of disease,” writes Pat Crocker in “The Juicing Bible.
“For maximum benefit, it is wise to consume a wide variety of juices from different types of organic herbs, fruits and vegetables.”
When he started his business, Coffman created a logo of an apple with various stripes of red, green, orange and yellow, representing the vibrant hues of fresh fruits and vegetables.
“We started with the idea of eating a rainbow on our plate,” he said. “And we wanted to provide a rainbow of colors.”
Some of his more popular juices include The Lemon Burner, made from filtered water, lemons, serrano pepper powder and local honey; and The Sunrise, made from cold-pressed carrots, oranges and lemongrass.
“The flavor tastes like an orange Creamsicle,” he said of The Sunrise. “It’s bright and refreshing on a hot day.”
The process of extracting juice from produce is labor-intensive and often messy. But it’s not insurmountable for the DIY juicer who has enough time and the right equipment.
“I would prefer people to juice at home, but it might take a half-hour to make each one,” Coffman said. “It takes me about one hour to make eight (16-ounce) juices.”
For home juicers who are serious about the endeavor, experts advise investing in a metal, masticating juicer with dual gears that “chew up” the fiber. These should cost between $200 and $400.
“You wash the veggies, chop them, and put them down a tube,” Coffman said. “The gears rotate at about 80 rotations a minute.”
In Petaluma, Katie and Scott Davis were making their own raw juice at home when they started brainstorming ideas for a new business in Petaluma.
“I said, ‘I can’t believe there’s not any organic juice bars,’” Katie said.
“The two of us both worked in juice bars when we were younger, in New York and Chicago, and it’s taken off since then.”
Located in front of Zodiac’s, the Cold Press Organic Beverage Co. presses and bottles juices daily, using a Norwalk Cold Press, also known as “the Cadillac of Juicers.”
It was invented by Norman Walker, a British businessman and pioneer who wrote six books about the nutritional, health benefits of raw foods and vegetable juicing.
“The juice is extracted from the fiber, so it’s a lot more nutritious,” Katie said.
“There are enzymes in all of the fruits and vegetables, and when you press or masticate the vegetable and keep it cold, it keeps all the enzymes alive, and they help your body’s digestion.”
Along with raw juices, smoothies are also gaining popularity, especially the ones made with healthy “greens” like kale and spinach.
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