Juicing – Cold remedy, magic elixir, detox? Or bunk?
A popular juice shot recommended by the internet to fight off a cold or a flu is a shot of lemon juice, ginger, and a dash of cayenne. That’s what the staff at Juicekeys recommended to me when I stopped in feeling under the weather.
I ordered myself a fresh pressed juice with lemon, ginger, beets and apple in order to try to stave off that cold. Kale may have won some of you over, but not me. I was won over by this pinky purple tangy drink.
The juice was good and the ginger especially was like a kick in the mouth. Very energizing! It also sort of burnt my gullet on the way down. Which means it was working, right? Well, anecdotally it kind of did. Because my sore throat didn’t turn into an ugly monster.
I wasn’t sold on the juice cleanse science, so I checked around and found this consensus:
- You can get a lot of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients from juicing vegetables and fruit.
- You’ll miss out on most of the fiber and some of the nutrients that are left in the pulp.
- Blending instead leaves you the fiber and gives you a much bigger drink
- [U of Washington Juicing vs. Blending Article].
The world of juicing is very complex so you’d have to research each individual ingredient and components of that ingredient separately to nail down a decisive benefit.
It can’t hurt to get some extra of phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals in a tasty liquid form. Especially if you have been eating badly lately. And if you can’t stomach one more cup of acidic coffee. You may want to note whether you juice has been freshly squeezed, and ensure it is pasteurized if not because bacteria can quickly grow in fresh juice.
Local here to Raleigh, NC, juice bars that I know of are:
- Harmony Foods – N. Raleigh Organic grocer with a juice bar
- Juicekeys – N. Raleigh small juice and supplement bar
- Humdinger Juices – Raleigh juices carried in some shops
- Kwench Juice Cafe – Fabulous pitaya bowls and various fresh juices and smoothies
- Happy & Hale – Delivery within 1 mile of downtown City Plaza, now also in N. Raleigh
- Cold off the Press – Downtown Raleigh juicery
- Clean Juice – a chain with locations in North Hills and Morrisville
How do you help fend off a cold? How do you feel better when you’ve gotten sick? Right now I am fighting a relatively nasty cold myself with some tea with honey and lemon and plenty of soup. Normally I am anti-soup, but I’ve had to make some concessions!
Happy New Year!
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