I think one of the most important ways to know what works for your body and what doesn’t is to be in tune to how you feel after you eat.  For example, if after you eat cow dairy, you feel bloated or nauseous, it should register with you that cow dairy doesn’t work for you.  There’s nothing wrong with you.  You don’t need a green pill or a purple pill to help you digest cow dairy.  You need to not eat cow dairy.  This is Nutrition 101.  You can actually teach yourself so much about how to be healthy without having to figure out which expert’s diet is the “right” one.  I have been listening to my body very carefully for many years and there’s something that I consume that I notice consistently makes me feel great.  After having it in the morning, I have incredible amounts of energy during the day and I am more clear-thinking and creative.  When I have it regularly, my skin looks great and  I don’t have as many cravings for non-nutritive foods.  I am talking about fresh pressed juice.

We know that we should be eating 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, with an emphasis on vegetables.  Most Americans don’t even come close to that and are missing out on very important nutrients, enzymes and fiber.  In addition, many people suffer from digestive problems which hamper their bodies’ ability to efficiently assimilate the nutrients they do consume.  What is wonderful about juicing is that your body needs to do almost nothing to digest the nutrients from juice and they are immediately available to your system.  I recommend fresh pressed juice as a supplement to whole fruits and vegetables and not in place of, but it’s an easy way to get those vitamins and minerals if you’re having trouble getting the recommended allowance of fruits and vegetables every day.

I am certainly no expert in juicing, so I wanted to turn to one of my cooking class students, Hedi Gores, and her partners Hayden Slater and Carly Brien, who own the incredibly popular Pressed Juicery in Brentwood, California.  Pressed, as it’s known to regulars, is all the rage in LA and I seldom teach in someone’s kitchen without finding a few bottles of their juice in the refrigerator or more often, empty bottles in the recycle bin!  I thought Hedi, Hayden and Carly could shed some light on the benefits of drinking fresh pressed juices.

PS:  What inspired you to start Pressed Juicery?
PJ:  We all happen to love fresh pressed juice and were craving an option in LA, which we found to have a very limited juice market. We all have different backgrounds- one of us is a devoted mom, the other is a businessman, and one of us has a holistic health degree- but what we have in common is that we have seen the profound effects of juicing on our own lifestyles and on the lives of people close to us. We couldn’t believe the benefits and wanted to make it easy for others to incorporate into their hectic schedules.

PS:  What are some of the benefits of drinking fresh pressed juices?
PJ:  The benefits are really endless and to see proper results it is best to drink them consistently either in the form of cleansing or at least drinking juice each day. Some of the results people find are: balanced pH and sugar levels, clearer skin, weight loss, increased mental clarity, diminished aches and pains, a regulated colon, blood and tissue cleansing, better sleep patterns and better liver function. And this is only the beginning. Many diseases are attributed directly or indirectly to an unhealthy digestive system. Your immune system and health depend on healthy elimination of toxins from the body which is what juice cleansing allows to happen as it gives the digestive system a proper and much-needed break from the work it has to do on a daily basis.

PS:  What is the difference between blender juices and pressed juices?
PJ:  Juices that are made in a blender are not really juices- they are blended drinks. They still maintain all of the bulk and fiber of the ingredients, along with juice from the ingredient as well. When something is juiced, particularly in a press, what you yield is the pure liquid vitamins and nutrients from the fruit or vegetable, without the fiber. This means that they essentially provide nutrients uninterrupted by the digestion process. Our bodies absorb them with maximum efficiency and are able to assimilate the vitamins and minerals in a matter of minutes, rather than hours.  So many people are lacking proper nutrition these days, as a result of poor diet and lifestyle choices, as well as factors that are often out of their control. Juicing is a wonderful way to get the freshest and most direct sources of vitamins and minerals that our bodies require to keep them in a vital and healthy state.

PS:  What is the difference nutritionally-speaking between a fresh, cold-pressed juice and a flash pasteurized juice from the supermarket?
PJ:  Fresh, cold-pressed juice is raw and unpasteurized, meaning it is simply juiced under the coldest possible conditions, protecting the enzymes and nutrients (the goodness that keeps us healthy!) that are living in the juice.  Pasteurized and flash-pasteurized juices that one would find in a market are subjected to a heat process which kills living bacteria in the juice. This process allows the juice to be stored on shelves longer, however it also diminishes many of the vital properties of the juices.

PS:  Why is fresh pressed juice so highly perishable?
PJ:  Because it is unpasteurized and the ingredients are essentially living and remain so after they are pressed, the juice carries a shelf life of 3 days and must be kept as cold as possible to ensure freshness.

PS:  What are some popular juice combinations at your store?
PJ:  People love our Greens 2, which contains Kale, Spinach, Cucumber, Celery, Romaine, Parsley, Apple, and Lemon. And the warm weather has made our Watermelon Mint a huge hit. It’s simple and refreshing.

PS:  Do you change the juices you drink according to the seasons?
PJ:  We maintain the majority of our juices throughout the year, but we always add seasonal juices with fruits and vegetables that are available. In the winter persimmons were a huge hit, and cool and refreshing drinks that incorporate watermelon have been well-received during warmer months. Being based in California, we are so lucky to have access to delicious, fresh produce all year long.

PS:  What’s your favorite juice?
PJ:  I [Hayden] love our Apple Lemon Ginger combined with a splash of Greens 1 and a touch of liquid cayenne. It’s always fun to mix up combinations and see what we come up with. We can’t wait to share our expanded menu with everyone in the coming months.

PS:  Do you have any suggestions for people who have never tried juicing?
PJ:  People are often afraid of juicing with vegetables. Many people are familiar with the standard fruit juices but the idea of drinking, let alone consuming, a green beverage is a little daunting. Keeping it simple and tailoring it to what you personally like is the key. Throw in a few spinach and kale leaves, add something with a high water content like cucumber,  and then add a little bit of tang from a lemon or some ginger or both. If you crave sweetness- beets, carrots and/or green apples are great options. Keep experimenting until you find something that works for you. It can end up being really satisfying and you will feel a difference in your body and life after consistent juicing.

PS:  I  have many readers who do not have access to a juice bar or a place which makes fresh pressed juices.  Is there a juicer that you can recommend for everyday use at home?
PJ:  Omega 1000 is a great juicer- people seem to really like it. Breville also makes a few options that are simple to clean and user-friendly.

Pressed Juicery is located at 13050 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, in the courtyard of the Brentwood Country Mart or you can visit them online.  They deliver!

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I own the Omega 8003 Juicer and I have been happy with it.  My mother has a Hamilton Beach juicer, which doesn’t press out as much juice as mine, nor is it very easy to clean.  The best juicer is the one you will actually use, so ask your friends who juice what they like and don’t like about their machines.  Here are a few tips I can give you about my experience with making juices at home:

• have your greens and herbs washed and properly stored in the refrigerator so they are ready to go.  If they’re not, you may not be as motivated to juice.
• don’t juice only dark leafy greens, it will be too strong.  Blend some kale, collards or spinach with mild, high water vegetables like lettuce, celery and cucumber.
• blend mostly vegetables with only a little fruit to make the juice not taste too bitter.  I prefer to use one apple — peel, seeds, everything.  When I make juice for my husband and kids, they prefer a little more fruit than I do and that’s fine.
• if you want to juice low-liquid food, such as ginger, turmeric or a clove of garlic, make sure you follow it with a high liquid vegetable such as celery to flush it out of the juicer.
• clean your juicer as soon as possible after using it.  I don’t love cleaning my juicer, but I love it a whole lot less if it has been allowed to sit.  Those fine vegetable fibers are way harder to get out of there once they’ve dried.
• the fresher the juice, the more nutrients it contains, but if you need to make your juice the night before, store it in a glass jar filled all the way up to the top so that there is a minimal amount of oxygen in contact with the juice.  Cover and refrigerate.

Please share your experience with juicing!

I’m glad you stopped by.  I think it’s time we had a little chat about something.  I notice you’ve been cooking and experimenting in the kitchen more, which is great.  It is so normal for you to be exploring and I am here to support you no matter what.  But there’s a lot of information out there about cooking and I really think you should know where I stand with respect to well, ahem, grilling, specifically grilling animal protein.  I know everyone’s doing it and it’s as much a part of our culture as baseball and apple pie.  You might even have one of those barbeque-crazed husbands.  I’ve got one who wants to grill ALL THE TIME.

Here’s a typical conversation in my house:

My husband:  “Are we grilling tonight, honey?”

Me:  “Didn’t we just grill last night?”

“No, that was like two nights ago.”

“You know, there are other things we can do besides grill.  We can bake or saute.  We haven’t poached in a while.”

“I’d rather grill.”

“You’d always rather grill.  Haven’t you ever heard of Meatless Mondays?”

But there are many unintended consequences to grilling that you need to know about.  So I thought we should have this talk now because Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner.  Let me just tell you, I have been to my share of Memorial weekend parties and I know what goes on there — lots and lots of …..GRILLING!

Let me lay out some facts for you:

When you grill animal protein, two chemical groups are formed that are associated with breast, pancreatic and colon cancers.  The first are Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs) which are formed when meat or protein is subjected to high heat or flames.  Second, when hot fat hits the heat source, smoke causes the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which also end up on your grilled meat.  Nasty.  But that’s not all, the person doing the grilling is subjecting him or herself to breathing in all that toxic smoke.  It’s so easy to think you won’t catch any toxins, however I know lots of people who haven’t been that lucky.  Yikes!

But I am not naive.  No matter how many facts I give you about the negative consequences of grilling, I know you’re going to do it anyway.  So I feel obligated to arm you with some information that can at least help you cut down on many carcinogens from forming so that you can grill more safely and responsibly.

Tips and Tricks:

1. Cook at medium or low heat, instead of high.
2. Get liquored up.  Using a marinade which contains wine, beer, vinegar, pomegranate or citrus juice, such as lemon, has been shown to be effective at reducing HCA formation.
3. Garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme all contain cancer-fighters that reduce harmful chemicals formed with high heat.
4. Add cherries, blueberries or Vitamin E to your ground meat.  (Listen, it’s not something I’m into, but there are people out there who swear by this!)
5. Use an untreated cedar plank for fish.  It’s always good to have a buffer.
6. Bigger is NOT better.  Grill thinner cuts of meat to reduce cooking time or grill meats until rare, rather than well-done.
7. Choose grass-fed meats which provide extra cancer-fighting Vitamin E (from grass), Congugated Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 fats while being lower in inflammatory Omega-6 fats.
8. Trim excess fat from meats before grilling.
9. Use a gas grill with lava rocks instead of charcoal.
10. Never eat charred or blackened meat.
11. Cook half on the grill and finish in the oven or vice-versa.  Basically, if you’re going to grill, make it a quickie!
12. Eat foods rich in antioxidants with your grilled meats, i.e. vegetables!

Ok, I think we’ve covered just about everything.  I hope you have the information and the confidence to make good decisions about how to grill.  And I hope you learned that grilling is something not to be done indiscriminantly or even very often.  So don’t go wasting it on some cheap piece of corn-fed cow.  Not only do you deserve better than that, but take it from me, you won’t feel good the next day — but that’s the subject of another talk.  Come back Wednesday and I’ll have a good recipe to get you started.

So what does this have to do with sex?  Absolutely nothing.  I just wanted to get your attention.

My sisters and I always freaked out when we picked vegetables from the garden that came with uninvited guests.  If we saw a little green worm squirming while rinsing a head of broccoli, we would let out a scream.  My father couldn’t understand it.  “It’s either that or I use pesticides.  Why would you want to eat chemicals that are poisonous enough to kill insects?  That’s crazy!”  Decades later, my father still grows beautiful fruits and vegetables organically, that is without the use of pesticides or synthetic fetilizers, and so do I.  I also teach gardening at a local school and manage its organic garden.  Occasionally we have to share our bounty with Nature’s creatures, but at the end of the day, it’s worth it.

I have several reasons for buying as much organic food as possible.  First off, as my father said, pesticides are designed to be toxic and I am convinced of the health risks associated with consuming only conventionally-grown food especially when it comes to feeding the kids.  Second, there are a few studies demonstrating that organic food has higher levels of nutrients than non-organic.  Third, in my own non-scientific study, I think organic food actually tastes better.  Lastly, even though there are certain foods such as bananas which we don’t necessarily need to buy organic because the pesticide load is lower relatively speaking, we have to consider that the pesticides go somewhere and will affect us sooner or later.  I believe in supporting the organic industry whenever I can because I also want to promote sustainable farming practices, protect our water supply and our soil, as well as the laborers who work in the fields.

Unfortunately, organic goods usually come with a higher price tag and most people need to make choices as to what are the more important items to buy organic. Here’s my own organic buying guide to help you get the most (or fewest pesticides) for your dollar.

Butter — many toxins, including pesticides, are fat soluble and tend to concentrate in the fat of animals and humans.  Since butter is 100% fat, it is not surprising that non-organic butter can contain up to 20 times as many pesticides as non-organic vegetables.  In California, we can buy raw butter by Organic Pastures.  Otherwise, I like Straus Family Farms or Organic Valley cultured butter.

Meat and Poultry — According to Elson Haas in his book, “Staying Healthy with Nutrition,” [conventionally-raised] meat is among the most contaminated products in our food supply.  The animals are raised under inhumane and unsanitary feedlot conditions and result in very unhealthy animals treated with antibiotics, steroids and hormones.  Organic meat is free of these things, all of which can make their way into our bodies and the environment.  In addition, organic meat indicates animals which have been fed food that is pesticide-free.  To locate organic beef or poultry in your area, visit organicconsumers.org or your local farmers’ market.

Dairy Products — In general, I’m not a big fan of pasteurized milk, but I realize many of you don’t have access to or are uncomfortable with the idea of raw dairy, so if you do choose to consume dairy, please buy organic and preferably non-homogenized.  Conventional milk can contain high levels of antibiotics and hormones, as well as pesticides. Many pediatricians are concerned that these hormones could initiate early puberty, given how much milk kids drink on a daily basis.

Produce “Dirty Dozen” — According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the top 10 fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide load are:

Corn, Soybeans, Canola – Along with cotton, these are the largest genetically-modified crops in the America.  A genetically-modified organism, or GMO, is a food that has been spliced with the genes of another organism, like a tomato with a fish gene.  There is plenty of controversy as to whether or not GMO foods are safe especially since their effects haven’t been studied over a long period of time.  My gut tells me to stick with foods that are natural, whose DNA hasn’t been tinkered with in a lab, so I try to avoid GMO foods like the plague.   Corn, soybeans and canola labeled organic is supposed to mean that they are not only grown without pesticides, but have also NOT been genetically modified.

Peanut Products — Peanuts have a tendency to grow a toxic mold called aflatoxin, so they are very heavily sprayed.  According to the Pesticide Action Network, peanuts rank among the top 10 foods contaminated with persistent organic pollutants.  I know a lot of children who eat a lot of peanut butter.  I like the organic versions from Arrowhead Mills or Justin’s, which claims to be aflatoxin-free.

Baby Food — Babies and children eat more for their body weight than adults do and their bodies can’t process as many toxins as adults can.  Their immune and nervous systems are more vulnerable, so I wouldn’t think twice about it.  You can easily make your own organic baby food or choose from many high-quality brands.

Foods That You Consume Regularly — I think this is important for minimizing your overall exposure to chemicals.  For example, if you consume olive oil, oats, rice and bananas most days of the week, then those would be good to buy organic.

The bottom line is that we should all do the best we can to make informed choices when it comes to our well-being.  The decision to buy organic may cost a bit more, but you are making an investment in your health, that of  your family, and the environment.