For many, this time of year means a new start. Many people make plans for an October and November light on wine and carbs and heavy on kale, ginger, and cucumber to look their best for the party season. A large number of people turn to juices because they feel bloated and sluggish, dependent on caffeine and junk food cravings; there are many options for home-made juices and smoothies and myriad books and gizmos to aid you in the quest for perfection,
Now there is no longer any need to scour the supermarkets looking for elusive organic limes, or cleaning the expensive juicer you got for Christmas. Juicy Lucy is really making it simple for you - “Just drink juice and you will be grand”, solid advice from the sisters who are taking on the mantle of cold pressed juicing in the west of Ireland. The company, run by sisters Jennie and Karena Hutton, began in 2015, after nine years of home juicing and seeing the health benefits for themselves. Each of their 250ml bottles of juice contains up to a pound of locally sourced produce. “Condensing the produce into a juice means that you waste no time or energy eating huge amounts of fruit and vegetables. A cold-press, or masticating, juicer basically does the chewing for you. There’s no heat involved in the production, retaining all of the living enzymes, which are essential for good health. We don’t use any additives, preservatives, or heat pasteurisation treatments that could destroy these valuable nutrients, meaning our juice stays fresher for longer, and retains the benefits that make cold-pressed juice so good for you,” explained Jennie and Karena.
There are a lot of mixed messages around juices and their nutritional content, so its refreshing to see just vegetable juices with nothing added, and sealed by a cold pasteurisation technique called HPP to extend the shelf life of the juice to 28 days. High pressure process, or HPP, is a natural method which is organically certified, and uses cold water at a very high pressure to kill bacteria in fresh foods. This method leads to the elimination of harmful bacteria while maintaining a high yield of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.
The line is now available in stores, coffee shops, and delis in Galway and is also available to order online. The range currently includes three 250ml juices retailing for between €4 and €4.50, Sweet Beet Juice with beetroot, apple, ginger, orange, and lemon; Bright Root Juice with sweet potato, carrot, apple, orange, lemon, and ginger; and Clean Green Juice with cucumber, apple, spinach, lemon, wheatgrass, and ginger; and a line of infused waters. With a background in the arts, working in film and TV and on festivals, Jennie Hutton had been “dipping in and out of juicing for years”, like so many others as a quick fix when the jeans were getting a little too tight, or for an upcoming trip that would mean a bikini was going to have to be worn. However after having two children, juicing actually helped Jennie to regain her health and lose weight.
“This was the light bulb moment, I realised the endless and miraculous benefits of focusing on a plant based lifestyle and worshipping daily at the temple of juice. My son Leon had eczema and I started him on wheatgrass and green juices when he was three years old. The improvement in his skin condition was incredible. Like a lot of parents, I find getting the veggies into your children is difficult, my daughter Ava eats very little veg but drinks all the juices no bother,” explained Jennie.
The path to juicing was quite similar for both sisters, both wanting to increase fruit and veg intake and in an efficient way. “Efficiency is next to godliness as far as I'm concerned. It was from my travels to Australia that I became really impressed with the food and agriculture. To be honest it put me off processed muck and onto seasonal produce from the local area. Upon returning to Galway, Jennie had been on the juice train as well, and we thought about how there wasn't anything in the market here when we started talking about it and wanted to buy cold-pressed juice ourselves,” said Karena.
“Juicing is the simplest way of getting veggies and nutrients into your body. As a society we have moved so far away from a plant-based diet to a processed diet and many elements of our culture are suffering as a result — family mealtimes are not as focused, cooking and baking skills handed down for generations have been lost, and most importantly we are in the midst of an obesity crisis,” said Jennie.
The sister duo, Juicy Lucy, is offering people easy access to unprocessed nutrients at just the twist of a bottle top. For more information Juicy Lucy cold pressed juices, log on to www.juicylucy.ie or get social across all platforms with Juicy Lucy.
