Is Juicing Healthy, The World’s First Keto-Friendly Juice, Everything You Need To Know About Cold Pressed Juices, Juice Fasts & More With Farmers Juice Founder Junaid Kalmadi.

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Is juicing healthy? I'll admit, I've never been much of a fan of it, or the whole “cold-pressed juice” trend for that matter.

Most of these popular juices are full of oodles of sugar that basically mainline fructose into your bloodstream with very little of the actual fiber and water you'd find in whole fruit.

Most are extremely overpriced compared to what you could make at home, yet what you can make at home creates a huge mess and cleanup situation. (Anybody else ever tried to clean a juicer daily and had to deal with all the pulp and waste all over the kitchen counter?)

Furthermore, the actual source of most of the produce used in the juices is subpar fruit and vegetables grown in degraded, mineral-depleted soil and/or contains GMO ingredients, pesticides, herbicides, and other additives; and if they *don't* have preservatives, they go bad super quickly in your fridge, hence destroying all your hard-earned juice.

Anyways, you can learn more about some of the problems with most cold-pressed juices in my article “Why Most Juices Are Sugar-Bombs Loaded With Toxins That Spoil Faster Than You Can Drink Them (& What You Can Do About It).

In the past, my solution for this has been to use a good organic vegetable juice powder, such as the one made by my friends at Organifi. Yet, recently, I've begun drinking actual liquid juices again, as have my wife and kids.

We're talking flavors like:

  • Athletic Greens (cucumber, celery, lemon, ginger, turmeric, basil, mint, dandelion greens, maca)
  • Digestive Greens (cucumber, dino kale, ginger, lemon, turmeric, basil, mint, apple cider vinegar)
  • Focus Greens (cucumber, basil, mint, ginger, lemon, turmeric, lime, matcha)
  • Peaceful Greens (cucumber, basil, mint, ginger, turmeric, lemon, ashwagandha)
  • Performance Greens (cucumber, celery, lemon, ginger, turmeric, basil, mint, lion's mane)
  • Ginger Immunity (apple, lemon, ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, black peppercorn) 
  • Up-Beet Immunity (lemon, apple, pineapple, ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, black peppercorn, beet)
  • Gut Feeling Good (apple, coconut water, jicama, apple cider vinegar, ginger, lemon)
  • Green Fuel (cucumber, kale, celery, spinach, lime, ginger, apple, lemon)
  • Focus Fuel (apple, fennel, lemon, lemongrass, jalapeno, matcha)
  • Athletic Aid (coconut water, orange, turmeric, lemon, ginger, black pepper)
  • Carrot Digest (carrot, jicama, lemon, ginger, turmeric)
  • Earthy Roots (carrot, orange, apple, pineapple, beet)
  • Turmeric Energy (apple, lemon, ginger, turmeric, cayenne)
  • Orange Immunity (oranges, ginger)
  • Immunity Strength (pineapple, ginger, lemon, cayenne pepper)
  • Ginger Renewal (extra ginger, apple, lemon turmeric, cayenne pepper, black peppercorn)

My change in perspective occurred after a phone call I had with my friend Junaid Kalmadi, who recently sent me some of his juices to try. Junaid is a values-driven serial entrepreneur motivated by love, service, and positive impact. He is the founder and CEO of Farmers Juice (get $5 off any order with code BEN). They deliver organic, cold-pressed juices and wellness shots at nearly half the cost of a juice shop. Each juice has 1 to 1.5 lbs. of produce (like dino kale, cucumber, ginger, turmeric, celery, mint, basil, and more).

Farmers Juice has also developed the world’s first keto-friendly and functional green juice line. They include adaptogens, antioxidants, and mushrooms to boost focus, calm, and athletic performance. Most juices lose their nutrients almost immediately and expire within two to three days. Farmers Juice uses an innovative technique called high-pressure processing (HPP) that preserves juice using cold pressure instead of heat. As a result, their juices keep their nutrient value for 30 days—without preservatives or other junk.

All of their produce sourcing is from family farms based in California. So when you drink Farmers Juice, you support the farmers who actually make our soil better, not worse. Most juice shops charge $10-12 for an organic cold-pressed juice. By working directly with local farms, Farmers Juice has created the most affordable organic juices at $5.99 a bottle. Their mission is to make the highest quality cold-pressed juices affordable, support the human rights of 2.4 million farmers in the US, and champion the next generation of farming with regenerative agriculture.

Prior to Farmers Juice, Junaid founded Brain.fm, a music neuroscience company. Funded by a US federal government research and used by the USA Olympic Wrestling team, Brain.fm designs music to improve focus, relaxation, and sleep. Available as an app on iOS and Android, the app serves millions of people around the world. Junaid resides in Los Angeles, where he enjoys meditation, prayer, beach swimming, volunteering, community fire chats, and nature adventures.

During this discussion, you'll discover:

-Is juicing healthy, and what exactly is a cold-pressed juice? 8:45

  • Two elements: the juice and the solid (pulp)
    • 70-95% of a vegetable is liquid and juice
  • The juice contains many micronutrients
  • Cold-pressed juice takes around two pounds of produce, separates the liquid from the solid
  • Cold is important to preserve nutrient integrity
  • The result is all the goodness of the juice, and the jolt of micronutrients, vitamins, minerals
  • 1.5 pounds of veggies is around five full plates of salad
  • No fruits used as sweeteners with Farmers Juices
    • 9-11 g of carbs in each juice
    • Ben does not experience spikes in blood sugar levels after drinking the juices
    • Tracking blood sugar levels with a CGM
  • HPP: Introduces cold water and high pressure neutralizes all negative bacteria and pathogens that degrade the juice for up to 30 days
    • Harvest to HPP on the same day; no trucking

-How Junaid maintains optimal quality for his juices…17:45

  • High-quality soil, only organic produce used
  • High-quality water
  • USDA organic standards are followed (no pesticides)
  • Promote biodiversity
  • Facilities are located near farms where the produce is harvested
    • Work with the plants' life cycles
    • “Ugly” produce is used as it's still high in nutrient density
      • Instead of going to waste, like compost. Low-value use of high quality produce, a lot of the non-aesthetic produce that would not sell just because it doesn't look good is used for juicing
  • Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson
    • “Ugly,” misshapen produce tends to have higher antioxidant content

-Why soil is the key factor in a high-quality juice…22:23

-Links between nutrient deficiency and poor mental health…30:15

  • Junaid's mother put a great deal of care into the meals she prepared
  • In college, he began to experience depression and anxiety
  • Cognitive decline led to poor grades, no success in job interviews
  • Felt bankrupt on the inside seven years after becoming an entrepreneur
  • Took six months off to focus on becoming a healthy human
  • Came upon a juice shop in Austin, TX, and custom-made ketogenic juices every day
  • Felt an instant jolt inwardly and physically

-How flavors of juice are selected…35:35

  • First five seconds after tasting is the best tell
  • Constant feedback from customers
  • Focus Fuel shot Ben mentioned
    • With apple, fennel, lemon, lemongrass, jalapeno, and matcha

-Materials used for bottling…38:30

  • 100% recycled materials used
  • Encourage customers to recycle/reuse bottles

-Rapid-fire questions…40:00

  • Whether the juices can be frozen before drinking
  • Where Farmers Juice delivers

-Advice on juice fasting…42:15

-Effects of juicing on the microbiome…45:00

-Dangers of non-organic farming and produce…

-How to get Farmers Juice for yourself…57:40

-And much more!

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources from this episode:

Junaid Kalmadi:

– Podcasts:

– Books:

– Other resources:

Episode sponsors:

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Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for Junaid or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

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3 thoughts on “Is Juicing Healthy, The World’s First Keto-Friendly Juice, Everything You Need To Know About Cold Pressed Juices, Juice Fasts & More With Farmers Juice Founder Junaid Kalmadi.

  1. charles Toepfer says:

    Hi Guys, I really enjoy your podcasts. For the last 30 years I have been doing environmental cleanup work in the area of nuclear non-proliferation as well as sewage, produced water and by extension creating solutions for people that have been affected by these types of pollution. Having said this please do some research on man made climate change as what you really mean is pollution not carbon. This whole carbon release as a reason for climate change is nonsense created by a guy named Maurice Strong. Maurice at the behest of the Club of Rome created the IPCC which chose carbon as the demon causing “global warming” which has now morphed into “climate change”. He and Al Gore far from being great stewards of the environment were historically involved in some of the greatest failures(which they made money with) of the environmental cleanup industry since the mid 90s. (molten metals as one example). Discussing pollution makes sense and to a large extent that and nutritional deficiencies, hormonal disruptions caused by pollution you have my undivided attention about. On the subject of “man made climate change” you need to dive into because it matters to have facts and context correct. Thanks and look forward to listening to more of your work . Best,Charles

  2. ann says:

    A question about juicing: what is a good way to reuse the pulp besides giving it to the chickens?

  3. Patty Klein says:

    Finally!

    What took you so long to get to this topic of nutrient deficiency and mental health?!! Especially as it relates to soil nutrient deficiency. You need to do a podcast just on this topic and these are the scientists you need to interview; they are word-leading researchers in the field using broad-spectrum mineral supplementation to balance brain chemistry:
    https://openexcellence.org/team/bonnie-kaplan-phd/
    https://bonniejkaplan.com/
    https://bonniejkaplan.com/multinutrient-research-1

    This short video succinctly explains how nutrients control brain synthesis and metabolism of neurotransmitters:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiEUTj7VUho&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=BonnieKaplan

    This former student of Bonnie’s continues advancing research in the field:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dqXHHCc5lA&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

    The two formulas that have the most scientific data in support of their benefits:
    EMPowerplus — found at Truehope.com
    Daily Essential Minerals — found at HardyNutritionals.com

    The reason the two formulas are so similar is that they were developed by the same man, David Hardy. David Hardy and Tony Stephan formed Truehope in about 1999, based on David’s knowledge and research on nutrition. They worked together until about 2012 or so…..then they split up as business partners. Tony kept Truehope; David formed Hardy Nutritionals. (David passed away in 2016 but his sons continue to run the company.)

    The big problem is that so few health professionals can advise on this because so few have learned about the role of nutrition in the brain.

    Your welcome!

    Patty Klein, Montreal
    Looooooong time listener

    P.S. Another suggestion of a topic to take a deeper dive into (you did briefly touch on it in the podcast on pelvic floor therapy): the importance of the pelvic floor as it relates to overall health, wellness and longevity. The answer is PILATES. You have never done a podcast on the benefits of incorporating a consistent Pilates practice into one’s lifestyle. There was no mention of Pilates in that podcast with Lauren Roxburgh so there is so much more to discuss as an extension of that podcast.

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