By Chrissy Iley
You know a craze has swept LA when three of your friends that don’t know each other, a random girl that you met in your Pilates class and a marketing consultant for a swanky hotel chain all in the same day tell you they are on the Pressed Juicery Cleanse.
The Pressed Juicery is therefore urgent in its coolness; officially it is the craze throughout LA. So I decided to find out more. It has an unassuming headquarters in West Hollywood with staff who think they are very hip. They know they are on trend right now so they don’t need to make an effort to be nice to you. Or as my friend, who is not on the juice trend pointed out, ‘Maybe they are cranky because they are starving!’
That in itself shouldn’t put you off. The juices, which are produced on a hydraulic press, seem to yield extra flavour and freshness and a beautiful, fully pressed texture. It is a silky drink and delicious. I have a friend who has been on the cleanse for 16 days, has never been on a diet in her life, and has not cheated once.
I tried a three-day cleanse. I selected my juices; you drink throughout the day plus an extra of aloe to prevent dehydration. I selected Greens One: kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon and ginger. Roots Three: beet, apple, lemon and ginger. Detox Four: pineapple, green apple, mint, almond milk with dates, vanilla beans, sea salt and filtered water and chlorophyll.
There is a delivery option; they deliver from 3am to 7am and require instant refrigeration. I don’t have a doorman or an entrance to an apartment block so if I couldn’t let them in they would have to leave it on the street where several homeless people live. I asked if it could be delivered nearer to 7am next day. At 3:45am I am woken up to collect juices, which has to be the worst possible time. Any earlier, you could have been up late, even an hour later would have been an extremely early rise, but literally the middle of the night.
Day One: I had my first green juice at 6am after failing to get back to sleep. You drink a juice every two hours. No, I wasn’t hungry; I was too exhausted to get downstairs to the fridge so I left the final juice. I called them telling them that I felt disgustingly tired and if they couldn’t deliver between 6 and 7am they might as well give it to the homeless people. They didn’t return my call.
Day Two: I awoke with the kind of hangover that normally comes with drinking six cosmopolitans, not juices. I was in need of caffeine. The juices arrived at 6:30am and looked very pretty and sleek. I downed the first with a pint of water, hoping to clear up my headache. By lunchtime I had done greens and roots and more greens and still wasn’t hungry. I cheated. One shot of espresso, then I felt really perky. The almond milk dessert drink tastes gorgeous. My friend on the 16-day cleanse allows herself two of these; it is the nearest thing you get to texture. I slept well.
Day Three: I woke up with energy after a good sleep. I had no plans except writing plans, so it was easy not to be tempted. I enjoyed the juices and I ran to the bathroom every twenty minutes. A good thing I had no plans. I did notice after the extreme feeling of feebleness in the beginning, which must have been in some part due to having only three hours sleep on day one, my energy levels felt enthusiastic and I slept undisturbed.
Day Four: Officially you are on ‘post’ cleanse. Instead of thinking, ‘Yea! I did it!’ You don’t then run out and buy the cheeseburger/chips combo or the family size bag Revels you have been craving, that would be very bad for your system. Not that I was craving that. Actually, I felt flushed out and good. So happy not to be bloated so for the days after your cleanse you are supposed to stick to eating fruit, steamed vegetables and green salad, undressed. This is the hard bit.
Most people are extreme; they can do all or they can do nothing, they can’t do a day that includes green salad undressed. No single fruit with all its texture can match up with the delicious blended pressed juices. I had pineapple in the morning, juiced my own cucumber, apple, ginger but it tasted gritty and powerless. Friends invited me out. We went to the local gastro pub, Fat Dog. They ate delicious burgers, sweet potato fries, potatoes with hollandaise and crab. I had an alternative burger made of beans and lentils, removed the bun and gave away the fries. My friends looked at me as if I was crazy. It was uncomfortable and I felt rude.
The next day I talked to the long-term juicer who said some of her friends were taunting her, telling her it was bad for her. Anything that requires will power that one person hasn’t got can lead to bullying so there comes a point where you have to weigh it up; your friends or your juices.