So far this year, we've reported on the growing number of juice bars, the booming trend of cold-press juicing, and followed one food blogger through a three-day cleanse. To add to the healthy-wave, My Organic Juice in Boca Raton is the latest cold-press juice company to open in the area, an all-organic company that uses only local produce to make each of its 13 drinks.
Not quite ready to try juicing? If you're feeling down, sluggish, or just a little off, it might be something to consider. For My Organic Juice vice president, new recipe specialist, and health guru Chelsea Silverman, juicing wasn't always an everyday thing either.
See Also: The Ten Best Juice Bars in South Florida
"Maybe once a week," Silverman said during a recent interview. "I had my at-home juicer, and I thought I was being healthy having a juice every few days for breakfast or lunch."
Fast-forward a few years and you wouldn't even recognize the young, dark-haired beauty with radiant skin, hair, and nails. After a bad car accident left her immobile and with a back brace, she instinctively felt juicing and eating whole, raw, and living foods would help her body heal faster. And, for her, it turns out she was right. Silverman even ended physical therapy several months early.
Sadly, digestive problems and poor health plagued her even after the accident, when she returned to eating cooked, processed foods.
"There was just a lot of instability in my body," said Silverman. "I was depressed, not feeling well, had acid reflux. I knew I needed to change my diet, so I started juicing again. That's how it became my passion."
No stranger to healthy eating, Silverman was always a bit of a self-described health nut. Before joining the area's newest cold-pressed juicery, she operated her own raw food business and also worked as vice president and health director for Juiceteria in Boca Raton. Silverman said she left when she realized the company wasn't using all-organic produce in every juice, something she did not agree with. It wasn't until she met My Organic Juice owners -- husband-and-wife team Ben and Karolyn Fox -- that she decided to help them brand and grow their business.
"After trying all the so-called organic juice bars out there, My Organic Juice was the only one I felt truly inspired to put my name and reputation on," Silverman told Clean Plate Charlie.
Silverman began helping with each of the company's 12 recipes and today operates as a personal promoter and a cleanse and health coach aiding people going through the company's one-, three-, five- and ten-day cleanses. As vice president, she's also been instrumental in helping to develop a new product line of superfood juices, shots, and new juice recipes that include blue-green algae supplement E3 Live, cancer-fighting tumeric, ginger, and raw coconut.
Today, not quite a year old, My Organic Juice is serving some of the most delicious -- and nutritious -- juices in South Florida. It's thanks to founder Karolyn, who -- after battling celiac disease and cancer -- attended nearby Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach to learn how to heal herself through raw, living foods. During that process, she became more familiar with juicing and began feeling healthier. It changed her life so completely that she is now cancer-free and living without celiac symptoms and decided to share her success story with others through juice.
"So many people are living off the typical American diet and not feeling well," said Silverman. "When we feed ourselves the right food, we feel good, we're happy, and our lives are that much better every day."
Unlike many juice bars that source produce both nationally and locally, My Organic Juice uses only local, organic produce purchased directly from the Woolbright Farmers' Market in Boynton Beach. If an ingredient isn't available that day, the owners simply don't make the juice. That also includes specially sourced ingredients like special ceylon cinnamon delivered straight from India and almonds imported from an organic farm in Israel.
"We won't put anything in our drinks that isn't the best quality and organic," said Silverman. "For us, it's not about making money. It's really about giving people the best-tasting, best-quality product."
Each My Organic Juice is sold for $11, bottled in glass, and juice is extracted using a Norwalk cold press. Juices are good for about three days and can be ordered online and delivered. Cleanses are also available, and first-time buyers can use promo code FIRST5 at checkout to receive a 5 percent discount on their order. Although My Organic Juice does not have a storefront (yet), juices can be delivered to your door at home or at work for a nutritional, healthy, and satisfying meal.
The menu currently includes 13 recipes, each juice containing more than two pounds of fruits and vegetables and all variations of the same drinks Karolyn used to fight her illness, from the super-green Wheatgrass High to the dandelion-infused Go Greens. Keep an eye out for new drinks coming soon, which won't have a lot of added sugar or fruit but will be rich in superfoods like spirulina and chlorella.
"We're also developing a coffee drink without any caffeine but instead natural energy boosters that will give you that much-need burst of whole-food power," said Silverman.
For more information on My Organic Juice visit the website, or call 561-271-0945 to place an order. For a limited time, introductory offers include prices as low as $9 to $10.95 per juice, with a five-bottle minimum for deliveries.
Follow Nicole Danna on Twitter, @SoFloNicole.
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