FAQ
What is the difference between Lumi Juice and other juices?
Ingredients: We are committed to bringing you the healthiest juices possible. Starting with our ingredients, we use organic fruits and vegetables. When possible, we use locally sourced produce and type two produce, aka less attractive produce that grocery stores deem unfitting to sell, but still tastes delicious to create Lumi!
Process: Lumi Juice is cold pressed and never heat pasteurized. Our cold-pressed process extracts the most nutrients and flavor from the fruits and vegetables. This slow process prevents the oxidation of the juice and preserves all the good stuff found in raw produce like vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytonutrients.
High Pressure Processing (HPP): HPP preserves the integrity of the nutrients and enzymes in our juices without using heat like conventional juices on the market. Most commercially processed juices found at the supermarket are pasteurized. Pasteurization heats or “cooks” the juice, which unfortunately, destroys many of the vitamins. With HPP, we deliver you a delicious juice that tastes just like you made it in your own kitchen!
Why is it more expensive than other juices?
Hundreds of pounds of fresh, organic produce come into Lumi’s production facility each morning to produce Lumi. An average of over 4 pounds of raw produce go into each bottle! Additionally, Lumi Juice uses the highest quality certified organic ingredients, which are pricier than conventional fruits and veggies. Not only that, the cold-pressed method is slower than conventional juicers, requiring more patience and love to make every bottle.
Finally, we use high-pressure processing to make Lumi Juice safe to drink. While this finishing process is more expensive than pasteurization, it also ensures that our juices retain their nutritional value. According to scientific results conducted by The National Food Lab on our juices, High Pressure Processing did not alter the nutrition or vitamin composition of our juice. On the other hand, pasteurized juice decreases vitamin and mineral composition by over 65 percent. We batch our juices with meticulous effort to make sure that they are consistently the highest quality juices on the market. I mean obviously, it's in our name “Love U, Mean It!"
What is cold-pressed?
“Cold pressed” is a method of juice extraction that best protects the integrity of the juice. The powerful hydraulic pressing action gently, but thoroughly, extracts the most nutrients from the fruits and vegetables. This slow process prevents the oxidation of the juice and preserves the vitamins, minerals, live enzymes and other vital micronutrients.
Many common household juicers and juice bars use the centrifugal method of extraction, which grinds and squeezes out the juice with a high-speed blender. While this system is much faster and more efficient, it generates heat and can easily compromise the nutritional and flavor profiles of the juice. Additionally, most juices have fiber in them - not Lumi - Lumi has minimal pulp allowing your body to easily turn a Lumi juice into immediate energy!
What is HPP?
High Pressure Processing (HPP) was developed in the late 1880’s at the University of West Virginia; however, technological capabilities to build large scale manufacturing equipment to treat foods only started to meet industry demands in early 2000s. To ensure the safety of our products on the shelf, HPP applies evenly distributed amounts of extreme water pressure to packaged food to inactiv.ate harmful organisms like Listeria, Salmonella, and E. Coli giving LUMI an 30 day shelf life
Unlike pasteurization, which exposes the food to excessive heat resulting in a substantial decrease in the nutritional value of the food, HPP maintains the integrity and credibility of the nutrients in the product. HPP requires no added chemical preservatives, producing safe food with more flavor in a natural way. Additionally, Lumi presses and high pressure processes juice in the same facility to ensure optimal nutrition and flavor retention.
What causes the juice to settle unevenly?
Separation in cold-pressed juice is natural! Because our products are unpasteurized and do not use additives or preservatives, that funky-looking settling is inevitable and completely safe. Think of it as visual evidence that the juice you’re drinking is 100% organic with no BS. Before consuming, simply do a little dance and give that bottle a shake.
What is the difference between juicing and blending?
Both blending and juicing fruits and vegetables are important tools for supporting a healthy lifestyle. Cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies are excellent ways to increase your intake of all the essential nutrients in fresh produce and in doing so, reap the health benefits contained in these powerful plant foods. The difference between juicing and blending is in their delivery of nutrients and how the body processes these two distinct liquids. One is not “better” than the other- simply different.
The process of juicing removes the fiber (pulp) from the fruits and vegetables and creates a nutrient rich elixir that is immediately absorbed into the bloodstream and body. A cold-pressed juice provides an instant infusion of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytonutrients, boosting your energy and your immune system. With approximately two pounds of fruits and vegetables in every 16 ounces of liquid, juices offer a concentrated source of vital nutrients- more than smoothies can possibly deliver. Since juices don’t contain solids or fiber that need to be digested, juices are easily assimilated by the body and are a great way to give your digestive system a much-needed rest. The primary health benefits of drinking cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices include the ability to nourish, rejuvenate and restore the body.
On the other hand, blending fruits and vegetables into thick, creamy smoothies creates a different kind of liquid food. Smoothies contain whole fruits and vegetables and all the fiber in them, making a more substantial drink with an increased volume, compared to that of a juice. The fiber in a smoothie slows down the release of nutrients, in contrast to the quick absorption of the nutrients in a juice. Smoothies are a fiber rich drink and fiber plays an important role in keeping the digestive system running well. With the typical addition of fats, such as coconut butter or avocado and the common use of nut milks as a liquid base, smoothies can easily be considered a super healthy complete meal with all the nutrients and fiber of the combined foods.
Smoothies and juices made from fruits and vegetables are both abundant sources of essential plant based nutrients and this increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is the cornerstone of eating for optimal health. While both juices and smoothies are extremely beneficial in promoting and protecting your health, they are simply different drinks, each with distinctive qualities and advantages. Incorporating both juices and smoothies into your regular routine is a huge step towards supporting your optimal health.
What are phytonutrients?
Phytonutrients are naturally occurring compounds found ONLY in plant foods and provide much of the nutritional power of uncooked vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. These micronutrients play a vital role in keeping us healthy by supporting our immune systems and helping us fight all kinds of degenerative diseases, ranging from heart disease to cancer to macular degeneration. Working together, phytonutrients perform many important functions in our bodies to keep us healthy and prevent disease. This work includes getting rid of carcinogens (cancer-causing substances), deactivating damaging free-radicals (stuff that causes deterioration and aging of our bodies) and promoting cellular repair (healing and rejuvenation of our bodies).
We all know about the importance of vitamins and minerals, but nutritional science is just starting to fully understand the immense value of phytonutrients. Given the critical roles that phytonutrients play in promoting and protecting our health, the importance of eating uncooked, living plant foods is clear. Drinking Lumi Juice is an excellent way to increase our phytonutrient intake and take a giant step towards optimal health.
What do you do with the excess fiber?
Cold-pressed juicing extracts all of the fibrous pulp from produce, leaving you with a liquid infusion of nutrients. We collect and save this excess pulp for local Virginia farmers to use as compost. As a source of recycled fertilizer, compost is integral to the production and maintenance of organic farming.
If you have any creative ideas for our fiber, please feel free to reach out to us!
My juices arrived warm. Are they safe to drink? Yes.
During the summer months, temperatures can fluctuate 20-30 degrees, depending on where our juices are shipped. While our juices are best enjoyed cold, please know that they are completely safe to drink if they arrive warm. Because of the low pH levels and the high pressure processing our juices undergo, warm temperatures during transit do not affect the quality, taste or nutrients. For more information on the study we commissioned by Cornell University, please click this link.