As I mentioned last week, the folks behind Suja Juice were kind enough to send me one of their 3-Day Cleanse Packages to sample and review. I had already heard great things about their cold-pressed juices, so I was happy to jump at the opportunity!
Suja juices are cold-pressed and feature 100% organic ingredients. When juices are cold-pressed, rather than using the centrifugal juicers commonly found at juice bars, it prevents oxidation and helps keep the enzymes and nutrients in tact, so you get more nutritional bang for your buck! Also, Suja sources their organic produce locally, allowing their company to maintain low carbon footprint.
What makes Suja juices especially unique, is their shelf life. Unlike most cold-pressed juices, which must be consumed within 3 days, Suja uses a High Pressure Pascalization process that uses pressure, rather than heat, to preserve their juices and extend shelf life. These juices may last up to 30 days when stored in the fridge! This is a huge advantage if you can’t manage to make your own juice daily, or find the time to run to your local juice bar.
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From Suja’s website:
Q: What is High Pressure Pascalization and how does it work?
High Pressure Pascalization “HPP” uses high pressure instead of heat to inhibit microflora growth in fresh food and therefore naturally extend its shelf life. Unlike pasteurization, pascalization is an external process; the raw product itself is never touched. After the products are in their final packaging, our pressurizing method uses only evenly distributed pressure of cool water (44°F) to short circuit any potential harmful invaders, such as Listeria, E. coli, Salmonella, lactic acid bacteria, yeast and mold. Pressure drastically reduces the overall microbiological contaminant flora and pathogens, eliminating the possibility of recontamination. Because of the chilled temperature at which the juice is treated, alongside the minimal impact that pressure has on the structure of the components responsible for nutrition and flavor, the juice remains raw and the taste remains the same.
Q: Does the pressure destroy any vitamins, enzymes or nutrients?
Because there is so much inconclusive information regarding enzyme activity floating around, we felt the only way to know for certain was to have our juice tested directly. We tested for enzymatic activity in our juice both before and after HPP was applied—the lab result came back: “NO DIFFERENCE.” There is and will continue to be conflicting research on the broader topic of enzyme activity in food after HPP is applied. There are many variables involved, such as the level of pressure applied, the length of time the juice is pressurized, and more importantly, the many different types of enzymes that exist. For our purposes, we identified the specific ones we feel are most critical to our juice, and the test results came back positive for activity. Regardless of when purchased or received, we recommend drinking the juice as quickly as possible to maximize nutritional benefits because the reality is that all enzymes and nutrients slowly deteriorate.
While the HPP technique is still debatable among the juicing community, Suja’s juices do taste better than any other HPP juices I’ve tried. Plus, I love that I don’t have to finish all of the bottles right away! If a juice-only cleanse doesn’t fit into your lifestyle, you can gradually consume the juices as you like, over the course of a month. A great way to boost your daily nutrition and improve your overall eating habits.
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How it works:
Included in Suja’s 3-Day Cleanse package is 18 bottles of juice, so you’ll end up with 6 bottles to consume for each of the 3 days. Suja ships their cleanses nation-wide, so the juice for all 3 days arrives in a big box that’s insulated and chilled with re-usable ice packs. If you live in the local delivery area, Suja will pick up your boxes for re-use, as well!
Each day is set up the same, so you receive 3 bottles each of 6 different flavor combinations. The juices must be chilled at all times, so make sure to clear up some space in your fridge!
In no particular order, you’ll enjoy the following juices during each day of the cleanse:
Fuel: This carrot-based juice includes orange, apple, pineapple, lemon and turmeric for a sweet and refreshing flavor. The tartness of the lemon really helped balance out the sweet flavors of the other fruits, and I found this drink very enjoyable. (Austin did, too!)
Purify: Another carrot-based juice which includes apple, celery, cucumber, beet and lemon. I loved that this juice was slightly less sweet and earthy, and the lemon helped mask the celery flavor!
Green Supreme: This green juice is pretty simple– just apple, kale and lemon. However, the apple was overpowering in this juice to me, and I found it too sweet. Luckily, I have a husband who loves drinking fruit juices, and had no problem guzzling the other two for me. This one would probably be more appropriate for people transitioning into green juices, who need lots of fruit juice to mask the green flavor.
Glow: This green juice includes apple, cucumber, celery, collard greens, spinach, kale and peppermint. I loved that this juice wasn’t as sweet as the Green Supreme, but was still plenty sweet enough to mask the “green” flavor of all the vegetables packed into the bottle!
Fiji: This green juice is hands-down my favorite. Included is Fuji apple, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, collard greens, lemon and ginger. The flavor was very similar to the classic “Green Lemonade” that I learned to love when I first started juicing, and it remains my favorite flavor combination after all these years. You can’t go wrong with lemon and ginger!
Vanilla Cloud*: While this almond milk drink wouldn’t technically keep you in strict “fasting mode” it’s a lovely treat to look forward to at the end of the day, and would be perfect to include for any first-time cleansers. Made with fresh young coconut meat, almonds, vanilla bean, cinnamon and honey, it’s probably the best-tasting almond milk I’ve ever had in my life! I especially love that they sweetened this drink with honey, rather than agave or stevia, since it’s my go-to sweetener of choice.
*If you’d prefer not to receive the almond milk in your cleanse package, there’s an easy option online to select an extra juice of your choice as a replacement.
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Price: For the 3 day cleanse, the price is $162 plus the cost of shipping. (Shipping costs vary by state.)
Options: The cleanse packages are all similar to the example shown above, but you can choose between a one, three or five day cleanse. If you’d prefer not to have the almond milk each day, you can choose to replace it with another juice. Suja offers other package options as well, if you’d rather not commit to a juice-only cleanse.
Random: I found some of these juice bottles extremely difficult to open. In fact, Austin was out of town last weekend (my professional bottle opener) and I had to wait for him to return to finish off my juices. I seriously couldn’t open them myself!
Where to Buy: Suja juices are popping up in local Whole Foods across the country–> so you maybe able to skip the shipping fees all together! I’ve seen them in numerous stores in our area, found in the refrigerated section. You can use their location finder to find a store near you. Bottles are priced at $8.99 each in our area.
Closing thoughts: Overall, I was very happy with the taste and quality of the juices, and I would definitely consider purchasing Suja juices to travel with on my longer business trips. It’s not easy to find fresh juices everywhere!
In this particular package, I found the majority of the juices to be a bit too sweet for my taste, but they would be perfect for those who are new to juicing and haven’t quite developed the palate for mostly vegetable-based juices. Suja does offer a greens-only drink, called the 12 Essentials, but it isn’t offered in the cleanse packages available online. (You can order it in their Not So Sweet package, though!)
I look forward to finding Suja juices sold individually in more grocery stores across the country, so I can enjoy a fresh-tasting vegetable juice wherever I go!
*Discloure: I received this juice package free of charge, but as always, I am under no obligation to write a positive review.
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Reader Feedback: Have you tried Suja juice yet? Any other delivered juice experiences to share?
I picked up their Glow juice at my local Whole Foods and I thought, while tasty, was a bit sweeter than I was used to when I make my own green juice. But it’s a great alternative! I might even consider shipping some Glow or Fiji to my vacation destination this April! Thanks for the review.
Great review! Really looking forward to my Suja cleanse coming next week – however, good to know about the sweetness level. After my recent Urban Remedy Super Green cleanse, that’ll be quite a change! Can’t wait for that Vanilla Cloud especially though, mmm…
Suja in Portuguese means Dirty… the name is a bit of a turn off. 🙁
Suja means “long, beautiful life” in Hindu. How funny that they can have such different meanings!
“Suja” is a form of the word for life in Hindi. Remember that Hindu is a term for someone belonging to the Hindu religion; it doesn’t refer to the language. Hindi is my first language, but I am not Hindu. I am an Indian Christian.
In our country phiippine Suja is a lime fruits and its good for detox…
This is great to know, especially if Whole Foods will start to carry them. I recently did a juice fast and made 90-95% of the juices myself which was a lot since I went for 11 Days! Next time I decide to do one, I am looking to use a little bit of help in the juice making process. Thanks Megan.
I bought one to try based on your rec, it was very tasty albeit a bit expensive!
I will splurge on a bottle once in a while, but based on the woman’s experience and other people’s experience with juice cleansing, I don’t think I’ll be trying that! As she wrote, to be cold, hungry, staaaaarving, panicky, hyper, unable to get to sleep, hungry again, frustrated, freezing, freaking out in my mind and not able to do anything else or focus until I had a glorious sweet potato does not sound healthy, detoxing or fun to me, especially for $163!
I much prefer to get back to basics with your method of detox, with the occasional juice and lots of salad, vegetables, nut butters, sweet potatoes, goat cheese and dark chocolate with no deprivation or weird disordered food thoughts 🙂 Thank you for all of your work!
Hi Jeanne, after reading that you do have goat cheese and dark chocolate as part of your food you can have, please tell me what brands of goat cheese you buy and where. We do have a Whole Food store here in Greensboro, NC. Also, Soy is not good for us, so do you know a dark chocolate that does not have soy? Most all I’ve seen at Whole Foods have Soy. Thank you kindly for a response to my email listed above.. Angie P, Greensboro, NC 2/22/2014
From what I understand, Organic soy should be OK. Depending on what your individual nutrition calls for.
Thanks for the Suja review & feedback. Picked up a Green Supreme at Costco 5/2015. New to Juicing, palatable apple, green taste with lemon kick.
If one boarders on Hypoglycemia (who doesn’t?) I have heard greens are better as they don’t spike the body with insulin as fruits do. Seems all ready made juices combine with fruit to reach a broader market.
Every body is different, Love your self!
The day I took home this drink from the grocery store, I found an inch and a half of mold at the bottom of the container. I poured the liquid out, washed out the mold and refilled the container. Not scared of it, although I’m sure others probably wouldn’t do the same. Just thought you should know about this. I’m from Texas and I got this from a local Kroger. My review is the drink has a cucumbery taste with a kombucha-like undertone. This cured my juice craving since I can’t afford a juicer atm… I look for drinks that contain lower amounts of sugar compared to other brands.
x peace x
love this, and can’t wait to find these juices in my local Whole Foods.
point of contention, and it’s not to be a snob, but HINDU is a religion, HINDI is a language. kind of gets under my hindi-speaking skin when the two are confused 🙂
love you and the site!
Great Review Megan – Thank you for taking the time to share your take on these detoxing bad boys. I happen to work at a Whole Foods and got the chance to sample these. I must say – despite the organic vegetables/fruits they infuse into them, almost each one is super high in sugar. (You’ll notice this on the nutritional information)
Secondly, it’s important to note that the serving size for these drinks are 2 servings per bottle (not one). So by drinking just one full bottle alone you will be intaking anywhere from 30-45 grams of sugar!! Granted this is natural fructose but still, that’s a lot of sugar for detoxing juices – esp. green juices!
If you’re going to make one of these your main detoxifying elixir, I would have to say the Fiji gives you the most nutritional bang for your buck since it has over 100% of your daily value of vitamins A & C in addition to only having 11.7 grams of sugar per serving. All the others are definitely high in sugar so again be careful when choosing these as an everyday drink.
All in all – it’s nice to see a company try to tip the health iceberg persay and come out with a line of cold-pressed, organic, detoxifying juicers. Afterall, they are delicious, 100% organic, cold-pressed to keep the enzymes in tact – I think a lot of us would just like to see less sugar in the mix. If Suja can improve on this, then you’re looking at a powerful detoxing drink.
My overall review of Suja’s line – 7 out of 10 (in terms of overall health benefits, taste, and nutrition)
Cheers!
Bradley
Agree 😉
I’m doing the three day cleanse right now! I’m on day 2. Glad to see you also had difficulty opening the bottles, I thought it was just my batch. I’m loving it so far, the sweet tasting juices really helped me get through it, since it’s my first cleanse!
Megan,
Thank you for your Suja post. I too am doing a juice cleanse, utilizing Suja, my own juicer and my vitamix. http://www.karaland.blog.com 🙂
I have tried the Suja juices and most of them are on the sweeter side, which surely makes it a good choice for anyone new to juicing. Although no single juice really stood out to me (they’re all quite good), the Vanilla Cloud coconut-almond milk absolutely blew me away! I like that the nutrition facts for each drink are printed right on the bottle, and that Suja‘s cleanses are on the lower end of the typical price range for juice cleanses. I was most impressed with Suja‘s commitment to using 100% organic produce and their pioneering of the High Pressure Pascalization process that allows the raw juice to stay good so long. Now, I’m a little leery of the idea of keeping fresh juice in my fridge for 30 whole days, but it’s nice to know I have the option to save a drink for a few days without fearing that it’ll spoil.
Agree. this type of food processing & eco footprint IS progress in the right direction.
These are far too high in calories, and WAY too high in price. It’s basically the modern day equivalent of “snake oil” and the people selling it are selling a miracle cure that doesn’t exist. Just eat normal fruits, vegetables, within reason, and drink a lot of water. You don’t need any of this nonsense. Especially at these prices.
I agree with Paul. The price is rediculous. For $160 bucks which is about the price of the 3 day cleanse, you could buy full fresh meals to detox for a week. I guess if you’ve got the cash and you’re working out to burn off the extra sugar this is thr clense for you
Love the pressed juice. I now have a grocery bag full of rinsed, recylable CA $.05 bottles, but don’t know where to get the 5 cents each. Do I take them back to the store where I bought the juices?
Have many SUJA empty bottles, live in Oregon, where can I reutrn for $.05 deposit?
I would love to try out the 3 day one.
I agree with Paul and Kelsey. The price is really very high. As you said this can be helpful in special long trips maybe. At the price of these juices I can buy a juicer and make juices by myself. But if we’ll ignore the price, it’s a great idea.
Are HPP juices safe for my wife to drink? I know during pregnancy, women are supposed to avoid unpasteurized juices. Since HPP juices are not pasteurized, but high-pressure cold-pressed, are pathogens and bacteria sufficiently removed?
“Suja” Does not mean “Long beautiful life” in Hindu. The owners made the name up because they liked the sound. A simple Google search will reveal this. I tried the drinks and while they are tasty if you look at the nutritional info printed right on the side you’ll clearly see these drinks offer very little in nutritional value. I have been juicing for 20 years +
its a rip off 9 dollar a bottle ? not worth it;;;
Just a tip, some cleanses/packages are sold with FREE shipping on amazon. You can save up to $75! Just started my cleanse today, we’ll see how it goes!!
where can I receive $.05 refund for Suja?
I normally make my own juice at home. However, I decided to try the Mighty Greens. I have fibromyalgia and good nutrition is a must for decreasing pain and fatigue. I woke up this am, after drinking one bottle last night and am happy to report a great reduction in pain. I am very pleased with the taste of the juice. In Florida, the local grocery store sells it for around $4.00 a bottle.
You should try your local Costco. I usually buy a big 59 oz bottle. Sadly I can’t remember the exact price but it’s definitely less than $4 per 10.5oz that you’re buying it at right now. I’m glad that you’ve found a product that works so well for your fibromyalgia pain management. Good luck in your path to health and happiness! 🙂
They had way too much sugar, not for me.
CAN YOU DRINK THESE EVERYDAY???
They have TERRIBLE customer service. Been trying to get a hold of them about doing a group juice cleanse and no one ever answers their phone or answers our emails. We’ve left several messages and nothing! We tracked down the co-founder Annie Lawless on Instagram who is busy posting away on her fabulous life. We left a comment on one of her pictures about why we haven’t gotten any answers and she deleted the comment within hours!! Please support a company that cares about their juice AND their customers!!! I recently went with Project Juice and they are amazing! http://www.projectjuice.com/ Good luck juicing!
I’m trying to find out the percentage of apple juice in their mighty green drink. Approximate amount will do. They will not disclose.
Yes, I emailed them th eo other day and to their credit, they did respond. However their policy is of non disclosure when it comes to amounts, even approximate of how much fruit /veg in each bottle.
Big turn off that they will no longer disclose this info, they used to right on the bottle. It makes me wonder what they are hiding and how much product is actually in the bottle.
They are not inexpensive and I think they should provide some indication of what one gets or does not for their money, and frankly whether the nutrition is even worth the calories.
Heather
You can get them at HEB for under $4 now.
I love Suja drinks! I was on a juice cleanse and was tired of the wash, rinse, cut cycle with my fruits and veggies. I was pleasantly surprised to find Suja in my local grocery store. Thanks so much!
Love Suja juice! My favorites are the uber green juice (it has less sugar) and the vibrant probiotic, so delicious!
I used to buy Suja green juice thinking that it was a healthier choice until I realized that apple juice is the first ingredient. I can see some apple juice added to sweeten, however, used as the majority of juice is not what I’m looking for. Suja green juice is way too high in sugar and carbohydrates for what I’m looking for from a green juice. I have since switched to Trader Joe’s cold-pressed green juice from their refrigerated section and besides all green vegetable juices and lemon, a small amount of grapefruit juice is the only added fruit juice. TJ’s version has 4 grams of sugar and 7 grams of carbs versus most of Suja’s green juices which vary around 18 grams of sugar and 22 grams of carbs. Only Suja’s Uber Greens comes close to the low sugar/carbs of Trader Joe’s cold-pressed juice (5 grams sugar/8 grams carbs).
I tried the celery juice and it’s only celery juice and a hint of lemon. So I personally don’t have a problem with suja drinks like some of the commenters.