Why you should stay away from the unrefrigerated aisle of the grocery store

Why you should stay away from the unrefrigerated aisle of the grocery store

Have you been faced with the decision of choosing juice from the refrigerated or non-refrigerated aisle? If convenience were the only thing that mattered, (or if you are preparing your apocalypse stash of foods) then sure, go for the non-refrigerated products that have expiration dates years from now. Otherwise, choosing refrigerated items is always a better choice.


Refrigerated products have not been processed so heavily

In order to make products super shelf stable to last years if unopened, factories effectively have to sterilize it. This means the juice gets exposed to extreme temperatures and much of the nutrients is lost. That’s why these juices don’t taste as good either. Most juice in the non-refrigerated aisle has been treated with high temperatures (160-240F) to kill any microorganisms that can cause spoilage. 


Excessive processing with heat kills most of the biologically active nutrients 

Take vitamin C, for example, which begins to denature at 86 °F. By the time it gets to your mouth, you’re lucky if you get any vitamin C at all. Thiamine (B1), pantothenic acid (B6), and folic acid also get destroyed, and many more. Furthermore, the complex plant nutrients that we aren’t able to synthesize in a lab are lost too. Antioxidants lose 60% of their activity at 212F. You can really taste the difference too. We call it the “zing” quality. You know it when you shoot an Elixir Shot.


Elixir shots are never heated. Not even a little. 

We cold-press our juice, which is different from traditional juicing methods where the juicing process heats up the juice and kills some of the nutrients. Then we use cold pressure to kill off some of the organisms that can cause spoilage but preserve the natural precious nutrients. Read more about high pressure processing (HPP) here.  


The good nutrients get killed, but you’re still getting the same amount of sugar. 

The problem with conventionally processed/heated drinks is that not only are they killing the good nutrients, but the sugar remains. Therefore you’re drinking a cup full of sugar without significant nutrients. You may as well drink soda, as both of these do more harm than good. 


Turmeric powder is heated during processing, and loses much of its curcumin, the active ingredient

The fresh root contains more nutrients than the powder, especially more curcumin which is the most active medicinal ingredient. Our turmeric is cold-pressed and bottled fresh within 3 days after leaving our organic regenerative farm in Kauai. That’s why it contains extraordinarily high amounts of active compounds for your benefit, compared to powders - which are chopped, boiled, then dried and much of the curcumin and other important nutrients are sadly lost in the process. 


Turmeric powder is known to be one of the most adulterated spices in the world

Many powders bought in US grocery stores are contaminated with lead which is thought to be a significant source of lead poisoning among households. This is especially true for spices imported from India and Bangladesh. They also often contain artificial coloring and cheap substitutes like rice powder. If you’re going to use powder, make sure it’s at least sourced from USA. At Elixir Shots our turmeric is sourced from our family farm in Hawaii. It’s a 100% organic, regenerative, family owned farm.

Back to blog