Fahey: AHC Juice Bar now open in Bluffton

Just in time for the holidays comes a Lowcountry retailer specializing in nutritional beverages.

AHC Juice Bar, located within the Affordable Health Care clinic at 25 Sherington Drive, Suite D, in Bluffton, is now open. Offering juices with names such as "alkalizer," "immune booster" and "garden detox," the business mirrors a juicing craze that has seized other parts of the U.S.

"Out in LA, juice bars are like coffee shops here," said Randy Looman, who is operating AHC Juice Bar with his girlfriend, Jenny Green, a doctor at the Affordable Health Care clinic.

Looman said the idea stemmed from Green, who had diabetic and overweight patients who didn't understand nutrition.

"We're trying to educate the public that delicious stuff can also be nutritious," Looman said.

With an extra waiting room not being used at the clinic, Green and Looman decided to use the space to open their own California-inspired juice bar.

And despite its affiliation with the Affordable Health Care clinic, Looman said the juice bar is open to the public.

The bar offers five juices, five smoothies and a supervised two-day juicing detox option. Customers can choose between yogurt and almond milk as a smoothie base, with drink add-ons including matcha, protein powder, hemp seed, flax seed, spirulina, bee pollen, cayenne and tumeric.

If you're feeling particularly rowdy, you can even take a 2 oz. shot of beet, wheatgrass or wheatgrass lemonade.

"We grow our own wheatgrass and brew our own kombucha," Looman said.

Additionally, AHC Juice Bar is getting in on the autumnal season with its fall spice smoothie, containing butternut, oats, chia seeds and cinnamon. The juice bar's "Bulletproof Coffee" contains coffee, MCT oil, butter, vanilla extract and cinnamon.

With free Wi-Fi and a fall spice smoothie or Bulletproof Coffee, you might even be convinced you're in a local coffee shop instead of a juice bar.

(OK ... I said "might" ...)

AHC Juice Bar is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Details: 843-757-5530

Follow Ashley Fahey at twitter.com/IPBG_Ashley.

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• Fahey: Joe Loves Lobster Rolls to add Beaufort location, anticipates big Southeast expansion, September 24, 2015
• Gullah Geechee Catering Company owners to open restaurant on Hilton Head, September 17, 2015
• Bluffton's Pino Gelato and Lovin' Spoons now closed, August 27, 2015

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Fahey: AHC Juice Bar now open in Bluffton."