Juice Cleanse

A juice cleanse can be a powerful way to recharge your body by nourishing your body with rich nutrients from fresh juice. In a juice cleanse, you consume only freshly made vegetable and fruit juice along with a few other permitted liquids.

A juice cleanse, also called a juice fast, can be an effective way to lose weight, as well as give your digestive system a break and promote the detoxing of your body.

As evidenced by the popular documentary film “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead,” juice cleanses can lead to rapid weight loss, even an average of 1 pound a day of weight loss! However, it is not easy, you need to do it correctly, and you need to have a plan in place for maintaining your weight after the cleanse. In order to maintain your weight loss, you cannot go back to your old way of eating.

Healthiest Cleanse

Juice Cleanse - Fresh Vegetables Among the various cleanses, a juice cleanse is one of the healthiest cleanses you can do for your body, as you are nourishing your body with nutrients extracted from raw vegetables and fruits on a daily basis. This is much healthier than a pure water fast or other cleanses in which the variety and amount of nutrient intake are severely limited.

In a juice cleanse, by providing your body with ample nutrients and enough calories, you can prevent your body from entering starvation mode and slowing your metabolism, which are common and unavoidable side effects of most other cleanses.

Fresh Home Made Juice

During the juice cleanse, you will be making your own fresh juices at home. Although there are juice delivery companies and juice bars, it is recommended that you make your own juices for the following reasons:

You will be able to get maximum nutritional value by drinking juice shortly after juicing (or within 24 hours if stored correctly).
You can ensure that you only use the freshest ingredients.
You can choose organic for certain produce.
You can choose your own combination of vegetables and fruits, selecting what your body needs and avoiding what you don’t like or tolerate well.

Juice Cleanse Benefits

Juice cleanses are used for a variety of purposes, the common one being weight loss, as well as general and specific health conditions. As a matter of fact, the rapid weight loss is partly a result of your body detoxing more effectively, getting healthier, and working more efficiently.

Below are just some of the possible benefits of a juice cleanse:

Rapid weight loss
Efficient detox
A good way to give your digestive system a break
Increased energy
Change in taste buds
Clear skin
Mental clarity
Dramatic improvement in existing health condition

Going on a Juice Cleanse

Here is a common list of permitted liquids during a juice cleanse.

Fresh juice
Caffeine-free herbal tea
Lots of water
Unsweetened coconut water (occasionally)

All your meals and snacks will be replaced with fresh juices, and in between the juices, you will be drinking lots of water. You can enjoy non-caffeinated herbal teas in between the juices and you can drink unsweetened coconut water occasionally.

You can also add most spices and herbs such as cayenne pepper and stevia to your juices. Stevia is a natural, safe herbal sweetener and is excellent for sweetening your juices, especially pure vegetable juices.

Caffeine such as coffee, black tea or green tea is typically not allowed, in order to give your body a break.

Typical length of a juice cleanse is 3-5 days, and it is recommended that you consult a doctor for any juice fast longer than 5 days. However some people do go on a longer juice cleanse (up to 60 days) and achieve significant weight loss.

Tips When Going on a Juice Cleanse

Drink lots of water every day to help flush out the toxins from your body.
It is recommended that you ease into a juice cleanse. Otherwise, if you have been on an unhealthy diet heavy on processed foods, sugar, caffeine, and/or alcohol, you will probably experience severe detox symptoms. In order to lessen the detox symptoms, it is recommended that you slowly cut out unhealthy foods before you go on a juice cleanse.
Start your juice cleanse in a safe environment such as at home, since you will probably be feeling weak and dizzy, and have detox symptoms in the initial days.
Do not go on a 100% fruit juice diet. Fruits are high in sugar and consuming them in juice form can spike up your insulin, leading to weight gain and other illnesses. Make sure to drink vegetable-heavy juices.
Make sure to drink ENOUGH juice every day, in order to prevent your body from entering starvation mode and slowing down your metabolism.
When breaking the juice fast, mainly eat fresh vegetables and some fruits, and introduce other foods slowly into your diet. Give your body time to adjust to normal/solid food.
After the juice fast and weight loss, you cannot go back to your old way of eating! If you do, you will gain weight again. It may sound obvious, but many people make this mistake. Use the juice cleanse as a way to kick start your new way of eating!
If you have any health condition, especially diabetes, check with a doctor first. A juice cleanse may not be safe for you at this time, or you may need to do the juice fast in a particular way. You should NOT do a juice cleanse if you are pregnant, nursing or under 18.