Kerri Waldron
There may be several reasons why you might be thinking of doing a juice detox. If you want to lose weight quickly to fit into a sleek dress, this might be the choice for you. If you are having digestive difficulties like constipation or irritable bowel syndrome, you could use a juice detox to clean out your bowels, starting fresh again with healthy bacteria like probiotics afterward.
A juice detox involves drinking only juice made from raw fruits and vegetables, and drinking plenty of water for a few days until you are “cleaned out.”
Juice fasts last anywhere from 1 to 5 days total. If you are contemplating a juice fast/detox, especially if it is for longer than a single day, seek the advice of your doctor or other healthcare professional to see if you are an appropriate, healthy candidate for this kind of process.
First, you need to be able to have access to juice. If you are planning on doing a juice detox on a regular basis, it makes sense to invest in a juicer. Some companies sell pre-made cleansing packages such as Organic Avenue, Pressed Juicery, and Blueprint Cleanse. You can find them at health food stores or order them to be delivered to your home.
Preparing for your Juice Detox
It is not a good idea to jump into a juice detox without proper preparation as you may not respond to the cleanse in the way you want to. This means that you have to phase out certain foods that will otherwise result in headaches, withdrawal symptoms and cravings while you are doing the fast.
What are the foods you want to phase out pre-detox?
In the three days prior to your juice fast, you should gradually eliminate the following foods from your diet:
• Sugar
• Meat
• Caffeinated beverages
• Alcohol
• Wheat
• Dairy products
During this pre-fasting phase, you should replace the above foods with healthy fruits and vegetables in whatever form you like. Whole fruits and vegetables carry fiber, which can help clean out the digestive tract before the juice detox.
Your Juice Detox
While you are on your juice detoxifying fast, you’ll need to drink up to 96 ounces of juice. Half of the juice should consist of vegetables rich in chlorophyll. This means you need to juice up several kinds of green vegetables such as beans, peas, kale, broccoli, and spinach. You don’t have to drink them plain and can mix them with fruit juices to make them more palatable.
Start out in the morning with a glass of lukewarm water flavored with lemon. Lukewarm water with lemon is also a good way to cleanse your palate and get food going through your system. Besides green vegetable juice, you can also eat juice made from beets, apples and/or carrots. All of these are naturally a bit sweet so you can satisfy cravings for sugar with these healthy juices. Almond or cashew juice/milk can be used to provide your body with loads of protein. In between your healthy juice, drink your water with lemon.
Drink slowly so that all of the healthy nutrients these juices hold can be absorbed better and drink at least one glass of juice every few hours, choosing to use your last juice of the day to be about three hours or more before retiring for the night. Typical fruits and vegetables that lend themselves well to juicing are apples, cabbage, carrots, kale, celery, leafy greens, spinach and beets. Avoid bananas and avocadoes as these foods don’t really juice well.
What are the benefits?
A juice detox can clean out your colon of debris and bad bacteria. You can lose some weight—up to several pounds—so that you can fit into something nice for a special occasion. Juicing gives your liver a break from having to detoxify foods you might otherwise eat on a regular eating day. Try juicing for a boost of energy and healthiness.
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