Last year I woke up on my birthday, looked in the mirror and realized that I didn’t recognize myself. My once athletic build had turned into mush. I was sluggish, indecisive, unmotivated and didn't know what my next move should be toward finding myself again. During the following couple weeks of soul searching, my childhood friend, Rita G, introduced me to juicing, which changed my life. Today I am 50 pounds lighter in weight and 1000 pounds lighter in spirit.
I know many people reading this feel the way that I did. Wanting to jump start their lives but not sure how to do it. I think that a juice cleanse is the perfect way to press go! It helps you get toxins out of your body, most people loose 3-5 pounds (on a cleanse lasting 2 days or more), and after completing a cleanse you think more about the foods you are putting into your body and their effects. Due to cleansing and drinking organic beverages daily, I now find it hard to stay in bed past 6am. I’m also full of energy and enthusiasm without coffee or energy drinks. Of course, not all of this is juicing; its also me staying focused, present and positive. But much of that is due to the effect of eating health, exercising, and knowing that I am now making the right choices in my life by ridding myself of toxic foods and situations.
Many of us have at least one friend who has tried a juice cleanse with varied results. In the past, because of its high value and limited accessibility, it hasn’t been a popular option. Although juice cleansing has increased in popularity among celebrities like Selma Hayek and Scarlett Johansson, a large number of us still don’t quite know what a juice cleanse is, why you would want to do one, and the potential effects.
Following are the answers to some basic questions. I will write additional blogs in the future that answer more specifics.
WHAT IS A JUICE CLEANSE?
A juice cleanse is simply a series of fruit and/or vegetable based juices with enough sustainable nutrients to supplement the body in lieu of food. This practice is also known as “juice fasting”.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF JUICE FASTING?
During a juice cleanse our cells and organs are given the chance to rapidly purge out toxins without absorbing newer ones. This allows time for rejuvenation and repair. We use approximately 40% of our energy during the day to digest our food. Once the digestive system is allowed to rest that energy is used for the cleansing and detoxification process.
Juice fasting over water fasting provides our body access to nutrition for the purposes of cleansing. Juices are an easy source of nutrients that are digested without hassle by our digestive system. It feeds our cells and natural detoxification organs to help them clear out toxins and wastes.
Those individuals with eating habits like fast foods, processed foods, soft drinks, dairy, red meats, deep fried foods, basically anything that provides excessive fats, sugars, and chemical substances into our body, will benefit greatly from juice fasting. A juice fast can break such unhealthy eating habits and open up a transition for such people to skew toward healthier eating.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT JUICE CLEANSING
The beginning and end of any juice fast is a very sensitive time. Gently working your way into and out of a fast with water, tea, soups, light salads or fruit is always a great idea. Although people go into a cleanse thinking they will be hungry, many feel just the opposite! What they do miss is the habit of chewing their food daily.
You may wonder if you will have to go to the bathroom excessively during a cleanse. Although you may have to go more then you may regularly, it’s not uncontrollable. Besides, there really is not another way to get toxins out of your body except sweating. Going to the bathroom is actually a great sign that your body is functioning properly and purging those things out that are wasteful.
*Always consult your Dr. or Nutritionist if you have a condition that may be affected by doing a juice cleanse.
WHERE CAN I GET A JUICE CLEANSE?
One of the reasons I wrote this blog was to educate my friends and clients on juice cleansing. I get asked about cleansing so much; I wanted people to have a place to go that will answer some of the basics.
If you were not aware, I am the owner of Juice Hugger, an organic juice company. We offer juice cleanses as one of our products. I started this company because of the positive impact juicing has had on my life. Although I'd argue that Juice Hugger's cleanse is the best due to its use of super foods, alkaline water and the fact that it’s organic, there are other companies on the market that also sell juice cleanses like BPC and The Cooler Cleanse. As a note, the Master Cleanse is NOT a juice cleanse and it is not a cleanse that I support, which I will go into during my next blog on the topic which will outline the different companies that offer cleanses as well as various cleansing options.
I hope you found this helpful! If you have specific questions about cleansing, feel free to send me a question.
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