From avid health nuts to your average joe, juice cleansing has become the go-to health reset, and for good reason! Juice cleanses have amazing benefits, like aiding in healthy digestion, boosting your immune system, lowering inflammation, flushing out toxins, and flooding your body with critical micronutrients.
But juice cleanses can either elevate or devastate your health journey. Today, you’ll get the truth about juice—why it’s beneficial, what products to use, what to expect during your fast, and how to survive it.
Why Juicing Matters
Your body has the ability to cleanse itself. If it didn’t, none of us would be alive to read this post. But juicing gives you the opportunity to flood your body with powerful micronutrients and microorganisms without overloading your digestive system with fiber.
More than just cleansing, a day of juice will:
- Give your digestive system a spa day: Good juice is absolutely packed with good bacteria, enzymes, and living microorganisms. It will saturate your digestive system with exactly what it needs to flourish while giving it a day off of fiber.
- Curb carb cravings: Just one day of juicing can powerfully redirect your taste buds to crave veggies and fruit instead of unhealthy sweets and processed simple-carb snacks. It’s like opening your eyes to what your body has been craving all along.
- Change how you feel: Juicing can move your body from an acidic place to an alkaline space. This will help you get sick less often, lower inflammation, and feel more energetic throughout the day.
What Products to Use During Your Juice Cleanse
When completing a day of juice, it’s very important to look for three things before you start shopping:
- Do it organic, or don’t do it at all.
If the juices you’re drinking aren’t certified organic, you’d be better off just drinking water.
Consuming the pesticide load in non-organic celery and leafy greens (two prominent ingredients in green juices) is like taking a highly concentrated dose of chemicals within 24 hours. That is not what we’re going for during a juice cleanse.
Think about this: Over 3 pounds of produce goes into each veggie juice. Juice cleanses usually consist of 6 bottles of juice a day—that comes to 18 pounds of produce. You better believe the pesticide, insecticide, and germicide load of all that non-organic produce is dangerous to consume. Don’t complete a juice cleanse unless each ingredient is certified organic.
2. Do it veggie-centric, or don’t do it at all.
If your “green” juice has 15 oz of apple and one piece of kale, it’ll look green. But this juice will cause a big insulin response, something we want to avoid in our health journeys.
Don’t sabotage your fasting day with a sugar bomb of fruit juice. Look for juices that are made with only veggies or ones that have green apple or citrus fruit listed near the bottom of the ingredient list.
3. Do it fresh, or don’t do it at all.
Skip the grocery store juices. While they might be organic, grocery store juices can sit on the shelves for 30 to 45 days before they end up in your fridge. By this point, you’re drinking dead juice. Most of the hundreds of thousands of beneficial spores and microorganisms that once lived in that juice died on day 6. All that’s left is expensive, funky-flavored, green water.
What to Expect During Your First Juice Cleanse
Juice cleanses can be difficult. You’re strictly saying no to your body’s cravings. Juice cleanses rip off the bandaid of unhealthy eating habits. Some first-time cleansers can feel headaches, fatigue, or even nausea as their body adjusts.
Your body also requires a greater internal workload as it purges toxins, leading to some sleepy side effects. These effects can also be due to caffeine withdrawal, too little water during the cleanse, or too few calories.
To skip the bad side effects, try out my tips in the next section.
How to Survive Your First Juice Cleanse
Fasting is powerful, but if you can’t imagine going 6 hours (let alone 24) without something to chew on, try out these tips:
- Time it well: Don’t pick the day you have a big work presentation, are coaching soccer practice, or have marriage counseling to start your juice cleanse. Pick a low-pressure day where you can focus on your physical health.
- Stock up on herbal teas: If you’re a coffee drinker, this can be the blow that knocks you off your fast before breakfast. Try green tea, ginger, or hibiscus for the best results during your juice cleanse.
- Drink water too: Now’s not the time to skip out on your H20. It may feel like you’re drinking enough liquid with just the juice, but pushing lots of water through your system can keep you from feeling negative side effects, like headaches and low energy. Add to your juices your normal 64 oz of water.
- Ease in: Don’t eat like an asshole the day before your cleanse. If you’re considering packing in all your favorite junky foods to get a high one last time, you’re in the wrong headspace. Juicing isn’t a crash diet. Binging on junk food before a cleanse will throw your blood sugar off balance dramatically and make you feel a lot worse the next day.
- Skip your workout: Sometimes fasting can lower your energy levels temporarily, especially when you’re new to the juice game. Instead of that HIIT workout, opt for a gentle walk or yoga.
- Listen to your body: Focus on how you feel. Staying mindful will help you monitor yourself and make sure you’re cleansing safely, but it will also help you fully enjoy all the changes a juice cleanse has on how you feel.
- Gently transition back to eating: Start off with small portions of organic fruits, veggies, grains, and healthy fats. Slowly introduce heavier solid foods, like carbs and meat. Note any food sensitivities as you incorporate each food group.
Think Juice Ritual, Not Juice Cleanse
A day of just juice should be a day that is incredibly elevating for your health journey. It’s the IV power punch for your health journey. Run on nature’s perfect fuel for one day and see how much better you feel.
While you have a leg up on your health, take a big step forward! Sign up for LEAN, my 7-week program that will transform your body, inside and out.
