Juice Fasts: What are they and how to do them
April 13th, 2011 | Published in Juice Fast
A juice fast works just in the same ways as any other detox diets. It is designed to flush out all impurities and toxins that normal everyday to day living gives our bodies. Bad diets, stress, alcohol, tobacco, drugs and emotional baggage all add to unhealthy lifestyles where our bodies will find it hard to work probably to keep it as healthy as possible. Most detox diets boost benefits of curing illnesses, preventing diseases and helping us get over bad habits, such as junk food, smoking and drinking etc, juice dieting is no exception. In fact, it is my favorite detox diet of them all and I usually do a 14 day juice diet every 6 months.
The juice diet contains different fruit and vegetables that will give you great health, lots of energy and also help you lose lots of weight. I have lost up to a stone in fat after doing a juice diet for 14 days. This is great as it really gives you the motivation to eat healthy and look after yourself that tiny bit more than you would normally.
Whilst you are on the diet, please remember that no solid foods, or other liquids apart from water are allowed.
How to Juice Fast
To begin with you need a really good juicer, my recommendations are on this website.
There really is no limit to have much liquid you should drink in a day, if anything you have to constantly monitor to ensure you are drinking enough. Instead of your main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), you need to drink around 250ml to 350ml per meal replacement. In between these meals you need to continue with drinking your juice mixtures along side pure, room temperature water. It is OK if you are needed to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes as this is what the juice diet sets out to achieve. Don’t over do it though as when your urine is clear, this is when you know you are on the right track.
Water: Always drink pure filtered water at room temperature and never cold as this will interrupt with the detox to much by troubling your digestive system.
Fruit: The fruit you choose should be fresh and organic, none of this canned fruit as it contains preservatives and nasty stuff that we are trying to get out of our bodies. Typical fruits you should use are apple, cantaloupe, carrot, cranberries, grapefruit, grapes, guava, orange, pear, strawberries and watermelon. Fruits are high in citric acids and contain more sugar than vegetables so these should only be used to help with the taste of your juices. Your main ingredients in the juice detox should be vegetables.
Vegetables: This is where the quality of your juicer will come in, as if you do not have a strong enough juicer then you will have trouble juicing some vegetables. Typical vegetables used are, beetroot, bittermelon, broccoli, celery, cucumber, garlic, ginger root, kale, onion, parsley, spinach, watercress and wheatgrass. If you wish to use any other vegetables then feel free.
Vegetable Brooth: As an alternative to vegetable juice, you can make brooth with the same vegetables above and the following: Cabbage, onions, tomatoes, celery, green peppers, leek, potato (with skin) and parsley.
I like making vegetable juices and adding plenty of carrots with some citrus fruits as this gives it a great sweet flavoring.
Herbal Teas: Herbal teas can be a great way to help the detox along. As long as the tea you just to use are caffeine free then pick anyones you like. My favorites are chai tea, lemon green tea and oolong tea.
Things to Remember
When you are on a juice diet, certain movements may not work as well as they should be. This can be helped along by taking enemas, herbal laxative teas or salt water. What I prefer to do and works really well is to add psyllium husks into the juice, as this helps to increase the volume and bulk of the waste, keeping everything moving along nicely.
You should not experience any side effects from a juice fast, as long as you are taking care of your body. If you are suffering from any illness or are not 100% healthy it is advised that you should not do this juice fast.