Before your cleanse
Holding to a healthy, light diet starting 3 days before your juice cleanse will ease the hunger cravings and avoid a potential "healing crisis" during the cleanse itself. This will prepare your body to fight against negative detox symptoms that include lack of energy, headaches, aches, irritation, anxiety, and diarrhea.
For the best results while cleansing, we want to bring your body into a more alkaline state.
- Begin phasing out indulgences such as coffee, sugar, refined starches (bread, white rice and pasta), meat, eggs, dairy, processed foods, and alcohol.
- Consume more raw fruits, greens, and veggies at every meal. (Smoothies are an easy way to incorporate more fruits and veggies)
- Drink more water to keep your cells hydrated.
- If cutting coffee out of your diet is not a personal goal, you may opt to drink a low-acid, cold-brew coffee, or transition to a matcha green tea as a way to still get a bit of caffeine without disrupting your alkalinity levels.
- Be sure to get quality sleep.
- Try to relax. Don't start your cleanse frazzled and stressed out.
Let the juice challenge begin!!
During your cleanse
LEMON IS YOUR JUICE CLEANSE FRIEND
Warm water with lemon first thing in the morning is an incredible liver stimulant that begins the cleansing process before you even have your first sip of juice.
STAY ON SCHEDULE WITH YOUR JUICES
Aim to drink a juice every 2 to 3 hours.
6 juices may seem like a lot to some people. However, if you space out your juices over 12 hours, finishing your last juice roughly 2 hours before you fall asleep - your body will thank you. Skipping juices will likely leave you hungry later and may result in your blood sugar crashing. Even if you are not hungry, when it is time for your next juice, drink up.
IN-BETWEEN JUICES
You can have as much water as you like throughout the day. Drinking up to 8 glasses of water a day helps flush out the toxins faster.
REST IS IMPORTANT
Get an ample amount of sleep. Your body will need additional downtime while it is hard at work.
After your cleanse
As you integrate solid food back into your diet, please be mindful that your digestive system has been in a state of complete rest.
Days 1 & 2
Low-density foods that are high in water are kind to your digestive system and should be reintroduced first.
- Fresh water-based fruit (melon, papaya, citrus; not dried fruit or bananas)
- Fresh water-based vegetables (celery, cucumber)
- Low sodium vegetable broth or non-cream based vegetable soups.
- Herbal or green tea
- Smoothies including antioxidant-rich superfoods (acai, cacao, goji berries, spirulina, blueberries, maca, wheatgrass, hemp seed)
- Drink plenty of water
Days 3 & 4
Continuing to focus on the foods listed above, begin to incorporate more fibrous foods.
- Raw or lightly steamed non-starchy vegetables (cucumber, tomatoes, bell peppers)
- Raw green leaf salad topped with raw, non-starchy vegetables (dress with fresh vegetables or raw apple cider vinegar)
- Soups
- Drink plenty of water
Days 5 - 7
Dense foods are now ready to make a comeback in your diet.
- Lightly cooked starchy vegetables (yams, winter squash)
- Whole grains (brown rice, barley, quinoa)
- Lightly steamed or poached fish
- Drink plenty of water