A juice cleanse describes a period of detoxing that usually involves consuming only juice for a certain length of time. The juices that a cleanse is comprised of can be any combination of both fruit and vegetable juices. During the cleansing period, it is advised to avoid/limit the consumption of solid food. It is recommended to try to avoid eating anything in order to reap the maximum benefits of a juice cleanse. A well-designed juice cleanse will provide all the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients you need.
The two main reasons someone may decide to do a juice cleanse are to detox the body and/or to help them reach their health goals. In the article, “The Real Reasons Juice Cleanses Can Get Your Health Back on Track,” Dr. Woodson Merrell outlines a few of the greatest benefits of juice cleansing:
Rest the stomach. By avoiding the consumption of solid food, you allow your stomach the opportunity to rest and reset. Juices are easier to digest and require less from the stomach’s processing. During a juice cleanse, the stomach does not have to work as hard to extract nutrients.
Rest and repair the gut. The toxic foods that make up a large amount of the average American’s diet can wreak havoc on the gut. Eating these foods can easily cause an imbalance in the gut microbiome and leave you feeling sick and sluggish. A juice cleanse gives you the opportunity to rest and repair the gut. Juice can quickly flow through the intestine and does not require as much energy from the gut as solid food. Also, the nutrient-dense components of the fruits and vegetables in the juice cleanse help to repair the gut.
Rest the liver. One of the main roles of the liver is to detoxify. All of the toxins we ingest, whether from the food we eat or what we drink, must be detoxified by the liver before they can move through the rest of the body. A diet laden with toxic foods can introduce more toxins than the liver can handle. For this reason, it is a great idea to rest the liver by doing a juice cleanse. The properties of the juices in a cleanse allow the body to detox without overloading the liver. A juice cleanse eliminates any and all toxic foods from your diet.
Eliminate harmful foods. A juice cleanse will eliminate common allergens like dairy and gluten from your diet. These are common trigger foods that can cause an upset stomach with mild to moderate symptoms when consumed by someone who is intolerant. A juice cleanse removes these foods from your diet and can help you to figure out what foods may be causing you to feel sick when you reintroduce them into your diet. Coffee and alcohol are also eliminated on a juice cleanse. Many people use a juice cleanse to help them to eliminate these drinks from their diets permanently.
Lose weight. A juice cleanse is a great way to kick-start a diet. During a juice cleanse, you will lose water weight and likely some fat. The amount of weight loss ranges from person to person. A juice cleanse is naturally lower in calories and can help control appetite and cravings.
Super nutrition. A juice cleanse is essentially an all-produce diet that is naturally nutrient-dense. Juices retain the nutrients of the fruits and vegetables that are usually destroyed when they are cooked. This is what enables a juice cleanse to provide the body with the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that we need for our bodies to work effectively and efficiently.
If you would like to do a juice cleanse, it is not recommended that you attempt to create a cleanse yourself. Many health food stores that offer juice cleanse options have designed each cleanse to meet specific health goals while still providing the necessary nutrition. It is important to incorporate a wide variety of both fruits and vegetables into a juice cleanse to ensure your body is still receiving what it needs to function properly. At FreshVibes, we have four different types of cleanses. We have cleanses designed for everyone from beginners to those wanting a deep detox.
Juicing is a great way to flood your body with nutrients and to fill in any holes that your diet may not meet nutritionally. You do not have to do a juice cleanse to reap many of the benefits of juicing. Incorporating fresh fruit and vegetable juice into your diet is always a great idea!
References:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/juice-cleanses_b_4549641
https://www.thejuicetruck.ca/blogs/news/the-science-behind-the-benefits-of-doing-a-juice-cleanse
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