Why would anyone go without solid food and just live of of the juice of vegetables and fruit for a set time? If you happened to watch the documentary I have been talking about called Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead then you know that it’s author and star Joe Cross lost a tremendous amount of fat and got off a truckload of prescription drugs by juicing for 60 days. He followed this fast with a much healthier lifestyle which included many fruits and vegetables as he had not done before.
Restoring health and weight loss are two common reasons for juice fasting. The Gerson Institute here in San Diego uses the juice of fresh, organic vegetables and some fruit to fight cancer, and they have a 60 year track record of helping restore the immune system so that it can fight cancer itself without radiation. As for weight loss, just watch the video and you will see Joe seem to disappear in front of you.
The premise of juicing is that the healing powers found in fresh, raw organic produce can be consumed in large doses and quickly when all of the fiber has been removed by a juicer it is easy to drink a lot. The juicing takes care of most of the digestive process before it even goes down your esophagus, thus making the vitamins, minerals and enzymes available for the business of healing, cleaning and eliminating.
Like I said before, I’ve been juicing to replace a meal here and there for awhile now, but I decided to do a bigger cleanse over a period of days to see what effect if any it has on my digestive system. If nothing else, it’s a good way to give it all a break and a spring cleaning! So today is my second day. I’m still alive. This morning I had a 16 0z. cup of apple, orange, grapefruit, blueberry and blackberry juice. I felt hungry around 11:00 so I had a green drink of green apples, kale, cucumber, celery, fennel bulb and basil. To be perfectly honest I felt such a strong desire to eat something solid a few hours later that I had some dried dates, so you could say I am not a juicing purist. For dinner I plan to have some broth along with another vegetable juice including a sweet potato because I have never juiced one and I’ve found quite a few recipes online that include it.
So there you have it. Some people experience had aches, a filmy tongue, bad breath, nausea or lack of energy within the first three days of fasting. (1) I haven’t experienced anything of those symptoms yet here at the end of day two, but that could be because I am pretty caffeine free and withdrawal from that certainly causes headaches. The only thing I notice is the strong desire to sink my teeth into a big piece of bread slathered with butter. I need to think about something else now.
I think the safest advice I could give anyone about juicing would be to suggest adding it to the diet you already have.
* If you make protein shakes then add juiced vegetables instead of high sugar fruit juices for the liquid.
*If you come to the afternoon and reach for the coffee pot for some energy, juice instead and you will feel refreshed and energized from the dose of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. (Remember that raw fruits and vegetables provide these same nutrients but in less concentration.)
When it comes to starting any kind of true fast from solid food, be sure to consult a doctor before because it can seriously aggravate current health problems like hypoglycemia and diabetes.
I’m going to leave you with the greens juice recipe that I really liked today…
2 green apples
3 cups spinach leaves
8 leaves swiss chard or kale
1 whole cucumber
4 stalks celery
1/2 fennel bulb
1 bunch basil
(1) http://www.naturalnews.com/027576_juice_fasting_weight_loss.html