What is a Juice Cleanse?
Move over iced skinny latte, the green juice is here. The drink that used to get you the most
street cred as you waited at the newest overcrowded brunch spot, your iced coffee, has now been upgraded, it’s a bit more colorful and arguably just as energizing, fresh, raw, organic juice.
Thank god we’re starting to open up and live outside the parameters of our liquids only being brown, black, clear or possibly orange in the moments when we’re feeling wild and crazy. We’re letting our palette and taste buds have a little adventure, life and liquids should not be so bland.
Maybe you’ve indulged in a sip from your friends bottle as they convince you that it won’t taste like grass or liquid salad or have even splurged for a whole bottle, (you baller), but haven’t yet taken that expedition into the unknown, a juice cleanse. Seems like everyone is “cleansing” and detoxifying is so hot these days, but few actually break down what it is, that’s where we got your back.
A juice cleanse is a three, five or seven day fresh, raw, all liquid diet that “cleanses” and resets both the mental and physical state of the body. Most juice cleanses offer six juices and/or smoothies that are consumed every 2-3 hours throughout the day to keep hunger levels satisfied and nutrition levels amplified.
A juice cleanse is not a fast, where the body is restraining from any calories or nutrient intake, cleansing, focuses on the quality of the input and fuel that we are putting into our precious temple, our bodies.
A juice cleanse is a process to eliminate toxins in the body. Rest little liver, don’t say a word, momma’s gonna buy you an Ion Lion Zion. Juicing gives the internal organs and digestive system a break from processing complicated proteins, fats and carbs, which then allows them to produce clean energy and releases toxins from the body. It also helps to improve sleep and reduce cravings for sugar and sweets that come from poor intestinal health.
A juice cleanse is a fool-proof, and delicious way to eat your veggies and cut out processed garbage. Eating has become complicated, you almost have to have a PhD in physics when reading nutritional labels to understand what you buy from the grocery store and to go backstage to the kitchen when you’re eating out if you want any shot at knowing what’s really on your plate.
This can be exhausting and be quite awkward when you’re getting thrown out of restaurants, which is why taking a break from our routine diets every so often to do a cleanse makes sure that we regularly get adequate amounts of the good stuff in our storage to build up the bodies strength to combat our everyday consumption habits.
A juice cleanse is a mental reset. All kale aside, a juice cleanse is really about awareness, it can wake us up to how our body is supposed to feel naturally in terms of energy levels, weight and stamina, until we block it with processed, sketchy- ingredient filled foods. A juice cleanse is a flashing alarm signal from the body to the mind, of how good we can actually feel when we pay attention to what we chow down on and use to fuel the body.
Get real, get raw and cleanse your way outta crazy, the juice is no joke.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ali Van Putten is a blogger, entrepreneur, and obsessive compulsive juicer who collaborates with the Raleigh Raw crew to spread the good vibes. She is a certified Holistic Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a Jivamukti Yoga Teacher. Her site Createapreneur provides tools for creative entrepreneurs to build their brand, business and most importantly, to live life outside of the conventional lines.