Why consider doing a juice cleanse?
The two main reasons are weight loss and improved health.
Juicing gives you an energy boost, helps dump toxins from your body, makes you aware of mindless addictive eating habits, gives your body time out from its routine, and reboots your system. Your mind will be clearer, your palate fresher and food will taste more vibrant after your cleanse.
Vibrant health is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Juicing is an easy and inexpensive way to achieve it, and can produce lasting benefits.
A juice cleanse can last a day or two months, depending on your needs and determination.
On a juice diet you lose weight while providing nutrients your body needs.
If you suffer from any of these symptoms, a juice cleanse can help rejuvenate you:
Bloating & Swelling Excess Weight
Foggy Memory Itchy Skin
Insomnia Painful Joints
Constipation Fatigue, Problems Waking Up
These symptoms may indicate a health problem, so check with your physician before starting your cleanse. Juicing can make you feel better, and usually brings relief from such health issues.
The juice cleanse has come into its own in recent years. Celebrities often set our trends, and many of them are enthusiastic juicers. Salma Hayek has her own juicing plan. Miranda Kerr, Nicole Richie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Blake Lively are just a few others known to juice.
The juice cleanse has been around since ancient times, but until recently you were most likely to hear about it in religious or spiritual circles. Religious leaders encouraged fasting to purify body, mind, spirit and emotions. For centuries Europeans have fasted to counteract over indulgence, and purge their bodies of toxins, chronic diseases and elimination problems. Juicing is an ancient path to revitalize overworked organs.
Over the years, juice cleansing remained the well-kept secret of savvy people. It wasn’t popular, except in alternative circles and health clinics. Juicing proponents were thought to be eccentric, depriving themselves of food. A common misconception was that they were starving, barely existing on a bit of liquid.
Thanks to the efforts of passionate juicers like Jack Lalanne and Jay Kordich, the image of juicing has been revamped, and its healthy reputation restored. It has entered the mainstream.
We live in a society where excess is the norm. Our food consumption is out of control. As we stumble out of a self-sabotaging era of mega-sized plate loads of greasy, fried or sugar saturated foods, we are entering a new era of health consciousness. As the pendulum swings between all-or-nothing extremes, our desire for overload is now moving toward healthy balance. Less is more.
News reports inform us about contaminated beef, fish, tomatoes, milk and water all too often. Our food and drink contain pesticides, chemical preservatives, coloring, fillers and other things we don’t even want to know about. Even those who eat consciously, grow their own produce or buy organic, often feel sluggish and toxic. Stress and medication bombard our systems on a regular basis.
Many of us are overweight and under-nourished. We wish for a magic wand that can restore our health and vitality, and help us shed unwanted fat.
Weight loss is a great motivator for doing a juice cleanse. Juicing is the perfect antidote to the overeating that pervades most of the western world, especially in North America.
Some folks consider a juice cleanse a diet plan. However, instead of starving yourself, you are gifting your system with rich, high density nutrient rich food, easy to swallow, digest and eliminate.
When you juice, you give your digestive tract time to rest. Absorbing vitamins and minerals from vegetable and fruit juices is much easier for your body than extracting them by chewing food and passing it through the digestive tract.
Dedicated juice cleanse aficionados swear by their renewed vigor, stamina and vitality, all benefits of detoxing and purging. Clear skin, sharper vision, vanishing aches and pains are just a few benefits a juice cleanse can bestow. Another wonderful benefit is a sharper mind and better memory.
Prolonged juicing regimens even lead to revitalization of tired organs and restored wellness. Some juicing fans, under medical supervision, wean themselves off prescription medication over time and reverse serious illness. We can turn back the clock.
I recently began my personal juicing journey. When I juice, I become aware that day-to-day ‘hunger pangs’ are not true hunger signals. They stem from an emotional desire to eat, or are caused by chemical sensitivity or stimulation. Many fast foods contain addictive substances that activate cravings. Before you know it, you’re on another trip to the drive thru. One day into my juice cleanse, these false hunger signals evaporated.
Before I started my juice cleanse I was concerned that I would be so hungry, I would stray quickly. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. I experienced a complete lack of hunger. I struggled to consume the daily amount of juice my body needed.
I juiced for two weeks. On the rare occasions I experienced real hunger – when I was on the road and unable to juice – it made me realize that what I considered ‘hunger’ was just a false desire to eat when I didn’t need to. This new gnawing sensation in my belly was the true definition of real hunger.
I never believed I’d be a juicing fan. Feeling good is contagious, and the more often I juice, the better I feel. My enthusiasm has propelled me to create this website. I hope it helps you explore the world of juicing, and ignites a spark of interest in you sufficient to give a juice cleanse a try for yourself.
To your health!
