Juicing is a way to give the body a chance to cleanse and heal. The body not only heals itself, but improves itself at an astounding rate when it is given all of the nutrients it needs without the setbacks of everyday toxins.
After eliminating waste and toxins in your body, some of the benefits include an improved immune system, higher energy levels, clearer skin, increased metabolism and improved organ functioning and digestive health. Keep in mind that I'm not a physician, and you should always consult a healthcare professional before participating in any cleanse, or any diet suggestions mentioned earlier in this blog.
There's a few reasons why I decided to do it now. First of all, I've been very bad keeping to my diet, and have cheated on eating some cheese now and then, processed foods, and having a few cocktails. Other than the cheese, I've stayed true to plant based foods, but I'm had many rich processed foods which are waisted calories and tough on the digestive tract. None of this unhealthy behavior has given me any Crohn's symptoms. However, I know that if I kept it up long term, it would result in the Crohn's returning.
So I realized it was time to get back to eating more healthy so I can stay healthy.
Additionally, because I'm healed, this type of eating and drinking is not good for your weight management, and specifically over the holidays, I've gained too much weight. If you recall, however, I really needed to gain weight, so some of this was wanted, but the weight gain went too far. And I really much prefer being a size 4 to a size 8, and it has become growingly obvious that I'd prefer to eat plant based whole food and be a size 4 than eat unhealthy, risk the return of Crohn's and be a size 8-10.
The reason why I decided to do it now, is for years I give up something bad for me, or commit to something good for me during Lent. Additionally, because I had some car problems that I needed to get corrected and I really needed to work on gathering everything for my accountant so I can file my income taxes on time. Because of these two things, I decided to stay in town this weekend and not go snowboarding. Since I was in town and was going to be stuck to my den gathering tax information, it was a better day to feel fatigued.
The first couple days of a cleanse, you typically have some side effects occur as the body detoxifies rapidly, such as hunger, headaches, tired, anxious, and you might even feel sick at times. The greater the side effects, the more toxic your body and the greater you needed to cleanse.
Therefore, I wanted to start on a weekend. My past experience is that day 2 and 3 are the most fatigued days of a cleanse. So starting on Friday made perfect sense.
Many of you that know me know that my favorite restaurant in town is Luna's Living Kitchen. This juice cleanse I decided that I would start with their three day cleanse. The juice consumed during the Luna’s Juice Cleanse is not the pasteurized type bought in grocery stores that is often from concentrate and packed with preservatives, but rather the raw, organic, cold-pressed juice from fresh fruits and vegetables.
The difference is important. Juices made with a cold press juicer are juiced slowly through pressure instead of being
chopped and heated as they are with a typical at-home centrifugal juicer or in a factory for store bought juice. The
chopping and heating process burns off nutrients and denatures enzymes, which are the molecules responsible for all
of the chemical reactions in our bodies.
I have a Hurom Juicer. It also works with the pressing process, however, it retains quite a bit of pulp because after pressing the juice from the fruit or vegetable it also then masticates the remains for pulp. So the first three days I'm using Luna's cold press juices, and then the next five days I'll juice my own. However, after I juice the fruits and vegetables, I will strain the pulp out of the juice, so that I in essence get the same effect as a cold press juicer.
I must say, that I love most of Luna's juices. Below is what they provide:
Odd Days
8:00 a.m. - Tree of Life: Kale, spinach, parsley, cucumber, celery, lemon and ginger
10:00 a.m. - Pure Vida: Carrot, apple, orange, and lemon
12:00 p.m. - Gateway to Green: Kale, apple, orange, lemon, and ginger
2:30 p.m. - Volcano: Orange, lemon, grapefruit, maple syrup, and cayenne
5:00 p.m. - Power Cleanser: Carrot, cucumber, beet and celery
7:00 p.m. - My Daily Salad: Carrot, zucchini, tomato, cucumber, kale, celery, garlic, cayenne, basil, lemon and sea salt
9:00 p.m. - Almond Milk: Almonds, dates, filtered water, vanilla and sea salt
Even Days
8:00 a.m. - Gateway to Green: Kale, apple, orange, lemon, and ginger
2:30 p.m. - Coconut-Chai: Coconut water with a splash of their homemade chai tea
5:00 p.m. - Zinger: Beet, apple, orange and lemon
7:00 p.m. - My Daily Salad: Carrot, zucchini, tomato, cucumber, kale, celery, garlic, cayenne, basil, lemon and sea salt
9:00 p.m. - Almond Milk: Almonds, dates, filtered water, vanilla and sea salt
A cleanse can be as short as three days and as long as a few weeks, depending upon how toxic your body is. I usually cleanse for no less than five days and no longer than 14 days. I haven't yet decided how long this cleanse will be because I don't really know how toxic I am yet.
Every two to three hours that you're awake, you should have 8 to 16 oz of juice. Additionally, you should consume about half your body weight in pounds as ounces of water. For example, if you weight 140 pounds, then drink 70 ounces of water. So for me I make sure I drink as least 12 ounces of water between each juice.
One thing that occurs during my cleanse is that I get a coating in my mouth. It feels like excess plaque everywhere in my mouth. I have to brush my teeth several times a day during a cleanse. When this nasty coating doesn't occur any longer, then I feel pretty safe that I've cleansed most of the toxins from my body. So when that occurs is when I'll complete my cleanse.
When I had active Crohn's, I couldn't eat garlic or cayenne. Garlic is an inflammatory to the colon, and cayenne was an aggravant. Oranges and lemons were too acidic as well. Even though they are alkaline forming, their natural acidic nature was problematic for Crohn's. Now that I technically no longer have Crohn's, adding citrus fruit is not a problem, but garlic and cayenne scare me a little.
Therefore, the Volcano juice above is one that I didn't like and did not drink. As soon as I tasted the quantity of cayenne it concerned me as to how it might effect my colon.
Oxalic acid is in spinach and kale, and in the past oxalic acid was a problem for the digestive track. It created inflammation. For those of you who haven't read or remember that Crohn's is an autoimmune disease that cannot control inflammation. Therefore, when the digestive tract gets inflamed, it attacks itself and makes it more inflamed and that's how the ulcers occur and get worse, because the immune system when trying to cure the inflammation, actually makes it worse.
Therefore, the trick to staying healthy and not having Crohn's return is to keep the digestive tract from being inflamed. So, eating garlic, cayenne, or things with oxalic acid could risk inflammation to the digestive tract which could cause a Crohn's flare up.
One thing I remember hearing from Dr. Azar, is if something is tangy to the mouth, it will be an inflammatory to your digestive tract. And the Volcano juice tasted too tangy. The other juices did not, so I am drinking the balance of the Luna's juices and don't feel as if I've had any issues whatsoever with my GI tract.
Days four through whatever, I will juice on my own. I am planning on making all the juices of Luna's on my own, except I won't use the Volcano juice, and instead I'll substitute watermelon and lemon juice. Watermelon is extremely alkaline forming with helps put your digestive tract in a PH neutral state with is extremely healthy.
I also won't use the Almond juice recipe from Lunas. It has a lot of fat in it, and since part of my motivation for doing the cleanse now is to shed a couple of pounds, I'm going to replace this high fat, high calorie drink with coconut water. Coconut water is composed of unique chemicals such as sugars, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, enzymes, amino acids, cytokine, and phyto-hormones. It beautifully hydrates the body, almost like Gatorade, while giving it the potassium it needs like bananas.
Also, coconut water is comprised of many naturally occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase, catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA-polymerases etc. In effect, these enzymes help in the digestion and metabolism. Clearly, for someone with digestion issues, coconut water is one of those miracle drinks.
An interesting recipe above is Pure Vida. For those of you following my blog throughout the tough times, I called my carrot and apple juice my miracle juice. Both contain pectin which is only digested in the colon and pectin when digested acts as a protectant and cleanser of the colon. And Luna's has almost the same recipe.
My favorite tasting juice of those listed is My Daily Salad believe it or not. I'm excited to try to duplicate the flavors in this juice. I can see it becoming my breakfast juice in the future versus the vegetable juice I have currently, which includes romaine, red pepper, cucumber and carrots with a little ginger. I prefer to have my green juice in the morning and my fruit juice in the afternoon. The sugars from the fruit give an extra boost of energy later in the day when it's needed.
I'm on day three of the cleanse, and really, other than the nasty coating in my mouth, haven't felt bad at all. I'm a little more tired than normal, so it is a good thing I didn't go snowboarding this weekend. But by next weekend, my body will be used to things and if I continue the cleanse into next weekend, I'll still plan on snow boarding, because it will be my last weekend at Winterplace this winter.
If you decide to try a juice cleanse, please let me know. I suggest you journal what you experience during that time. This not only is a good experience for the health of your body, but it is also a good experience for your spiritural and mental state. You will be amazed at the clarity of thought that occurs when your body doesn't have to focus upon digesting food and disposing of food waste.
10:00 a.m. - Pure Vida: Carrot, apple, orange, and lemon
12:00 p.m. - Gateway to Green: Kale, apple, orange, lemon, and ginger
2:30 p.m. - Volcano: Orange, lemon, grapefruit, maple syrup, and cayenne
5:00 p.m. - Power Cleanser: Carrot, cucumber, beet and celery
7:00 p.m. - My Daily Salad: Carrot, zucchini, tomato, cucumber, kale, celery, garlic, cayenne, basil, lemon and sea salt
9:00 p.m. - Almond Milk: Almonds, dates, filtered water, vanilla and sea salt
Even Days
8:00 a.m. - Gateway to Green: Kale, apple, orange, lemon, and ginger
10:00 a.m. - Purple Rain: Cabbage, bosc pear and mint
12:00 p.m. - Tree of Life: Kale, spinach, parsley, cucumber, celery, lemon and ginger2:30 p.m. - Coconut-Chai: Coconut water with a splash of their homemade chai tea
5:00 p.m. - Zinger: Beet, apple, orange and lemon
7:00 p.m. - My Daily Salad: Carrot, zucchini, tomato, cucumber, kale, celery, garlic, cayenne, basil, lemon and sea salt
9:00 p.m. - Almond Milk: Almonds, dates, filtered water, vanilla and sea salt
A cleanse can be as short as three days and as long as a few weeks, depending upon how toxic your body is. I usually cleanse for no less than five days and no longer than 14 days. I haven't yet decided how long this cleanse will be because I don't really know how toxic I am yet.
Every two to three hours that you're awake, you should have 8 to 16 oz of juice. Additionally, you should consume about half your body weight in pounds as ounces of water. For example, if you weight 140 pounds, then drink 70 ounces of water. So for me I make sure I drink as least 12 ounces of water between each juice.
One thing that occurs during my cleanse is that I get a coating in my mouth. It feels like excess plaque everywhere in my mouth. I have to brush my teeth several times a day during a cleanse. When this nasty coating doesn't occur any longer, then I feel pretty safe that I've cleansed most of the toxins from my body. So when that occurs is when I'll complete my cleanse.
When I had active Crohn's, I couldn't eat garlic or cayenne. Garlic is an inflammatory to the colon, and cayenne was an aggravant. Oranges and lemons were too acidic as well. Even though they are alkaline forming, their natural acidic nature was problematic for Crohn's. Now that I technically no longer have Crohn's, adding citrus fruit is not a problem, but garlic and cayenne scare me a little.
Therefore, the Volcano juice above is one that I didn't like and did not drink. As soon as I tasted the quantity of cayenne it concerned me as to how it might effect my colon.
Oxalic acid is in spinach and kale, and in the past oxalic acid was a problem for the digestive track. It created inflammation. For those of you who haven't read or remember that Crohn's is an autoimmune disease that cannot control inflammation. Therefore, when the digestive tract gets inflamed, it attacks itself and makes it more inflamed and that's how the ulcers occur and get worse, because the immune system when trying to cure the inflammation, actually makes it worse.
Therefore, the trick to staying healthy and not having Crohn's return is to keep the digestive tract from being inflamed. So, eating garlic, cayenne, or things with oxalic acid could risk inflammation to the digestive tract which could cause a Crohn's flare up.
One thing I remember hearing from Dr. Azar, is if something is tangy to the mouth, it will be an inflammatory to your digestive tract. And the Volcano juice tasted too tangy. The other juices did not, so I am drinking the balance of the Luna's juices and don't feel as if I've had any issues whatsoever with my GI tract.
Days four through whatever, I will juice on my own. I am planning on making all the juices of Luna's on my own, except I won't use the Volcano juice, and instead I'll substitute watermelon and lemon juice. Watermelon is extremely alkaline forming with helps put your digestive tract in a PH neutral state with is extremely healthy.
I also won't use the Almond juice recipe from Lunas. It has a lot of fat in it, and since part of my motivation for doing the cleanse now is to shed a couple of pounds, I'm going to replace this high fat, high calorie drink with coconut water. Coconut water is composed of unique chemicals such as sugars, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, enzymes, amino acids, cytokine, and phyto-hormones. It beautifully hydrates the body, almost like Gatorade, while giving it the potassium it needs like bananas.
Also, coconut water is comprised of many naturally occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase, catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA-polymerases etc. In effect, these enzymes help in the digestion and metabolism. Clearly, for someone with digestion issues, coconut water is one of those miracle drinks.
An interesting recipe above is Pure Vida. For those of you following my blog throughout the tough times, I called my carrot and apple juice my miracle juice. Both contain pectin which is only digested in the colon and pectin when digested acts as a protectant and cleanser of the colon. And Luna's has almost the same recipe.
My favorite tasting juice of those listed is My Daily Salad believe it or not. I'm excited to try to duplicate the flavors in this juice. I can see it becoming my breakfast juice in the future versus the vegetable juice I have currently, which includes romaine, red pepper, cucumber and carrots with a little ginger. I prefer to have my green juice in the morning and my fruit juice in the afternoon. The sugars from the fruit give an extra boost of energy later in the day when it's needed.
I'm on day three of the cleanse, and really, other than the nasty coating in my mouth, haven't felt bad at all. I'm a little more tired than normal, so it is a good thing I didn't go snowboarding this weekend. But by next weekend, my body will be used to things and if I continue the cleanse into next weekend, I'll still plan on snow boarding, because it will be my last weekend at Winterplace this winter.
If you decide to try a juice cleanse, please let me know. I suggest you journal what you experience during that time. This not only is a good experience for the health of your body, but it is also a good experience for your spiritural and mental state. You will be amazed at the clarity of thought that occurs when your body doesn't have to focus upon digesting food and disposing of food waste.
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