so i woke up on day 5 and was on the fence about how committed i was to completing the cleanse as is. the super high sugar content in the juices - 75 grams total PER DAY! (that’s 3 times the recommended daily limit according to the American Heart Association) - and the subsequent spikes and crashes in energy throughout the day really turned me off the cleanse. i’m really big on listening to your body and while i estimated being a little tired or hungry, i didn’t like this roller coaster of energy / lethargy and the very cranky moods my bf and i were both in.
i wanted to find a way to still mostly juice, but also stay a little even throughout the day and especially the evening. i had basically skipped the last two juices b/c i didn’t like them so perhaps i should substitute those calories with a super clean vegan meal to avoid the nighttime headache?
i decided to continue on the cleanse, but pack my clean vegan substitute in case i felt i needed it at any point. here’s how the day went:
9:45am - purify (same as day one). again, a lovely way to start the day. didn’t even miss my coffee.
11:15am - ginger bomb (same as day one). again, loved it. feeling good.
12:10pm - super cider (diff as day one) - apple, carrot, ginger, lemon. love the flavor but don’t love the sugar content (30g)… as you can see in the pic.
a few sips into the super cider, i started feeling the sugar rush…and i didn’t like it. i knew a big crash would follow and i wanted to avoid that. so i made the executive decision to eat a small meal - a serving of super clean, vegan chickpeas and kale.
and here’s why i don’t feel bad for a second about “cheating.” I don’t believe you need to solely juice to cleanse effectively. i think eating right - plant-based, vegan, fresh whole foods (raw often) - is going to have the best detox effect. i think juicing is great as part of a healthy lifestyle - but I prefer to mix fresh ingredients in a blender so you get the fiber and protein in the veggies, not just vitamins and sugars that come with pressed juices. i usually have at least 3-4 juices a week, sometimes they substitute meals - but the effects i experienced while subbing juice for all meals was more negative than positive. i didn’t expect this to be the case - i’d read all the reviews about “euphoria on day 2!” and was looking forward to it. but alas, everyone’s body is different, and mine thinks juice cleanses aren’t great.
i googled “the science of juice cleansing” and wasn’t surprised to find that there is no evidence to support the idea that juicing helps eliminate toxins from the body. most of the doctors, dietitians, etc quoted in the 10 or so stories i read across a variety of media (buzzfeed, slate, huffPo, US News World report, Shape, Real Simple, WashingtonPost, Medical Daily,etc) said juice cleanses are an expensive way to get just some of the benefits that come with a whole-foods, plant-based diet. here are some of the quotes that stood out to me:
There’s little evidence that detox diets actually remove toxins from the body. Indeed, the kidneys and liver are generally quite effective at filtering and eliminating most ingested toxins. So why do so many people claim to feel better after detoxification? It may be due in part to the fact that a detox diet eliminates highly processed foods. - Mayo Clinic
“I don’t like the marketing around juice cleanses,” Eric Ravussin, Ph.D., associate executive director for clinical science at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, told BuzzFeed Life. “That it’s going to detox and mobilize all these toxins and all that — this is pure marketing.”
Juices should be just one part of a balanced diet that includes minimally processed foods, good-quality lean protein, and plenty of whole fruits and vegetables—which, ironically, are the real cleansers. “They act like a scrub brush for your digestive tract,” says Marissa Lippert, a registered dietitian in New York City.
in short, i don’t think juicing detoxifies you, it’s about not putting toxins in to begin with. so yeah, clean food when hungry = better than sugar spikes, lethargy, and bad moods. anyways, back to the schedule - i finished the super cider.
4:00pm - “green protein” (different than day 1) - kale, spirulina, hemp seed, chia seed, wheatgrass powder, golden flax seed, coconut oil, coconut nectar, pea protein, lemon, banana. great flavor and texture - really enjoyed this one.
we went to the US Open that night - no outside drinks allowed. so i settled for some waffle fries which were so tasty and so not juice / detox / healthy. oops.
got home very late and skipped giving either of the last two juices another shot. didn’t need a sugar rush just before bed. luckily, no headache that night. i thank the food for that.
day 6 - final juice cleanse day. should i recommit? decided to just go with the flow and listen to my body like the day before.
9:30am - coffee with soy milk. one of the things i love about the weekend is our long morning walks with the dog to the best coffee shop in my hood. it’s the little things and all that.
morning glories grow all over red hook. these purple ones are my favorites.
10:30am had a purify. was feeling really shaky but it helped.
11:45am ginger bomb. was feeling shaky again after a walk on the beach to find our spot for the day. this plus some nuts (mix of pistachios, cashews and almonds) smoothed me out.
1:40pm longevity (same as day 1) - i love the flavor of this one and it was perfect for being out on the beach.
me relaxing and totes nerding out on a beach juice shoot (say those 3 words 3 times real fast btw)
our lil cliffside beach house
4:00pm - chocolate superfood - cacao, maca, goji berry, coconut oil, coconut nectar, golden flaxseed, vanilla bean, pea protein and banana. this is like a chocolate souffle with raspberry sauce. super delicious and SO filling. didn’t even finish it and felt very satisfied. hmmm, maybe this whole juicing this gets easier as the days go by? or maybe it’s the nuts from earlier... i guess i’ll never know.
that night we celebrated the end of the cleanse by going out to eat (ironic i know, cue alanis morissette) at my favorite ethiopian restaurant, bati. we had chips and guac as an appetizer at cafe habana while waiting for our table. oh, and a pineapple ginger lemonade that was really good.
if you haven’t tried ethiopian food yet, go! this is berbere (spiced) lentils, two portions of collard greens, and ground chickpeas with a little green onion. you scoop it into bites of injera bread which is full of iron and also vegan.
ry is left with all the nighttime juices i didn’t like so he’ll finish those up this week as a morning snack. i am going to continue drinking juice as part of a healthy diet. especially once i get my vitamix back - i think a morning green juice daily is in order.