3 Day Juice Cleanse

What’s a juice cleanse? Cleansing and detoxing are basically the same thing. Some people use the words interchangeably. Basically we drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice while abstaining from solid food. What does that do? The benefits are many. I think this will explain it best, a quote from another article and from Dr. Colbert author of the book entitled, “Toxic Relief”

From The Benefits Of Juicing:

Dr. Colbert endorses juicing in order to cleanse the body down to the cellular level. Dr. Colbert says that by avoiding other foods and letting the digestive system rest, we enable the vitamins and minerals to be absorbed without hindrance so that our bodies can come forth more revived and cleansed from all that we put into them. Just think of all the chemicals and pollutants that we encounter every day, and of all the heavy fats and sugars that we consume on a regular basis. All of these things go through our liver to be processed, and by giving our digestive system a rest, and allowing the vitamins and minerals to take over, our digestive system can heal itself.

My Secret In The 3 Day Juice Cleanse

In the last post I mentioned “my secret to successful cleansing”, so here it is, but it’s no secret at all. My secret is fruit juice! Yep, I drink fruit juice. I know a lot of people stay away from fruit juice because of the fructose (sugar), but the thing is, fruit juice works great for me in a 24 hour fast and in a 3 day juice cleanse. My morning juices consist mainly of fruit.

Personally I like to use watermelons, grapefruits, pineapples, lemons, pears, apples, and of course oranges. Use the FREE Juice Suggestion Software for recipes. I dilute my fruit juice with either purified or sparkling water. If you follow my routine, take only fruit juices in the morning and at lunch and take only vegetable juices from the mid-afternoon onward. (If you’re diabetic or hypoglycemic consult a heath professional before proceeding.)

Remember, moderation in all things. For me a reasonable amount is 8 ounces of fruit juice mixed with 4 ounces of water. I can do that once in the morning and once around noon. I drink it slow. Some health professionals recommend using fruit juice more sparingly and limiting yourself to only 4 ounces per day. If you’re unsure, go with that amount. Fruit juice works for me very well in a 24 hour fast and a 3 day juice cleanse. In moderation your body easily metabolizes fruit juice. I’ll list some of my resources below and will go into more detail in another post.

Day 1 On the Road

Okay, I started this 3 day juice cleanse on a Friday morning around 4:00 AM. I got up and as usual had my morning tall glass of water, herbal tea and did my morning meditation. If you’re reading this and haven’t read Part II of this series, I beg you to go back and read it. It’s all about juice fasting. Anyway, I worked on Friday and as luck would have it I was on the road. So I made some juice for the day and put them in a cooler. I found that three 16 oz. jars fit nicely in my small cooler. So the entire day I was away from home, but was still able to get started on my 3 day juice cleanse. How cool is that?

I had my morning, afternoon and mid afternoon juice on the road. I didn’t feel very hungry and when I did, I had some green juice. I have a nice 24 oz., BPA free, double wall container (glass, for lack of a better word) that I put my juice in. It keeps it cold and I can take my time and sip on it. I’ll put 16 ounces of vegetable (green) juice in it and dilute it with a little water, just to make it last longer. You can drink as much vegetable (green) juice as you like and as often as you like during this 3 day juice cleanse. In the evening I sipped more juice and all day long I sipped purified water and had herbal tea in the evening. I drink at least two to two and a half quarts of water a day when fasting or cleansing.

Day 2 Good To Be Home

Day 2 went like my 24 hour juice fast. I’m up early, have my water, tea and do a morning meditation. On a 3 day juice cleanse it’s a little different though. After about 36 hours I don’t feel any real hunger pains, but I feel like I could eat something. It’s just psychological in my opinion. Like someone quitting smoking. They want to have something in their hand or mouth to simulate a cigarette. To get over the psychological part I just kept having more water or herbal tea. Lemon or lime in the water tastes good to me and it’s also good for cleansing. By the end of day 2 I had experienced some light headaches throughout the day and a little weakness, but that’s to be expected and I also felt a little light headed at times, but I was trying to do to much physical activity (snow shoveling) and I chalk it up to that. I felt pretty good overall and had someone with me that was doing a 24 hour juice fast. I think it’s easier if you have a juicing buddy.

Day 3 Ending The 3 Day Juice Cleanse

I felt pretty good in the morning. Actually, really good. I was up again at 4:00 AM and did my morning routine. I didn’t have hunger pains, but again just felt like “I could eat something.” I told my girlfriend it kind of feels like you’ve been in the hospital, laid up for a few days without being able to eat. You’re not really hungry because you’re hooked up to an IV, but the idea of eating is definitely there. I felt good all day long, I read and watched some TV, so no light headedness or weakness. I took it easy and by 6:00 PM I was ready to end the 3 day juice cleanse. Ending a 3 day juice cleanse is very important. It’s important not to over do it and pig out. I wasn’t real hungry so I started by having a salad and some almonds. I had some more juice too 🙂 .

The next day (Monday) I felt awesome. Lighter than I’ve felt in a long time. My thinking has been clearer, I have more energy and it cleared out the mucus in my body. I can tell my body is more alkaline and my digestive system is cleaned out. Overall I’m very satisfied with the 3 day juice cleanse and I lost 3 lbs to boot.

The idea of assisting the body in detoxification isn’t new. Cultures throughout history have practiced cleansing. Throughout the centuries, physicians and healers treated a variety of maladies with fasting.

I’ve come across many different and healthy methods of cleansing. After experimenting, I’ve found what works for me and this 3 day juice cleanse does the trick. If you find this interesting and want to consider a 3 day juice cleanse for yourself I highly recommend you get the book and read Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life: Unleash the Healing Power of Fresh Juices and Cleansing Diets .

What’s been your experience with fasting or cleansing? I would love to have some feedback, so please post your comments below. Have fun and Juice On!

3 Day Juice Cleanse Recipes Can’t Be Beet

6 Carrots

1 Cucumber

1 Beet Another Secret Weapon

6 Carrots

1 Handful of Spinach

3 or 4 leaves of Romain Lettuce Liver Cleansing Cocktail

*1 Handful of dandelion greens

4 Carrots, tops removed.

1/2 Cucumber, peeled

1/2 Lemon, peeled

*Dandelion juice is a traditional remedy for cleansing the liver.

Resources:

The Benefits Of Juicing

Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life: Unleash the Healing Power of Fresh Juices and Cleansing Diets

Healthy Healing: A Guide to Self-Healing for Everyone, 12th Edition

FREE Juice Suggestion Software – Juice Recipes

Staying Healthy with Nutrition, rev: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine

The Juicing Bible

Important Note: If you’re diabetic, hypoglycemic, anemic, taking medication or have any serious health problems, please consult a health professional before trying a 3 day juice cleanse.