Green Juicing Diet (7 page)

Mint

• Color:
Bright green

• Yield:
1 pound = ⅔ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Sweet, bright, and refreshing

• Health Benefits:
For centuries, this delicious leaf — used to make candy as well as a digestive aid to calm upset stomachs — packs a huge health punch. It contains antioxidants that fight cancer and is packed with antimicrobial oils that kill bad bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli, and staph. Mint is also great for respiratory problems related to inflammation, such as allergies and asthma. This bright green herb does way more than just taste good!

Parsley

• Color:
Bright green

• Yield:
1 pound = ⅔ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Grassy and vibrant

• Health Benefits:
Parsley contains all of the benefits of other leafy greens, as well as volatile oils that have been shown to slow down tumor formation, particularly in the lungs. It's also rich in flavonoids, or antioxidants that fight free radicals and reduce your chances of getting cancer, including colon cancer. In addition, parsley reduces your odds of contracting such diseases as diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and atherosclerosis.

Radishes

• Color:
Milky and the greens are, of course, green

• Yield:
1 pound = ⅔ to 1 cup juice

• Flavor Profile:
Peppery and spicy; the greens are earthy and grassy with a hint of spice

• Health Benefits:
The biggest thing radishes have going for them is their vitamin C content; they also contain trace minerals, though not in significant amounts. The vitamin C is a great detoxifier and can help protect you from several types of cancer, including oral, kidney, and digestive cancers. And as we all know, vitamin C is great for fighting off colds and the flu, as well as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, urinary tract infections, and kidney disease.

Spices

Cinnamon

• Color:
Red or brown

• Yield:
Use store-bought powder or freshly grind a stick at home

• Flavor Profile:
Spicy and woodsy

• Health Benefits:
This aromatic herb that reminds many people of the holidays is packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that help you maintain heart, colon, and immune health. It also helps regulate your metabolism and blood sugar levels and is a natural antibacterial and anti-fungal. Throw cinnamon into your juice for a healthy burst of flavor!

Cloves

• Color:
Brown

• Yield:
Use store-bought powder or dried whole cloves

• Flavor Profile:
Spicy, sweet, and woodsy

• Health Benefits:
Cloves contain more antioxidants than any other ingredient, and therefore constitute an amazing addition to your juices. They blend well with both ginger and cinnamon, so feel free to throw them into drinks in which you're using those spices, too. Cloves also have antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and germicidal properties, so they're great for heading off the flu, infections, arthritis, and digestive issues. Because of their high antioxidant content, cloves help your body fight everything from colds to cancer, so use them liberally!

Turmeric Root

• Color:
Bright orange

• Yield:
The actual root is pretty hard to find fresh, so just use it in powder form

• Flavor Profile:
Spicy and slightly ginger-like

• Health Benefits:
The benefits of this orange cousin of ginger are about as long as your arm, so we'll just touch on the most important ones. Turmeric doesn't just fight free radicals to prevent cancer, it actually blocks the enzyme that promotes its growth. It may also be useful in the actual treatment of certain cancers, including colon, prostate, and skin cancers. It's an amazing anti-inflammatory as well and is therefore beneficial to those with arthritis.

Other healthful and tasty additions to your juice include: honey, unwashed sea salt, black pepper, allspice, thyme, flaxseed, chia seeds, and oregano. This is only a list of some of the most popular fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. Just because something is not on the list doesn't mean that you can't use it or that it won't be good.

We've talked about the benefits of incorporating juice into your daily diet, but what if you want to cleanse and detoxify your body by undergoing a green juice cleanse? It's true that this is more drastic and can have some significant side effects, but if done properly, a good cleanse can really get your body back on track. In the next chapter, we'll discuss how to properly undergo a cleanse, what the health benefits are, and what potential side effects to expect.

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT JUICE CLEANSING AND IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU?

J
uice cleansing, also known as juice fasting, is exactly what it sounds like: eliminating everything except juice from your diet for a period of time in order to cleanse and detoxify your body. The problem is that many people fall in love with the idea of doing this but don't know how to properly prepare for the cleanse in order to be successful. Also, a cleanse is a major shock to your body, so there may be some pretty nasty side effects. By the end of this chapter, you will know exactly how to juice fast properly, enabling you to get the most out of your efforts.

What Are the Benefits of Fasting?

The first few days of a fast will be brutal, but the benefits of a juice cleanse are amazing. Not only will you feel better, but your body will be able to function better, too, which will improve your overall health in the long run. You probably aren't even aware of the toxins that your body is exposed to on a daily basis, but they're in the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food that you eat. You can't escape them all, but you
can
take steps to cleanse your body of them periodically. Here are a few reasons why you should do so.

Immune System Boost and Healing

When your body gets bogged down from fighting the everyday toxins that you put into it, there's little time left for taking care of the business for which it was designed. When you stop putting in garbage, your body finally has time to mend all of the modest aches and pains that it shoved to the backburner in its effort just to keep you functioning. Because of this and other reasons, you may find that minor irritations such as muscle pain, niggling headaches, and heartburn disappear.

Healthy, Efficient Digestion

This one's a no-brainer, but it's a benefit many people don't consider because you don't realize how clogged up your digestive tract is until you start a juice cleanse. Once you've cleaned out your system, you'll likely find that gastric disorders such as gas, indigestion, and upset stomach that regularly plague you will disappear. There's nothing in there backing up the progress because your system is sparklingly clean and functioning the way it was intended!

Mental Clarity

Just about any doctor will tell you that brain function depends upon a healthy diet. What you put into your body is what you get out of it, and your brain requires certain nutrients just to shuttle messages back and forth. It's no surprise that when your system is clogged up with toxins, your nervous system is affected, too. Since your body is free of toxins after a cleanse and is receiving all that chlorophyll that helps with oxygen uptake, your brain is finally getting everything it needs to function optimally.

Increased Energy

Since your body is taking in a ton of nutrients, and your immune and digestive systems aren't working overtime, there will be plenty of energy left over, and you'll suddenly feel ten years younger! You may have thought that your get-up-and-go was gone, but get ready for a huge boost in your energy levels now that your body is free of toxins and functioning properly! As a matter of fact, this is one of the first “side effects” you'll notice and is a sure sign that your cleanse is working.

Amazing Skin

Your skin is going to thank you for your cleanse by looking brighter and being free of acne. It's a fairly well-known fact that one of the main causes of acne is a poor diet, but let's carry it a step further. Your body has only a few outlets for shoving out toxins, and your skin is one of them, so pimples are often an infection that your body is pushing out. When your body is free of toxins and receiving heaps of nutrients instead of junk, it's only logical that your skin will look amazing as a result.

Who Should Fast, and for How Long?

This is a great question because, for some people, fasting of any sort isn't healthy. If you're diabetic or are suffering from any major disease that requires a special diet, fasting probably isn't a good idea for you. Similarly, you may want to think twice about fasting if for any reason your immune system is already compromised. Even if you think that you're in great health, it's a good idea to discuss a juice fast with your doctor before you begin.

How long to fast is a personal decision. People who are fasting may do so for extended periods, or just for a day to give their bodies a quick break. Those who are simply cleansing tend to live on juice only for as long as they believe it takes to clear all the toxins from the body.

It takes two days or so for your body to clear all the fiber and other junk from your digestive tract, but after a week or so, your muscles start to deteriorate on juice alone, because you're not getting the protein you need to maintain and build them. The answer, then, is that you should fast for three to seven days in order to achieve optimal results without compromising your health.

Side Effects of Juice Cleansing

As we've already discussed, there are a few nasty side effects to juicing of which you should be aware. You know that saying about pain being weakness leaving the body? Well, that's kind of the same principle here. The side effects of cleansing are literally caused by poisons leaving your body, but after your system is cleared, you're going to feel incredible. Once all of the toxins are gone, and your digestive tract is free from years of accumulated junk, you'll feel like a new person — we promise!

Nausea and Vomiting

Since you're not slowing down the digestive absorption process with fiber, your body will get a huge burst of nutrients all at once. If it isn't used to fresh juice, the rush of nutrients may make you feel sick until you get used to this. It may help to dilute your juices by mixing them with an equal amount of water, at least for the first few days.

Headaches

It's likely that you'll experience a headache in the first few days of a cleanse, especially if you didn't wean yourself completely off chemical addictions such as caffeine. A headache is the main symptom of caffeine withdrawal but will go away after a couple days.

Breakouts, Bad Breath, and Body Odor

Your body has only so many means of releasing toxins, and your skin and the respiration process are two of the main channels. On the positive side, when you start to notice breakouts and bad breath, you'll know that your cleanse is working; on the negative side, all of the people around you will notice, too. Since it can actually get pretty bad during the first few days, you may want to take some time off from work or start your cleanse at the beginning of a three-day weekend.

Diarrhea or Constipation

Since you're not eating solid foods and don't have the fiber to slow things down, you may experience diarrhea until your body flushes all of the toxins out. If it gets too bad, add a bit of fiber back into your diet by eating some celery or a cucumber for a few days, as you don't want to become dehydrated. On the other hand, the general absence of fiber during the cleanse may cause you to go the other direction and experience some constipation. If so, try adding some prune juice or another natural laxative into your juice.

Lethargy

It's pretty typical to experience a sudden lag in energy for the first couple days of a fast, because you're not eating solid carbohydrates, sugars, caffeine, and other junk. The carbs that you're getting from juice are rapidly absorbed and used, so spikes of energy followed by crashes are also common. You should be fine after a few days though, once you've adjusted to the juice and the toxins have left your body.

Tips for a Successful Juice Cleanse

Now that you know approximately how long it takes to clean out your body, and you understand the benefits and side effects that you can expect from a juice cleanse, there are a few things that we'd like to share in order to make your cleanse more successful. After we review these tips, we'll get to the good stuff — the recipes!

Don't Give Up

The first few days of your juice cleanse will very likely be brutal, but remember, you wouldn't feel like this if your body weren't congested with toxins. Also, it helps to keep in mind that it's the toxins leaving your body that are causing all of the side effects — not the juice.

When your breath is foul and you smell terrible, imagine that the odor wafting from you is a cloud of toxic waste leaving your body, because it quite literally is. Once you think of it in these terms, it will be much easier for you to persevere, because you certainly don't want to leave that nastiness
inside
your body, do you?

Drink Plenty of Water

Because you're consuming so many pure nutrients, you need to drink enough water to ensure that you don't become nauseated while your body is adapting. You need equal parts water and juice to efficiently flush the waste and toxins from your body. You can either dilute your juice, or drink a glass of juice followed by a glass of water — whichever you prefer. If you like, you can also drink herbal tea or fortified water as long it contains no caffeine, artificial preservatives, or other such garbage.

Don't Use Too Many Fruits

We've already discussed the energy peaks and valleys you may experience because of the quick uptake of carbohydrates, so it's a good idea to use as few fruits as possible, since they have higher amounts of natural sugars than vegetables do. Also, fruits are typically used for energy, while vegetables usually have more healing and restorative properties. Since you're cleansing, detoxifying, and healing, vegetables are the best tools for a green cleanse. Try to limit fruit juices to breakfast only, and stick with vegetable juices (mostly green, if possible) for the rest of the day.

Make Your Juice As You Go

The longer your juice is exposed to air, the more nutrients it loses. For instance, vitamin C is purported to break down at a rate of about 2 percent per day, even in an airtight, opaque container. As soon as your juice is exposed to air, the oxidation process begins, so if at all possible, make your juice as you consume it. If this isn't possible, follow the guidelines we've already discussed, such as storing juice in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Wean Yourself Off Addictions in Advance

You may not think you have many addictions, but if you start your day with a donut, a cup of coffee, and a cigarette, you may want to wean yourself off the sugar, caffeine, and nicotine at least a week before you begin your cleanse. As a matter of fact, you may want to put away the cigarettes a few weeks prior to a juice cleanse for the sake of preserving your sanity.

Your body will have enough to adapt to when you switch to pure juice without going through chemical withdrawal as well. Save yourself some serious misery and cut out heavily processed foods, alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine slowly before you start your cleanse.