As an avid foodie and budding health nut, I enjoy tackling food feats in order to expand the horizons of my palate. In the past, I've tried going gluten-free and I've also briefly banned dairy from my diet. Let me tell you, that was a disaster. While these diet trends didn't become a part of my daily routine, I'm still open to trying new challenges.
A true sign of a health nut is definitely the tolerance and enjoyment of green juice. I've got to be honest though — despite my knack for trying health trends, the green-juice-lover group definitely didn’t include me. The thought of green juice made me turn up my nose, and the smell made me want to dry heave.
One of the most daunting food feats of all is the infamous juice cleanse. This is why I’ve decided to take on “The Beginner” juice cleanse from The Pulp & Press Juice Co. here in London, Ontario.
Juice cleanses are designed to detox your digestive tract, but the scientific community is relatively divided about the benefits and drawbacks of doing a cleanse. While it does promote better digestion due to the ease of breaking down the nutrients in juice, it can leave you feeling like you have no energy due to the lack of protein.
Disclaimer
If you do decide to tackle a juice cleanse, it's best to be aware of possible side effects. I don't promote doing juice cleanses for weight loss purposes, because all you're really losing is water weight, which is only temporary. If you find yourself experiencing any adverse side effects such as blood in your bowel movements, please contact your doctor.
It's normal to feel a bit light-headed and tired, and even moody due to the lack of protein. However, if you experience any of these in extreme ways, contact your doctor. I highly recommend supplementing the juices with protein or even consider eating one light, raw meal a day to manage your feelings of hunger.
About the Cleanse
I’ve chosen to do “The Beginner” juice cleanse from The Pulp & Press Juice Co. Consisting of five juices a day for three days, I figured this was a great way to start my cleansing career.
I also ate one raw meal a day (at dinner) to make sure that I wasn't crazy hungry and moody AF. This also made sure that I had enough energy to get through the day.
Day 1
Juice #1: Turbo – Time to tackle this challenge head on by starting with a green juice. My nose is plugged, straw is in, here I go… Okay, surprisingly, not bad. I am the first to admit that I’m not a fan of green juice, but this didn’t taste like I was eating grass straight from the ground. I tasted the apple, pineapple, and cucumber more than the kale, avocado, lime, and spirulina. It's definitely the perfect juice if you want people to believe that you’re healthy as s#!+ without drinking something that looks and tastes like it.
Juice #2: Beta Blaster – Spicy lemon, here I come. I’ve tried juices similar to the master cleanse, where all you can taste is cayenne. However, this one was completely different. It legit tastes like lemonade… I could drink these forever. Better yet, I could chase with these.
Juice #3: Hulk – I’m a huge fan of beets and beet juice, so this one went down pretty easily as well. All you taste is the beet and lime, while the avocado gives the juice some thickness and creaminess which I personally really liked. As well, the avocado provides some protein, healthy fats, and they help you to better absorb nutrients.
Juice #4: Turbo – Okay now the cravings are kicking in. I'm craving some fries and some eggs (not together, though, that would be weird). Verde was just generally green and all the ingredients were pretty much equal. Not bad at all though. Am I turning into a green juice head?
Juice #5: Rinse/ReBeet – Rinse/ReBeet tasted similar to Red Monster; however, instead of lime, I tasted the lemon. I personally am not a huge fan of ginger, but the flavour didn't overpower the other ingredients. An hour after I had this juice, I ate a raw salad with no dressing because I was pretty hungry.
Day 2
Juice #1: Turbo – Time to start my day off with another Hulk. I'm feeling good, however, this whole no coffee thing is definitely hitting me. My fingers are twitching, the bags under my eyes are growing, and my heart is asking my brain to consider eating a big fat juicy cheeseburger, but I’ll stick it out for the next two days.
Juice #2: Beta Blaster – Upon the first sip of Beta Blaster, the first thing that hit me was the carrot and ginger taste. If you're like me and you aren't a huge ginger fan, you don't need to worry because the taste wasn't too overpowering. Other flavours such as lemon helped to balance out the juice. The colour might put you off, but once you get past that, you’ll be fine!
Juice #3: Hulk – Another hulk. See all comments above regarding taste. Latest craving: sushi. Spicy tuna, to be specific. May have to treat myself once the challenge is over.
Juice #4: Rinse/ReBeet – Rinse/ReBeet round two. Hunger is kicking in. My stomach doesn’t feel empty, it just feels like it’s full of liquid (which it is). I’ve been peeing like a crazy person.
Juice #5 – New green juice: Green Glow. Sounds pretty nice. The first taste that hit me was fennel, which I’m not a huge fan of. The lemon offsets this a bit, but then the kale and spirulina work their way in. I’d take the Hulk over this one, however, still not what I expected from a green juice. I accompanied this juice with my take on Oh She Glows’s rice paper rolls (with no sauce), because yet again, I was hungry.
Day 3
Day three is finally here. I can’t wait to eat something cooked—perhaps with some cheese (disclaimer: I love cheese).
All juices consumed today had already been tasted in the past two days, so see above for specific tastes. Today’s cravings again included eggs, in the form of a hearty breakfast with bacon, hash browns, and toast. I will definitely be making myself a big ol' breakfast tomorrow morning. I'm beginning to dream of my first real meals tomorrow.
Dinner today was a plain tofu scramble with a raw salad and no dressing. It kinda tastes like dog food with no sauce, but hey, it’s good for me – that counts for something, doesn’t it?!
Takeaways
Overall, I actually enjoyed this juice cleanse. It definitely isn’t something I’d do regularly… but if I had been eating particularly bad, I would consider doing a juice cleanse to kick my butt to stop eating junk food.
It was definitely hard to give up solid food for three days, but in my opinion, it was worth it. In the week or so after I did the cleanse, I noticed that I was having far more regular bowel movements. Interestingly enough, I felt encouraged to choose healthy options when eating, rather than indulge in the foods I had missed during the three days. This was definitely an added bonus.
I would advise anyone who is planning on tackling a juice cleanse to attempt it when you aren't particularly busy. I found it much easier to do when I was spending most of my day in the library because I could mindlessly drink my juice without focusing too much on the fact that I could be eating chicken fingers instead.
I’d suggest the Pulp and Press Beginner juice cleanse because the juices all taste genuinely good, and the people at the retail store are super helpful. I’d also try The Chew cleanse, which includes one meal and one snack each day, so you don’t feel like you’re gonna faint.
Overall, I feel healthy AF—like I could go teach a yoga class, or meditate or something. It was a great experience in the end and I’d definitely do it again.
Whether this is your first juice cleanse, or your tenth, I hope that you leave feeling ready to tackle your next health challenge. And to you green juice heads, power to you.