21 day juice detox - day 15

Monday Monday here again! Was really tired today from yesterday's fayre. Had my lovely tap dancing class at lunchtime and my energy levels picked up. Strange what stomping about and making a load of racket for an hour can do!

I had a delicious beetroot based juice today, I called it Beetroot Blast. I'm really loving beetroot in juices at the moment, I don't know if it's because of the blood purifying and detoxing effects, or the yummy sweet taste, or the beautiful rich purple colour. Probably all three! And purple is my favourite colour.

Beetroot blast juice recipe:
3 beetroots
1 bag (750g) carrots
5 pears
1/2 bag spinach
Chunk fresh ginger
Juice of 1 lime

Put it all through the juicer, sandwiching spinach between pears. Mix lime in the jug.

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 1

Here we are, day one of my detoxification experience. I'd like to let you know before we begin that I am using the Philips whole fruit juicer. A reasonably priced centrifugal juicer. It is easy to use, easy to clean, easy to assemble. Masticating juicers are better at extracting more juice and are gentler on the juice keeping more nutrients intact, plus they can do wheatgrass, but are also much more expensive, and as I have just had to shell out for a new food processor as mine broke in my recent house move, I've had to stick with my Philips for now. I will upgrade soon, but using the Philips shows you that you don't actually need to invest in expensive equipment straight away if you can't afford to. My juicer is available on Amazon for £50 at the moment:

Just to clarify, before starting a detox or fast like this it is important to allow the body to transition into the period of not receiving solid food. So previous to today I have had a whole week of nothing but raw food (my Raw lifestyle Retreat 20-24 May), and over the weekend I took only smoothies, fruits, salads and nut milks. It is also a nice thing to include the well strained nut milk for the first day or two if you are embarking on a longer fast like mine, to help your body prepare, and then again on the way out of the fast, to get your body used to receiving fats and high doses of proteins again. You must make sure they are very well strained with no pulp at all, and the same with your juices. Even small amounts of solids like having bits of pulp in your drink will stimulate the digestive system and make you feel hungrier.

So this morning, day one, I had a beautiful nut milk made from almonds, brazils, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and a couple of dates for sweetness and flavour. I made it quite thin, that is, diluted with quite a lot of water. 

Nut milk recipe:

1/4 cup mixed almonds, brazils, sunflower and pumpkin seeds - soaked 8 hours or more

2 dates

4 cups pure water

Blend until bits look quite small, then strain into a jug through a nut milk bag, or if you don't have one, a clean pop sock or stocking will do the job, or some muslin cloth. Store in a screw top bottle or jar in the fridge, will only last 2 days max so get drinking!

I got my nut milk bag from Amazon, they are quite cheap:

To point out before we get on to the juice recipes themselves, it is very important when doing a detoxification fast of this kind that the produce you use is organic, as if you consume unorganic when you are detoxing, you will be undoing all the hard work your body is achieving, just piling the chemicals and toxins back in. 

My next meal was spinachade...yes spinachade! It is delicious and actually tastes of old fashioned lemonade but is bright green, chlorophyll rich, sugar free, alive and full of raw nutrition! 

Spinachade recipe:

8 apples

1 lemon (organic unwaxed)

1 bag (200g) spinach

Put an apple in the juicer followed by a handful of spinach and then another apple. Juice the lemon with the rind on, easier to do if cut in half and sandwiched in with the spinach. You'll have enough for a couple of big glasses so drink one and put the rest into a flask and store in the fridge. Fresh juice will keep for a day if stored in this way, especially if you are able to fill the flask right up to the top and screw the lid on so that some juice flows over the side. This ensures there is no air in the flask to speed up oxidation which is what spoils the juice. This juice also has lemon, which acts as a natural preservative.

Ok, you're probably getting tired of reading this, so I'll end with my last juice of the day, my beetroot zinger. Also want to say quickly that I also take organic herbal teas on my juice detox, making sure I only have teas which are caffeine free, so none that contain black, green or white tea, only herbal infusions.

Beetroot Zinger recipe:

4 beetroots

8 apples

8 carrots

½ bag (100g) spinach

1 lime (organic unwaxed)

Chunk fresh ginger

Juice beetroots and carrots, then sandwich handfuls of spinach between apples, including the ginger and lime cut in half (with rind). Again you'll have enough for a couple of glasses. 

So that's it for now, early night ready for a great day juicing tomorrow!

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox introduction

Orange and wheatgrass juice

One of the detoxification methods I teach to my clients is juice cleansing. Sometimes this is referred to as juice fasting, although that is a misnomer as the term fasting only really applies when taking just water or nothing at all. When you do a juice detox you are consuming all the nutrition your body needs, and usually much more, in the form of highly concentrated power elixirs extracted from fresh organic (biodynamic if possible) fruits, vegetables, herbs and sprouts. 

The science behind this ancient form of healing is that when you give your poor over stressed system a break from having to process food and chemicals (food additives, pesticides, hormones, medicine traces etc), it changes from its usual anabolic routine (processing and assimilating food, building cells and tissues), to a catabolic state (detoxifying, cleaning, healing, renewing). This means that it can concentrate solely on cleaning your system, getting rid of toxins, which are stored in fat cells, repairing and healing. 

You may be surprised to know but some pretty serious health conditions have been cured by simply taking a break from solid food for a while, including asthma, allergies, obesity, insomnia, high/low blood pressure, acne, psoriasis, migraines, inflammation, gall stones, arteriosclerosis, and even tumours! The body is a sophisticated machine with the amazing power to heal and regenerate itself, all it needs is to be given a break so it can do so.  Fasting and juice cleansing have been shown to increase life expectancy, health and wellbeing, these techniques put our health directly into our own hands, are free and available to us at any time we wish!

Soooo...I have decided to attempt a 21 day juice cleanse. I have done this type of detox many many times before, but never for that long. I always teach my clients about the importance of listening to your body, and a fast or juice cleanse is definitely a time when this applies, and so I will monitor my progress and see how I get on. If I feel the need to start my transition back to solid food sooner than day 21 (which incidentally is 16th June), then I will do so. Fasting is a time when the ego needs to be left at the door!

I will be posting once a day or every other day, usually in the evening, with my experiences, including the juice recipes with photos, my thoughts and how I am feeling, and I promise to be truthful! I will also include information on other detoxification techniques I am using, suppliers of produce and other products and anything else I think may be of interest. If there is anything else you'd like to know feel free to post a question in the comments box. 

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk