Many people begin wondering about juice cleanses when they feel like their life has changed for the worse. This can range anywhere from feeling lazy and sluggish to feeling bloated to feeling like your body is a slave to junk food. The purpose of a juice cleanse is to rid your body of toxins through powerful nutrients and antioxidants. This may sound disgusting, but it is much more tastier than medical supplements. There are three phases of a juice cleanse: the pre-cleanse, cleanse, and post-cleanse. According to Urban Remedy, The three day pre-cleanse consists of eight glasses of water a day. One must also avoid ‘bad’ foods, such as soda, fast food, coffee, alcohol, fried foods, and desserts. The next phase in this program has you start off your day with a glass of lemon water, and six juices throughout the day in two-hour increments. During the first day of the three day post-cleanse, you must begin with fruits, greens, and eight glasses of water. The second day requires the addition of nuts. Meats and fish are added during the last day.

According to Project Juice, the pre-cleanse phase is just as important, and may be even more important, than the actual juice cleansing. To determine how long you should pre-cleanse, you should evaluate how well you eat most days. For example, if you are a huge fan of organic foods and mainly rely on vegetables for your meals, you may only want to pre-cleanse for 1-2 days. If you passionately rely on junk food as your main source of nutrients, you may want to spend a good week in the pre-cleanse phase. The purpose of this phase is to drink more water, reduce caffeine consumption, eat more fruits, stay away from processed foods, and to try and become organic. The main cleanse phase is just as important, with the consumption of a glass of lemon water in the morning a must! This liver stimulant is a ritual that is strongly recommended by most programs. Another important part of this phase is scheduling. Staying consistent and drinking juice every 2 hours will stop you from becoming hungry often. As for the post-cleanse… it’s time to celebrate! But not too much. Even though you did just ingest anywhere from 15-25 pounds of organic produce, you cannot resort back to your old ways of McDonalds and Taco Bell, no matter how much you want a Steak Doubledilla with a Baja Blast Freeze. It is important to keep sticking with the healthy lifestyle and avoid red meat, dairy, and alcohol.

However, according to Eat This, there are many side effects to the juice cleanse program. Some of the most common ones are: a decrease in metabolism, temperature sensitivity, laziness, weight loss, lightheadedness, slight depression, bad breath, and loss of focus. This is only temporary though, and after the program you will feel much better than you did at the start.

Contrary to popular beliefs, simply drinking juice will not make you healthier. This is a scheduled process that requires more effort than simply chugging a few bottles of tomato juice a day. One main factor is eating solely organic foods. This will ease the hunger cravings during the actual cleanse phase. A suggested activity is to have light exercises everyday. Another recommended activity is to write in a journal or to meditate. The entire process is meant to be relaxing and to release not only the biological toxins but the mental and emotional ones as well.

Personally, I have not tried a juice cleanse but after doing some thorough research, I think I might. The effects of spending only a few days with a different diet outweigh the cost of a juice cleanse, which can range anywhere from $50 to $200. I strongly recommend trying out a beginner’s juice cleanse, or at least doing some research to try and persuade yourself.