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OUR GUIDE TO JUICE FASTING

Before Your Fast

The better you prepare, the better you repair! Preparing your body will affect how you feel and respond during your juice fast. Detox symptoms, such as fatigue, headaches, constipation, diarrhea, skin eruptions, rash, hives, cold sores, canker sores, dry mouth, runny nose, nausea, insomnia, and vivid dreaming are possible, but not common. It is highly unlikely, however, that you experience many of these symptoms at once. We found that the more prepared you are, the better you are able to shake off those detox symptoms. By preparation, we mean meal prep! Think of your pre-fast meal plan as your way of getting your body in tune. The good news is, you will feel AMAZING when you’re done. That’s something to look forward to!

A few days leading up to your juice fast, wean yourself off some of your usual indulgences: cut down the coffee, sugar, meat and dairy, and add fresh fruit and vegetables to your meals. We even recommend slowly decreasing your portion sizes and leaving the dinner table feeling just right - not too full and not wanting more.

Pick a time for your juice fast where you know that you will be able to focus on yourself. Don’t try to squeeze a juice fast in your working week if you know you have a hectic schedule ahead of you.

Hydration

We can’t emphasize this enough - hydrate your body extra well! Most of us suffer from some degree of dehydration in our everyday lives and do not drink enough water, to begin with. And, no! Consuming juice all day is not a form of hydration; you really need the good old H2O!

Here’s a suggestion: Try this three days before your juice fast starts:

  • Start each day with a cup of herbal tea (non-caffeinated) or warm water with a pinch of freshly squeezed lemon or a good quality lemon essential oil.
  • Drink a minimum of 2L of water per day.
  • Reduce caffeinated and diuretic drinks such as coffee, tea, alcohol and soda (as much as possible)

Nutrition

The only thing your juices will lack are a good amount of fatty acids and dietary fiber. You don’t want to go without these for too long. We recommend finding a suitable way to add these essential nutrients to your diet before and during your fast.

Essential fatty acids, as well as a small amount of dietary fiber, can be found in flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, and nuts - hence the addition of a nut mylk to our juice fast packages. There’s nothing wrong with adding a teaspoon of chia seeds or flax seeds to your green juices during your fast!

During the three days prior to your juice fast, stick with a meal plan that contains lots of wholesome foods and say goodbye to: meat and poultry; refined starches like bread, white rice and pasta; all dairy and egg products; sugar; alcohol and nicotine; and sushi. It is most definitely ok and actually recommended to have some steamed or grilled high quality fish - such as wild salmon.  

Two days before your juice fast, you should be sticking to salads with a simple oil & lemon dressing, steamed vegetables and starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots.

On the day before your juice fast, eat some stomach-friendly soups made with simple ingredients - such as butternut squash soup, tomato, soup, etc. We also recommend adding steamed or raw veggies in the form of salads.

You can use extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, herbs, spices, and lemon juice to add flavour to your meals. If you need extra protein, walnuts, cashews or almonds are ok as long as you chew them really well and ideally soak them for a few hours in water before consuming them. Your goal is really to eat as clean as you can.

During Your Fast

You’re taking the first step by just considering a juice fast. You’ve committed - now what? Obviously, we want you to feel the best results possible from your juice fast. To do it right, we recommend following these guidelines:

  • Continue to hydrate by drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day. Hydration creates happy cells and you need water for your cleanse organs to work optimally. Water helps your body in every way to flush your toxins out and stimulate your bowel movements.
  • Make sure you get ample rest and go to bed as early as possible. Try to take a short siesta during the afternoon if your schedule permits. In general, keep your schedule as light as you can as you might feel tired on the first and second day of your juice fast.
  • Mentally and physically, give yourself a break - take a warm bath in the evening with some chamomile or lavender drops, mediate and tone down your usual exercise regimen. Take light walks each day to accelerate your lymphatic and circulatory systems. You should always shower to get rid of any perspiration as soon as you can, so those toxins are completely released from your body.

Getting rid of the released toxins

The exciting part of doing a juice fast is the noticeable excretion of toxins. An important part of your fast is moving those toxins that are being released out of your system. An effective way to throw out old undigested waste matter is to get a colonic. It might sound a little bit scary, but the truth is a Colon Hydrotherapy is safe and gentle, and highly effective before, during, and post fasting. The ideal timing for a Colon Hydrotherapy are usually the first and last day of a juice fast. Your body releases a lot of toxins during a juice fast and you want to provide the most effective escapes for them.

Recommended clinics in Edmonton for Colon Hydrotherapy:

Celular Health Inc. at 10902 - 130 Street | Edmonton, Alberta, T5M 0Z3

Pura Holistic Therapies Inc. at 10715 - 132 Street | Edmonton, AB  T5M 1C8

Colon Hydro Healing at #209 - 47 Athabascan Avenue | Sherwood Park, Alberta T6A 4H3

Edmonton Clinic for Naturopathic Medicine at 11309-100 Avenue NW | Edmonton, AB

We know, the idea of a Colon Hydrotherapy can be scary. Don’t panic, there are alternatives! Try an herbal, natural laxative such as the traditional Ayurvedic concoction Triphala that’s been used for thousands of years. Adding flax seeds or chia seeds as suggested above can also help with elimination. We also recommend a good quality probiotic during your juice fast because probiotics help keep your intestines balanced and help replenish the good bacteria that your body needs. You can even have a handful of sauerkraut everyday - that’ll do it and are much better than pills!

If you need some recommendations for a good probiotic, these are our top choices:

Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotic - dairy free & gluten free, a fermented fruit & vegetable mix with active culture. Can be found here at Well.ca.

ProViotic - dairy free & gluten free, a powerful patented formula that is all vegan and certified organic. Can be found here.

Botanica Health’s Fermented Kombucha: Can be found here.

Additionally, there are other great ways to eliminate toxins that do not have to do with bowel or digestive system. These include dry skin brushing each morning before you shower, booking yourself into a sauna, or a deep tissue massage. Make your masseuse aware that you’re cleansing and ask her to pay extra attention to the liver. A gentle liver massage will greatly help your liver in its detox process.

A Final Note

While we recommend eliminating all solid foods, we realize that sometimes you just can’t resist. Here are some healthy snacking tips that keep you safe:

  • Add a pinch of sea salt to your beverages for extra energy.
  • If you need something warm or savoury to add at dinnertime, consume some low sodium vegetable broth.
  • Eat a few slices of cucumber or apple, celery stalks or a quarter of an avocado.
  • Drink half of your cashew nut milk in the a.m. or snack on a small handful of cashews or almonds.

After Your Fast

And you did it! You’ve come a long way in a pretty short time, wouldn’t you agree? Bigger news - you have started to change the way you live forever even if you have only just started drinking green juices.

So, now that you’ve done all this amazing work on revamping your system, it is our job (and yours) to make sure you’re armed with a maintenance kit that will help keep you on track and maximize the benefits of your juice fast.

Important: It's best to break your fast VERY gently. Here is our suggestion for some food options to eat for the first three days post juice fast:

Day 1:

Breakfast: Very light - a ripe apple, warm water with lemon or herbal tea (non-caffeinated).

Lunch: Organic, gluten free vegetable broth with some small vegetable pieces such as celery, broccoli, carrot, bok choy, yams, corn, etc.

Dinner: Same as above with a slice of wholegrain crisp-bread or a slice of homemade gluten-free bread.

Don’t forget your essential fatty acids we discussed above!

Day 2:

Breakfast: Slowly start adding some more fruits - a ripe apple or a fruit salad or a fruit smoothie or vegetable juice.

Lunch: Raw salad or a small bowl of steamed vegetables.

Dinner: Raw salad, steamed vegetables, small portion of brown rice, quinoa or sweet potato.

Don’t forget your essential fatty acids we discussed above!

Day 3:

Stick to anything listed above, plus the pre-fast diet while avoiding the same list of foods such as meat, poultry, refined carbohydrates, and processed foods. And, of course, fatty acids!

After day 3, you can slowly reintroduce meat and dairy products if you so wish. We recommend steamed fish in place of beef, pork, and chicken, and nut milk products in place of dairy, at least in the beginning.

If you have any questions pre, post or during your juice fast, we are more than happy to be of service. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@neojuicery.com and we can answer your questions.

Have a wonderful fast!

Would you like a printable copy of the Juice Fast Guide? Click here to download. 

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