Overview of Juice Cleanse Recipes

Many reasons may lead you into taking a juice to cleanse recipe, some may be for toxin flush, liver cleanse and weight loss, others may juice for a cancer cure, or body and blood detoxification.

But for every reason that leads you into a juice fast plan, this article will guide you through.

It will teach you all about the juice cleanse benefits, their side effects, and how to prepare your juice cleanser at home, stay tuned.

What is a juice cleanse diet, does it work?

A juice cleanse detox is a diet that involves consuming mostly juice from fruits and vegetables, for a short period, say 3 to 5 or 10 days, to lose weight, or detoxify the body system.

A juice diet is said to have a lot of health benefits due to its anti-inflammatory, minerals, and vitamin properties.

However, most of those claims lack scientific backup.

juice cleanse

Below are the juice cleanse benefits.

  • Help with body detoxification: The antioxidants in the juice helps flush out toxins in the body.
  • Boost the immune systemThe antioxidants cleanse the toxins in the body, hence making the entire system stronger.
  • Helps improve digestion: Raw juice contains a lot of beneficial enzymes that help improve digestion.

The enzymes alter intestinal microbiota to improve weight loss within three days. (1)

  • Better health: Fruit and vegetable juice are rich in nutrients like antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins which help improve the health of an individual.

Help with weight loss

Juice-based diets are used by juicers to regulate body weight, and it has been working for them.

A 3 days juice cleanse result for 20 healthy people showed an average weight loss of 1.7 kg, or 3.75 pounds (lb).

However, the weight loss didn’t last as the participants regained their normal weight a few days after stopping the juicing plan.

The study linked weight loss to low-calorie intake during the juicing period.

The juice cleanse side effects

Fruit and vegetable juice cause some side effects if overused, and below are some of their harmful effects.

1. Kidney failure: This is the inability of the kidney to perform its duty, usually caused by prolonged consumption of an oxalate-rich diet.

The American Journal of Medicine reported a case of acute renal failure caused by oxalate-rich juice.

In their report, a 65-year-old woman developed oxalate nephropathy after consuming oxalate-rich juice for six weeks.

The victim consumed a daily average of 1260 mg of oxalate, received from collard greens, beets, kiwi, spinach, soy products, and parsley juices, which the juicers thought was healthy.

The study recommends that those who follow a juicing plan calculate the amount of oxalate they consume daily to avoid kidney failure. (3)

2. may cause metabolic syndrome, liver injury, and obesity

Consumption of 100% fruit juice may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, liver injury, and obesity.

This is because of the high level of sucrose in the juice and little to no fiber to balance it.

Studies have linked the consumption of sweetened beverages to fat development and accumulation of nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases which prevent mitochondria from fatty acid breakdown, leading to different diseases like insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and others.

3. Juicing may increase the risk of contracting bacterial infections.

Consuming juice that has not been treated to kill micro-organisms may cause sickness.

This is most common in elderly people, people with chronic illness, and young children.

You must store unused juice in a sealed container and drink within 24 hours.

4. May interact with some drugs

Getting a prescription while on a juice plan may lead to drug interactions.
This is because of the high level of vitamin k in some greens.
Vegetables like kale and spinach contain an outrageous amount of vitamin k which may cause complications in the body (4).

 How to Prepare a DIY Juice Cleanse at Home

Before embarking on a juicing plan, you should first avoid certain foods like alcohol, coffee, dairy products, meat, nicotine, and refined sugar for about 3 to 5 days to minimize withdrawal symptoms.

Below is a 3-day juice cleanse plan for colon cleanse, liver and kidney detoxification.
Day one: kidney and liver detoxification juice.
Required ingredients:
  • 14- 16 carrots
  • 6 apples
  • 3 beets
  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 bunch of celery
  • 1 lemon

Put them in a juice pressor and juice them.

Day 2- Green juice

Ingredients:

  • 3 cucumbers
  • 4 apples
  • 2 handfuls of spinach
  • A handful of parsley
  • 1 teaspoon of ginger
  • A bunch of celery

Day 3: Super Colon cleanser

Ingredients:

  • 15 carrots
  • 3 beets
  • 10 romaine lettuce
  • 2 handfuls of spinach
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 handful of parsley
  • A teaspoon of ginger
  • A bunch of celery
  • 1 handful cilantro
  • 1 cucumber

N/B: Each of these recipes contains 64 ounces

How to prepare for it

Get all these fruits and vegetables in your nearby market, wash them, use juice pressure, and juice them.

Store them in the fridge, and take one cup, an hour, for eight hours.

Also, try to drink at least one cup of water every 30 mins.

After the juice fast plan, eat foods with little protein and enough vegetables. Avoid starch and processed foods.

Bottom line

Juice cleanse recipes are said to be healthy by those that consume them. However, our health experts say the opposite.

Although it may help you lose some kilos within the shortest time, you can easily regain it once you stop juicing.

Long-term juicing comes with plenty of life-threatening side effects that may end up deteriorating someone’s health.

Always speak with your doctor before embarking on any juice fast plan.