The Forgotten Benefits of Juice Fasting

I used to juice fast every Monday, years back. Circumstances, habits, etc. got in the way. I've felt the need to refresh lately, cleanse, rest... I had forgotten how good it feels: the emptiness, hunger, ease, tiredness, and resulting clarity and energy!! My 20-hour juice fast had stabilizing and clearing benefits even though I did it "incorrectly" and for a partial day! Today I feel energetic and my mind and emotions feel fresh, clear...light. I made the mistake of not juicing soon enough in the morning, and then not drinking the juice regularly throughout the day, so by 6pm I was way too famished for comfort. I had a few cups of hot green broth (boiled beet green soup I had made the previous day––I drank the broth sans greens) along with several glasses of nettle infusion to stay the hunger. Due to circumstances, I was not able to juice any fruit until later in the day, which was a mistake in two regards... (Click read more, on the right)

photo courtesy of vegkitchen.com

... First of all, I got way too hungry and way to tired from low blood sugar. Take into account that part of the fatigue and tiredness was metal and emotional and from the cleanse itself. It's not uncommon to have strong reactions (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually) when you first start juice fasting, until you are used to it. I was prepared for the tiredness, had planned my day to be an easy one, and so lied down for a guided yoga nidra session of 45 minutes. A few hours later, still feeling week and starved, I broke the fast. Lesson learned. And it was a great trial!
Next time, I will be sure to have plenty of fresh veggie/fruit juice on hand (in an airtight jar if I can't make them fresh throughout the day), and drink it regularly and all day. That's what I used to do. I plan to get back in the habit of juice fasting each week. Besides the nettle tea, licorice tea, and green broth, I had two glasses or fresh orange juiced with fresh turmeric root; it was a glass of bright orange sunshine and sooooo yummy!

There is plenty of info out there on juice fasting, but I prefer to rely on my knowledge gleaned from yoga science (Ayurveda) and personal experience, along with the wisdom of Dr. Ben Kim, Susun Weed, and Dr. Christiane Northrup. Dr. Kim has vast amounts of info on his website about nutrition, fasting, and cleansing. I HIGHLY recommend reading those articles. I choose to supplement the juices with broths and herbal infusions to maintain mineral levels, utilizing what I have learned from Susun Weed.

​Don't buy into the fad notion that juice fasting cleanses your body; your liver does that all the time. Fasting basically gives your digestive system a rest and can help with weight loss and insulin stability. You can read more about that in medical journals or reliable scientific sources online. It's not going to make your body cleanse itself, because your body is already doing that. It's just a lot easier on your body if it's got less to digest.

The other physical work I'm doing is eliminating processed and excess sugar in my diet (in the form of my addiction to choco-peanut butter maltballs, sweet cravings after meals and that hunger that can never be satisfied by food!). A friend recommended L-glutamine as a reliever of sugar cravings, so I just bought a jar of the powdered-form and will try it for one month to see the efficacy on my desire for sweet stuff! The only other sugar in my diet is the one tablespoon of either honey or molasses that I use in my morning chai, and 1-3 servings of fruit each day, normally eaten with protein.


​Happy Juicing and Green Blessings, ya'll!

http://drbenkim.com/full-body-cleanse.htm
http://www.wisewomantradition.com/menopausalyears/nourishing-herbal-infusions/
​http://www.drnorthrup.com/health-wisdom-a-z/
http://www.muditainstitute.com/articles/ayurvedicnutrition/intermittentfasting.html