Review: Life Juice Cleanse

I recently completed a 3-day juice cleanse/fast from Life Juice and wanted to share my experience with it. 

I'd never done a juice cleanse or any other type of fast before, unless it was a fast for a medical procedure. And during those fasts I always felt awful and was starving, so the idea of fasting for the heck of it didn't sound too appealing. I follow the blog of Chef Amber Shea and she was doing a review of various juice cleanses that she had received and done. I was intrigued, and in a moment of temporary insanity, decided to order a 3-day Juice Cleanse from Life Juice in New York.

The juice is shipped frozen via overnight courier and must be used within 3 days of defrosting, as the juice is not pasteurized and will spoil after that time, and lose nutrients even if it didn't spoil. There are 18 pint drink bottles - 6 for each day of the cleanse (the drinks do not vary daily).

Drink #1 is called Himalayan Sea Salt Solé, a mixture of Himalayan sea salt, water and lime, and it is recommended to drink it warm on an empty stomach at the beginning of the day. This was a surprisingly nice drink - very refreshing and light, and the warmth of the drink was very soothing. A nice start to the day.

Drink #2 is called Alkaline Blend, a mixture of apple, carrot, cucumber, lemon, celery, beet, spinach, kale, parsley, and ginger.  A very tasty, sweet juice with beautiful red color, it was probably my favorite of the juices.

Drink #3 is Oh My Green Goodness, a mixture of apple, cucumber, celery, lemon, spinach, kale, parsley, and ground ginger. A very "green" tasting juice from all the vegetables, but still sweet from the apple. I enjoyed this juice, which is a good thing since it repeats later in the day. :)

Drink #4 is Energizer Bunny, a mixture of apple, carrot, lemon, and ginger. I do not generally like carrot juice, so was not looking forward to this. I was surprised, however, how the carrot was not overpowering, despite the bright orange color. I really enjoyed this juice.

Drink #5 is a repeat of #3, Oh My Green Goodness.

Drink #6 is Toasty Spiced Almond, not a juice, but a mixture of filtered water, raw organic almonds, dates, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and they recommended warming it up. I'll admit it was not my favorite drink - it was a bit grainy and thin - but not unpleasant. The fiber content was very high from the almonds, and - at the risk of TMI - was a bit of a shock to my system, if you know what I mean. :)

What surprised me the most about doing this juice cleanse was the total lack of hunger. I felt so nourished by the juices and drinks that I was not craving food. I did miss chewing by the end of the third day. I also had amazing energy and clarity of mind, which I did not expect. I figured that "starving myself" would create lethargy and a desire to sit around and do nothing, but it was exactly the opposite. Apparently, by juicing the fruits and vegetables, we do not have to spend time digesting them, but the nutrients are absorbed quickly and utilized by the body. When I was done with the juice cleanse/fast I also found myself really craving healthier food and have been eating organic produce in large quantities!

Coincidentally, while doing the juice fast I received an early Christmas present from my mother-in-law of an Omega 330HD Juicer! Making my own juice is helping me to appreciate the cost and effort that goes into juice, which helps to justify the price for the convenience of having a ready-made juice cleanse shipped to me. While I don't know if I'll feel a need to do another juice cleanse/fast anytime soon, I'm really enjoying incorporating more fresh juice into my diet, and the creativity of trying to figure out what goes with what! The Seattle library also has a LOT of books on juicing so you can do some research without buying books. You may have also heard of the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, about Joe Cross and his 60-day fruit/vegetable fast.

If you're considering doing a juice cleanse/fast on your own or with the Life Juice products (or another company), please check with a healthcare provider beforehand to make sure it's the right choice for you. As a type 2 diabetic, my naturopath had me checking my blood glucose much more often to make sure that the sugars in the juice (and the extended periods of no food) would not adversely affect my blood sugar.

If you have done a juice cleanse fast in the past, or do juicing on your own, I hope you'll share your experience here in the comments!

Please note that I paid full price for my Life Juice products (minus a small discount they unexpectedly gave me due to a packaging issue I brought to their attention) and did not receive any compensation or other incentive from them to review their products.

 Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

Comments

[Anne]

I've found the same thing when I do a cleanse (which hasn't been in a while...maybe it's time). I also discovered how much food is a part of daily life and interactions. My social life took a deep dive when I was on such a restricted diet.

[Eathan]

Hello Sue
Nice to heard about your first juice cleanses diet.Juice cleanses have lot of health advantages even first time of my juice detox I was failed to complete but after that I have completed two juice cleanse program in between 7 months. I am feeling very energetic and fresh. The juicing experience is great.

[Rudy]

Hi Sue,
I learned about Life Juice from a quick radio ad, did a little research and decided to give it a shot. I finished a 3-day Pre-Cleanse last night -- this was very much a new experience but having done it I've got more of an appreciation for "the why". My body needs to be eased into 3 days of juicing only. Looking back it flew by, it was a struggle, started seeing some early benefits like you described. Can't imagine what next 3 will be like but I'm very encouraged by your experience. Thanks much for sharing. Just downed the first Himalayan Sea Salt, tally-ho :)

[phyllis]

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