How to Properly Break a Detoxing Juice Fast
Learn Why Breaking a Body Cleansing Fast is So Important
Sep 17, 2009
A juice fast offers the body a chance to rest from the hard work of digestion. During this time it turns its energies towards cleansing and the elimination of toxins. The easily assimilated nutrients the body receives during juice fasting go directly to work repairing, toning and cleansing the body’s organs right down to the cellular level.
Complete the Body Detox Process
Because of this cleansing process many old toxins, wastes and dead cells are released from the organs in a relatively short period of time to be eliminated. If the fast is broken in a way that causes elimination to slow down, waste products may end up being reabsorbed by the body. But, the organs of elimination will finish flushing out any remaining toxins, if the faster does not switch the body from cleansing mode back into a digestive mode too abruptly.
How to Break a Cleansing Juice Fast
To properly break a juice fast it is important to keep meals very light and mostly raw for the first day, or so. Never break a juice fast by returning straight away to eating animal products. Also, leave foods like baked goods, heavy cooked grains and legumes for another day.
Examples of ways to properly break a juice fast include continuing to consume fresh raw fruit and vegetable juices, while:
- Adding whole raw fruits and vegetables with high water content to the diet; such as grapes, tomatoes, etc.
- Eating raw light salads, as desired. A light salad dressing, such as lemon juice would also be fine.
- Having light vegetable soups and salads as meals.
Sample Menu for Properly Breaking a Juice Fast
Cherie Calbom, in The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health, makes the following recommendations:
- For breakfast, take some fresh juice or a smoothie along with a little fruit or a vegetable salad; perhaps adding some lemon juice for flavor, and drinking herbal tea.
- At snack-time any fresh juice will do nicely.
- For lunch try making a raw soup by blending together an avocado and a cup of carrot juice with a pinch of cumin. A light cooked vegetable soup along with a salad would work as well.
- As an afternoon snack, again, any fresh juice would be a good choice.
- Supper could be a selection of lightly steamed vegetables, some vegetable soup and a salad.
- An evening snack of fresh vegetable juice or an herbal tea would be perfect.
By using this technique, the body makes a gentle transition – beginning with raw juices, back to fresh fruits and lightly cooked vegetables, and finally to denser and more difficult to digest foods.
Recipes for Ending a Cleansing Juice Fast
3 Juice Recipes to Make while Juice Fasting offers delicious and interesting raw juice combinations to try while transitioning out of a juice fast. Additionally, Juice Fasting - Two Filling, Raw Vegan Recipes offers raw soup and smoothie recipes that are filling, vegan, and easy to digest. They will keep hunger away while helping to end a good detox program with the greatest success.
Reference:
Calbom, C. (1999) The Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Health. 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014; Avery
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