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After exchanging a lot of gifts during the holidays, I decided to give my body a treat, to my liver in specific: this precious organ that worked double shifts all year round to detoxify chemotherapy drugs and worked overtime in Christmas to digest all the food I had during the holidays. I started a juice cleansing yesterday: for the next 3 days I will only drink juices, and no solid food shall not enter my body. This concept of fasting is not new: it is our biological response for when our digestive system has “overworked” (something our four-legged friends do spontaneously when they have any gastrointestinal problem), and a habit that exists in all religions of the world. Arabs do it during Ramadan, Buddhists exclude all solid forms of food from noon until the next morning, and of course fasting before Easter is a tradition in Christianity.) Hippocrates himself even recommended juice cleansing to cure various diseases to his patients.
Fasting with juices helps give your body and spirit a break and let it rest as nature demands. The benefits of fasting are many of the following:
1) Your body relaxes because you ease the digestion process. The body spends significant amounts of energy on digestion and absorption of food, and by stopping this process, by blocking solid forms of food that digestion breaks into their structural elements, you let the liver, pancreas, bile and the intestine time to rest and renew their energy reserves (that’s what happens to you after a good night’s sleep).
2) It cleanses your body from toxins that have been stored for a long or short time. This is because you consume fruits and vegetables that have antioxidant properties by eliminating free radicals accumulated in the body from nutritive or environmental factors (much more than what you could eat in solid form).
3) It gives your body a vitamin boost. Minerals and trace minerals boost your immune system. The juices are full of enzymes that boost metabolic enzymes and support all body systems (immune, digestive, nervous, circulatory, etc.). These enzymes further enhance good intestinal bacteria, building a healthy flora in the intestine that strengthens the immune system in the long run.
4) It can help you transition to a plant-based diet: removing processed foods from your diet for a limited time helps you overcome dependence on processed sugar, meat and dairy products, and makes a smoother transition to herbal diets.
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying: fasting with juices is not a diet that will help you lose weight. Weight loss is a natural consequence during fasting days, but you will easily gain back weight if you return to your previous eating habits, especially if they’re bad habits. Under no circumstances would I suggest this diet for weight loss.
This is the second time I choose to do such a cleansing. Last time, I tried to do it at home but the whole juice making process is a hassle (it almost took an hour to make the juices of the day) and the cost is quite high as the ingredients must all be organic: it makes no sense to detoxify if you feed your liver fruits or vegetables with pesticides, it’s making things even worse. Also, choosing what time of nutrition you get is important to set a nice balance of the elements you give your body to maximize the days of fasting. That’s why I preferred professional products this time and got a cleansing package from Vazaki.
The criteria I would suggest considering when choosing the company that will help you with fasting are:
- A) As I said earlier, make sure that the company only uses organic ingredients in juices: filling your liver with pesticides and chemicals will burden you a lot, as it won’t even have a break until it metabolizes all the poisons. Vazaki uses organic materials from certified Greek producers in its juices.
- B) The juicer used while preparing juices is very important. In order to benefit from fasting, juices should keep their nutrients as much as possible, especially when you are drinking them some time away from the moment they are squeezed. Using a simple juicer will cause the juice to lose its nutrients within 3-4 hours. Only cold pressed juices can keep their vitamins for longer. Vazaki is the first juice bar in Greece that uses the world’s finest juicer, Norwalk Juicer. This juicer works slowly and compresses fruits and vegetables with a hydraulic cold press, without taking out their nutrients.
- C) Ensure that the cleansing packages have been put together by a special nutritionist so that you receive a nutritionally rich package that will not put your health at risk. The Juice cleanse Vazaki has designed is in collaboration with Biochemical Dietitian and Clinical Dietitian Dimitra Bitsani.
Finally, Vazaki can deliver all the juices at home, making your life easier as you not only get delicious juices quickly but in large quantities (480ml). They won’t make you hungry, and their cost is very reasonable. That’s how I found the perfect companion for my fast!
Packages offered range from 1 day, 3 days and 5 days. I chose the 3 days fast and I would suggest that if you want to take advantage of more benefits, choose the 3 day feast or above, since the liver detoxification process starts on the third day.
If I convinced you to try juice fasting, you can have a 15% discount on all cleansing packages from Vazaki. Just send me an email for more information here!
The first day went miraculously well, I even jogged a bit in the morning! I will update you with my whole experience and the juices I had tomorrow.