Beauty Cleanse : The Start of My Juice Detox Challenge

A DAY BEFORE THE JUICE CLEANSE …

The night before I start my 5-day Skinny Genes Juice cleanse programme by Beauty Cleanse, I received my first bag of goodies from the Beauty Cleanse team who popped by my house to hand me 3 days worth of cold-pressed juices along with the bottles containing their all-time favourite nutmilk drink. The second batch of juices and nutmilk will be delivered on the third day of my juice cleanse. All the bottles of juices and nutmilk should be kept refrigerated once they arrived at your doorstep.

A few days before the Juice Cleanse begins, I was sent a couple of emails on how to prepare my body before the cleanse. True enough, if I don’t prepare myself for this challenge, I would probably fail terribly suppose I was subjected to some food temptations or cravings.One of the most important pre-cleanse guidelines is to cut down any sinful indulgences,highly processed food including dairy products which will do more harm to your body. I reduce my solid food intake about a couple of days before the cleanse and avoid eating meat in hope that I could get my body mechanism slow down and eventually ‘take a break’ during the juice fast. The earlier you make the change, the better it is as you gradually introduce new changes to your body without giving it a ‘shock’. So, two days before the cleanse, I was pretty much eating cow’s food and busy peeling off banana skins.

I was given a Beauty Cleanse cooler bag with a mini Juice Cleanse programme booklet attached to it where I could refer it for further instructions. Along with 18 recycable bottles of freshly-squeezed juices sealed tightly in cute handy plastic bottles, I also received a small Ziploc bag containing all the different types of supplements I need to take during the cleanse. Equipped with all the necessary health food and juices, I felt ever so ready to kick start the juice cleanse the very next morning!

MY DAILY JUICE CLEANSE ROUTINE

7.00 AM

“When life give you lemons, squeeze every drop of the juice out and drink it. It will toughen you up, I promise.”

Mornings are often a rush for me. I would jump right out of my bed to make myself a cup of lemon water drink by squeezing in a few drops of lemon juice into a cup of warm water. Do you know that lemon juice, albeit of it’s citric acid, is actually alkalizing to the body? Once the weak citric acid gets metabolize in our body, it doesn’t adds or creates acidity to our body. Most of the time, our bodies are highly acidic due to the consumption of processed food which contains a high amount of preservatives and chemicals that are acidic. Thus, eating alkalizing food is great for our bodies as it helps to neutralize the pH in our bodies. And as you wellness warriors know, lemons are a great source of vitamin C and potassium. A simple drink like lemon water has numerous health-boosting benefits which I rattle on and on and on…

7.15 AM

I would refer to the mini juice cleanse booklet for the instructions, recommended tips and suggestions at the start of the day to find out how much supplements I should consume each day and what type of juice to drink during certain times of the day. For instance, it was stated that we should drink a bottle of juice which contains celery during the evening. Since we’ve got 5 different bottles of juices for each day, I actually had to spend some time thinking about which juice to drink for at certain times of the day. Once a little planning is done, I would pack the bottles of juices into my carrier bag for work. It can be a little heavy to carry 3 bottles of juices with me but I had no qualms about it as it motivated me to finish and clear my juices so that I could lighten the load of my bag. What a poor excuse! But anyhow, it did worked for me to keep me sort of ‘motivated’ to drink my juice til the very last drop.

Beauty Cleanse cooler bag

This neat brown cooler bag has an aluminium foil lining which can help keeps the bottles of juices nice and cold. It’s actually a great lunch bag to bring out for work.

5 bottles of cold-pressed juice + 1 bottle of nutmilk

7.30AM

Drinking my first morning juice with eating all the health supplements provided. I chose an all-green juice to kick start my morning because vegetable juice are alkaline in nature and it’s a great way to start the day by feeding the body with this chlorophyll-packed green juice.However, taste-wise of the green juice may not be pleasing to the taste buds as it tasted somewhat like ‘grass’. Nevertheless, this green champion juice is actually one of the most nutritious juice out of all the juices provided. Why so? Because it has the superfood, kale in it! I go crazy over juices which contains kale because it’s like the king of all vegetables. This nutrient dense-packed greens is also one of the few vegetables which actually contains calcium in it.

(* I didn’t realised that I was actually asked to chose the bottle of juice with carrots in it til I write the guidelines really carefully. Anyway, make sure you read the instructions carefully before proceeding!)

Organic supplements to further support my cleansing process

1. Colosan Powder

(Source: The Finchley Clinic)

Colosan powder produces a laxative effect so be prepared to make frequent visit to to the toilet during the day. It aims to flush out toxic waste materials and exercise the colon muscles, both of which will assist with the subsequent full body detoxification. Interestingly, this colosan powder works by producing oxygen in the intestines which would help in oxidizing undigested substances to complete the digestion process.

2. Green Superfood

(Source: GenEssentials™ Greens)

A formula that contains a blend of concentrated vitamins,minerals and antioxidants.The digestive enzymes, fiber and probiotics work together to help the body digest and absorb nutrients.

3. Acai Berry

(Source: RioLife Singapore)

This is the so-called natural ‘miracle pill’ for weight loss though there are some online articles which disputed that Acai berry doesn’t directly promote weight loss. Acai berries, itself, is another superfood which is high in antioxidants.

3. Milk thistles

(Source: Nature’s Way Super Thisilyn)

Milk thistles is a flower herb which contains Silymarin, an active ingredient which is often used to treat liver problems.

4. Spirulina

(Source: AlphaHealth Singapore)

Another dietary supplement which is high in protein. This supplement, to me, is quite essential because the juices provided doesn’t contain a substantial amount of protein to meet the daily requirements.

5. Flaxseed oil

(Source: VitaHealth Singapore, Holland & Barrett Singapore)

An excellent source of Omega-3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. With all the supplements, you will pretty much have a balanced diet even by just drinking juices.

Shake the bottle before opening.

I mixed half a tablespoon of colosan powder with half a bottle of my juice.

I finished up the remaining juice in the bottle along with the supplements provided.

The flaxseed oil capsules are really huge as compared to the other pills. I almost got choked while trying to swallow the flaxseed oil capsule.

12.45 PM

Juice for lunch : Beetroot-based juice which was really tasty and I enjoy the natural mild sweetness from the beetroots. I felt my energy level went up with this sweet juice.

3 PM

After about two hours or so, I was feeling hungry so I grabbed another bottle of juice which has lemons, cayenne pepper and honey in it! Yes, you got that right! Cayenne pepper! A great metabolic booster that increases the lymphatic pulse and digestive rhythms. Fancy having pepper added to your juice? It turns out to be a lovely combination because the spicy kick made this juice really refreshing and mind-blowing. Just when you’re feeling exhausted during the day, this drink jolts your senses and wakes you up.

These cold-pressed juices could only last for 3 days before all the nutrients in it are not considered ‘live’ anymore.

Tiny bits of cayenne pepper floating in the lemon juice.

5.30 PM

During the juice cleanse, we could vary our drinks with herbal tea, coconut water or still water between the juices but most of the time, I was feeling too full and bloated to even drink a cup of herbal tea. After about 2 hours or so, I would go for the fourth bottle of juice.

7. 30 PM

I would try to grab a bottle of juice for dinner but I was feeling so full after drinking 4 bottles of juices in a day. Each bottle has about 500 ml of juice and 4 bottles of juices actually amounts up to 2 litres of liquids! That quite a lot of fluid going into my body!

10.30 PM

Before turning into bed, I would always look forward to the nutmilk drink which consist of cashews, honey and cinnamon. Cashews, loaded with vitamin B, magnesium and copper, is also a soothing and comforting drink to help make you feel full before going to bed. It is also lower in fat content as compared to other types of nuts. The creamy texture of the nutmilk with that hint of cinnamon is simply delightful.It’s like a little dessert to end the day on a sweet note.

Look out for my next post on my juice detox challenge journal! And if you are keen to try out Beauty Cleanse’s juice programmes, please don’t forget to check out their website at www.beauty-cleanse.com.