Juice Cleanse Why do a juice cleanse?

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1 Why do a juice cleanse? Our world has become a toxic place, not only from our environment but also through the food and substances we put in our body. These toxins enter our body, accumulate over time, and do damage when not properly flushed from our system. Our lives have become so hectic, that stress and anxiety also play a role as a toxin in our bodies. Stress and anxiety has been shown, among many other things, to not only strongly affect our overall general health, but also to lower our immune systems. This makes us more vulnerable to all kinds of disease. A juice cleanse provides natural weight loss, detoxification, and healing! Why is juicing so healthy? When juicing, what you are really doing is separating the liquid content and bulk of the nutrients from the pulp, which holds it all in place. When eating something whole this pulp (fiber) usually needs to be broken down inside of our bodies so that we can get the nutrients it contains. When juicing, these nutrients are immediately available to your body as soon as you drink them, and your body can take a break from digestion. It only takes 15 minutes to absorb nutrients from juicing compared to over an hour when eating the same fruits and vegetables. Our bodies biggest, and most energy consuming task is digestion! When we juice, we allow our bodies to focus on healing damaged cells (fighting disease) and strengthening our immune system (protecting against disease). On top of this, when juicing you get more fruit and vegetables into your body at once than you normally would when eating them. Sometimes a single glass of juice can be made up of more fruit and vegetables than a lot of people eat in an entire day! This cleanse is a time for you to heal from the inside out. By nurturing yourself, you re allowing yourself to stay happy and healthy so that you have the energy to care for yourself, and others. Detox symptoms occur when our bodies are pulling toxins from our cells and tissues faster than we can eliminate them. The amount of detox symptoms is usually related to your current diet and lifestyle, which is why it s important to eliminate certain foods from your diet a week before your cleanse. Some things you may experience during your cleanse: constipation, mental fogginess, fatigue, breakouts, and headaches. 1

2 Things to do to alleviate your detox symptoms: Make sure to drink lots of water (at least 64oz a day), which will help flush toxins from your body. Infared Sauna Heat stimulates your organs, which promotes cleansing. Sweating impurities in a sauna helps you get rid of waste faster through your bodies largest organ, your skin! Make sure to drink water before, during (if possible) and after your session. Bathing: A warm bath with 1-2 cups of Epsom salt and 1 4 cup of baking soda will help remove acid waste from your cells and tissues. Plus, you ll be soothing achy muscles and improving circulation. Relaxing while cleansing is a win- win situation for your mind and body, not to mention your spirit. Remember to also drink plenty of water before, during, and after your session! Massage: Like we said before, this experience is about you, and your body. Massage improves circulation of the lymph (our lymphatic fluid helps pull waste from our cells), assisting your body in the cleansing process. Light Exercise: Things like gentle yoga and walking also helps lymph flow through our bodies more efficiently, and who doesn t love juicing and doing yoga? Namaste! Dry Brush: Did you know that we dump between two and five pounds of toxins per day out of our skin? We need to keep the pathways, AKA pores, open so that waste can exit with ease. Dry brush from head to toe before showering with a natural bristle brush (which you can find at any health food store) or loofah. Sleep: Make sure you re getting a few hours extra of sleep, this isn t a time to be pulling all nighters! Your body is working hard at healing, so it s important to allow your body rest to continue to repair while sleeping. 2

3 Detox Diet: What to eat and eliminate leading up to your cleanse. **The general rule is to eat and drink very cleanly. This means eliminating foods that are hard to digest, or have a tendency to irritate the digestive system. Please remember that as well as not eating during the fast you will be expected to stop smoking, and drinking alcohol and caffeine. One week before you begin your fast you should try to: Cut down or eliminate completely: Alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, drugs, sugar, salt, artificial sweeteners. If eliminating caffeine completely is not an option, switch from coffee to green tea or decaf, then reduce to herbal tea. Meat, fried or processed food Gluten (oats, barley, rye, wheat) bread, pasta, pies, cakes and pastries Dairy products Nuts and oily seeds Try to gradually cut these out of your diet. Fried foods, processed foods, meat, dairy, sugar, gluten and caffeine are the most important to start eliminating from your diet. The more of these you are able to eliminate, the better you will feel during your cleanse, and the less likely you will be to go back to eating these types of foods. Increase: Start drinking more water; a lot more water! Try to begin each day with a cup of hot water with freshly squeezed lemon. Pure water and hydrating fluids such as herbal teas and fresh fruit and vegetable juices Add more raw fruits and vegetables to your diet (especially leafy green veg) Salads, fermented and sprouted foods Vegetable soups Beans, Tofu, Tempeh Whole grains like short grain brown rice, rice pastas, quinoa, millet etc. The day before your cleanse: Eat mostly fruits and vegetables today. Organic beans or organic tofu is ok too. 3

4 During your cleanse: Your daily routine: You do not need to drink your juices all at once. If you are sipping throughout the day, keep in mind to reseal your juice and store it in the fridge. Remember there are no rules simply drink juice when you re feeling hungry, enough until you are satisfied! Wake up: Start your day with a hot water with squeeze of ½ lemon, and a pinch of cayenne (optional). This gives your circulation a kick as well as cleanses your liver. Early morning Breakfast 16oz juice of your choice Snack 8oz juice of your choice Lunch 16oz juice of your choice Snack 8oz juice of your choice Dinner 16oz juice of your choice Bed time Relax with some herbal (non- caffeinated) tea. You may drink herbal tea as much as you want throughout the day. **Drink 64oz of water throughout the day. By drinking water, you re assisting your body in flushing out toxins. Remember that the first 1-2 days will be the hardest as your digestion is shutting off. The hunger pangs will go away after this day, and by the end of day three you might be wanting to continue your cleanse! Listen to your body, and stop your cleanse when you feel the time is right. There is no right or wrong answer to this. 4

5 Detox Diet: How to ease back into eating after your fast The key is light foods, no meat, refined sugar or dairy or wheat and they must be organic. You do not want to stress your organs and tax your digestion by eating heavy foods right away. Keep up your fluids. Many cleansers continue to eat all raw food for a few days post- cleanse. This is a great way to glide back into eating whole food while continuing to allow your body to move toward greater health. If you're eager to return to your regular eating habits, but don't want to wreak havoc on your system, follow these guidelines: Day 1 Continue to start your days with hot water and lemon. Eat only fruit for breakfast your first day post- cleanse. For lunch, have a vegetable salad with an olive oil based dressing. A vegetable broth based soup is a good option for dinner. Day 2, you can start to introduce: Vegetables, fresh or steamed Fruit Beans or legumes Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, herbs and spices for flavor Starchy vegetables (like sweet potato) Brown rice Day 3, you can start to introduce: Quinoa, millet, amaranth (Gluten free, whole grains!) Nuts, seeds Now that you have done a fast this is a great opportunity to not slip back into any bad habits consuming processed foods, wheat, dairy, meat or sugar. Heck, why not give up the coffee and alcohol too! These are strongly addictive foods and even though your first instinct might be to indulge after your fast, try to continue eating a plant based, whole foods diet. **Please contact us with any questions you may have at the restaurant between 9am- 9pm, or us at info@enviehalifax.com. 5