Do Juice Cleanses Really Work?

With the indulgent holiday season up on us, a number of my friends are planning juice fasts to "get rid of the toxins" they consumed in November and December. Heck, after having wine at just about every meal in Paris, Lord knows my liver needs a break.

I love a good juice fast as much as the next person. It can help you drop a few pounds quickly and are a good way to get a large amount of nutrients efficiently. I have a green juice three of four times a week. As for the whole "ridding our bodies of toxins" thing, I am not so sure. Scientists have repeatedly said that a quality, produce-heavy diet does the job.

Dr. Linda Lee, the Director of John Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center in Maryland, tells the Wall Street Journal that the term "cleanse" is nothing more than a marketing tool and there is no science to prove that fasting cleanses the system.

That marketing is working. Sales of "superpremium juice" was more than $1.4 billion in 2013, up from $1 billion in 2010.

This is a situation in which you need to do what works for you. Will your body be free of the damage caused by a month-long feast of champagne, cheese, steak and indulgent desserts with a 10-day cleanse in January? Probably not. Will you drop a few pounds? Likely. Will that make you feel better about yourself? If so, go for it but be smart and do your homework.

Finding Juice Fasts That Work For You

There are a TON of juice fasts to choose from. I have done the Blueprint Cleanse, Suja Juice and a variety of my own. Prepared fasts are expensive which is why I enjoy making my own juice. That, however, can be labor intensive and messy. Gilt City always has sales on juice fasts. They're currently offering deals on American Juice Company and Oui Juice. Bliss is also offering the Joule Body Cleanse, which I have done in the past, too. 

I use a Breville Juicer and make my own recipes adapted from a variety of books I have read over the years. The 3-Day Cleanse is a good one.

Are you a juicer? Are there any juice fasts you swear by and love?

Browse Juices, Juicers & Juicing Books

Juicing in 2013: From the BluePrint Cleanse to Home Juicing, What Works & What Doesn't

You can't swing a celery stalk without discovering a new juice bar on a Dallas corner.  Magazines and websites are extolling the virtues of juicing throughout their pages, particularly this January.

I've been a juicer, not of the Lance Armstrong variety, for years and have chronicled my juicing endeavors on this blog.  I did a spin on the grandma of the cleansing craze, the BluePrint Cleanse, in 2010.  In short, I'm a fan of their system but fandom doesn't come cheap.

Here's a link to one of my old standby, homemade green juice recipes made of kale, celery, cucumber and apples.   It looks sort of like the remnants of a bad hangover in a toilet bowl but it's tastes good.

I even tried to soak cashews to mimic the BluePrint Cleanse's famed Cashew Milk.  That didn't turn out so well.  You can become so your own personal juice mixologist.  It's easy to get wrapped up in creating new recipes.  The Wall Street Journal tackles home juicing Wednesday morning and a simple Google search yields millions of results.

Blueprint Cleanse Day 3: To Break or Not to Break

Day 3 on the Blueprint Cleanse

This one was the challenge.  Days 1 & 2 were routine workdays and presented no social challenges.  Day 3 was a bugger not from a hunger or craving standpoint but from a "let's deal with reality" perspective.  I had a big, bad (actually fun) event Thursday evening.  Dilemma: do I continue with the cleanse or do I break it?

The day itself went wonderfully.  I exercised, doing an hour of a killer pilates class, a 40-minute walk with the dog and 15 minutes of jumping rope.  A lack of energy was never a factor for me on the Blueprint Cleanse.

I continued throughout the day on the juice cycle, downing them as needed, waiting about and an hour and a half to two hours between juices.  Then came decision time.

It was 6pm and I was drinking my last green juice of the cleanse.  I had gone 72 hours without food, essentially the recommended time for a full "Blueprint Cleanse".  I left for the event, which was a party honoring former Texas governor Bill Clements and his wife, Rita, for their contributions to the University of Texas system.  It was an assembly of some of the state's most interesting and educational, philanthropic and political minds.

Long story short, when the salad course came, I ate it.  I broke the cleanse.  I really felt fine about doing it.  That night I ate salad, fish, a bite of some yucky, generic chocolate flourless cake and a glass of wine.  I didn't feel badly or gross, I felt great.

Friday came and I still felt great.  I actually froze my cashew milk, the final juice of the cleanse, and drank it on Friday.  I juiced the entire day until dinner, which was an evening out with friends.

All told, the Blueprint Cleanse was a success for me.  The pre-cleanse puffiness I had was gone.  My stomach was as flat as it has been since bathing suit season.  I felt amazing.  I worked out every day while on it and, although hungry, I never lacked energy.  I thought it was a good, easy effective way to cleanse and jumpstart some water weight loss.  It was quite pricey, in my opinion.  Maybe it's a twice-a-year undertaking.  It inspired me to get back to juicing on my own.  For ease of use and an absolute idiot-proof way of getting introduced to juice fasting, it's excellent. 

Postscript:
After a weekend of roadtrip indulgences and an excellent Super Bowl party, I'm ready for another juice fast.  The interesting thing is - 2 of my girlfriends have gone Blueprint crazy.  They signed up to do it, too.  I think it would be fun to do it together with a group of folks.  That way we can be social and drink our juices together in wine glasses! (a girl can wish).

Blueprint Cleanse Day 2: A Lesson Learned & Gubnatorial Challenge

Day 2 was the same juice routine: 3 green juices, 1 pineapple/mint/apple (I wish it was a mojito) juice, lemon cayenne pepper and cashew milk.

Late in the evening, around 7:45 during our TXA21 broadcast, I was starving.  Absolutely starving and while I thought I brought my final juice of the day, the cashew milk, with me to work, I realized I hadn't.  Horror, panic and fear all set in.  My arm is looking appetizing at this point.  I decide to go for a double: green tea and some of that nasty, sugar-free hot chocolate we have at the station.  The tea is usually a good choice to satiate my 300-pound lineman appetite.  The interesting thing is that I started to drink the sugar-free hot chocolate and I couldn't finish it!  I was so surprised and downright happy that I thought it was ......wait for it.....TOO SWEET.  I'm a certified sweet/sugar addict and I couldn't get it down.  Hello, progress!

So our TXA21 broadcast ends and I am racing to get out the door and drive the 30 minutes back to Dallas and devour that cashew milk when I look below my cubicle and see it: that poor, little 16-oz bottle of cashew milk.  I knew I had brought it with me to the station!  It had fallen out of my cooler.  At this point it was warm.  That didn't do much for me.  I race home, get back around 9:30 and savor that beautifully cold cashew milk from the fridge.  By this point my hunger had subsided. 

I think that's a key lesson.  I am a HIGH volume eater.  While I eat healthily, I eat a lot.  I will generally snack on something when I have a craving and many times that could be something sweet: whether it's fruit, a Kashi bar or some of those damn M&M's my colleague has on his desk.   This was a big step for me, feeling that powerful hunger subside over time was something I am not used to doing.  I hope it's something I can carry over to my non-cleansing life.  

On the scale Thursday morning, it showed I've lost four total pounds.  I don't have really much to lose, just water weight to eliminate.  Tonight will be a challenge: a cocktail party and dinner honoring former Texas governor Bill Clements for his contributions to UT.  Do I drink the seltzer and say "no thanks" when the rubber chicken arrives?  Or do I freeze my evening juices for tomorrow, break the fast tonight and juice till dinner tomorrow?  Decisions, decisions.  Stay tuned!

No More Staypuff Marshmellow Girl: Blueprint Cleanse Day 1

I have been an indulgent little piggy lately and had been looking to depuff.   A friend of mine, who just had the most beautiful baby girl, did a 5-day Blueprint Cleanse last week and as soon as I saw her Facebook post on it, I was like "done"! 

I ordered a 3-day cleanse, which you can pick up at Exhale Spa in Dallas.  It's not cheap.  Delivery to my door in Dallas is $255, pick-up at Exhale was $225.  I googled and found an online coupon which brought the total down to $205.50.  Still expensive. 

I chose the 3-day Foundation Cleanse. Their website says it's for "active, busy people who exercise and have tried many different diets but either can’t get their hands on fresh, whole food, or simply don’t have the time."  That's me to a T: exercise freak, love to diet but am constantly slammed and barely have time to walk my dog.

I actually have a fabulous juicer at home but I was happy with the portability of the Blueprint Cleanse.  The 3-day cleanse comes in three separate lunch bags which feature each of my six numbered drinks that I am supposed to drink during the day.  It's idiot proof and easy to carry around.  I run around all day: I can go from Mavs to Rangers or Cowboys or Stars or some random high school before heading into the station, so the ease of carrying is a plus.

In preparation for Day 1, the BPC people advise you to eat pretty raw and vegan for a few days, which I essentially do.  I eat a lot of seafood or chicken but the raw, vegan thing is not a challenge for me.  I did have a ton of candy the day before my cleanse started and a crabcake but it was a pretty vegetable-filled prep day.

I picked up my juice at Exhale Spa around 10am and had my first green juice.  It made of the juices of romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley and lemon.  It was actually much sweeter than I expected.  I make a green juice many times in the morning consisting of lemon, apple and kale which is much tarter and more "green".  The Blueprint Cleanse's was sort of green "light".  It was good.

Next was a pineapple, apple and mint juice.  It tasted like a mojito without the rum.  It was FABULOUS.  Seriously, put some rum and crushed ice in there and watch me get delightfully tipsy.  A few hours after that was another green juice.  I had half of it before I went to Mavs practice and half afterwards.  I wasn't hungry at all at this point. 

Around 5-ish, I had my 4th juice of the day which was water, lemon, cayenne pepper and agave nectar.  This was wonderfully refreshing lemony drink with a spicy kick.  The Master Cleanse has you drinking a lemon, cayenne pepper and maple syrup drink throughout the day.  To me, that drink is heinous.  Maybe I'm too heavy handed on the cayenne pepper or maple syrup but that Master Cleanse drinks SUCKS!  The Blueprint Cleanse's was great.

Around 7 it was another green juice, followed by my last juice of the day around 8:30pm.  The final one is a cashew milk, vanilla bean and cinnamon juice.  Many who have done the cleanse say it's their favorite drink and they love it.  For me, it was just ok.  There were milky, cashew remnants in the drink.  It definitely had a wonderful vanilla/cinnamon flavor but I don't like milky, creamy drinks at all, so this kind of fell flat for me.

I wasn't ever really hungry on Tuesday.  I was tempted (as I always am) by the bowl of M&M's our assignment editor keeps on his desk right behind me.  Wednesday, I woke up a little lethargic and felt I needed a triple green tea cocktail in the morning (which I'm drinking now).   I did hop on my enemy - the scale - and found myself three pounds lighter.  No doubt it's water weight but I'll take it.