The Diary of a Juice Cleanser - Day 1

As someone who has never tried a juice cleanse before, I was excited to see how The Cleanse Kitchen Fruit-Free Cleanse would serve my health goals. My aim from the cleanse was mainly to rebalance good bacteria in my gut, which I hoped in turn would decrease bloating and give me an improved sense of overall wellbeing. 

I was excited to receive my juices. I was given 6 sizable bottles per day over the course of 3 days, giving me 18 juices in total. The colours were also promising; four different shades of green, a milky-nut shake, and a charcoal juice made the cleanse look like a potent and healthy mix from the get-go.

Before starting the cleanse, I had to take my lemon, sea salt and cayenne pepper shot. I love health shots, and this one was pretty strong! It certainly signalled that my 3-day juice cleanse was about to commence. 

I decided to have my juices in the following recommended order for day 1: Celery, Burleigh Green, Health Nut, Clean Green, Black Magik and Dr Green. However, this is interchangeable, and I intend to try a slightly different order tomorrow and the next day to see what my preferences are. 

Celery was a great start to the morning. It’s best to drink first thing on an empty stomach and does an excellent job of hydrating and refreshing your system. 

Around mid-morning I had my Burleigh Green juice. Despite this being fruit free, containing kale, spinach, celery, cucumber, cos lettuce, parsley and mint, it was once again nothing but refreshing and the mint even lightened the flavour of all those leafy greens. 

Today was a busy day sampling juices around the Gold Coast, so by lunchtime I was feeling a little tired. I decided to fast on the first day of my juice cleanse so I could start with a clean slate and assess how filling the juices are. However, I do not intend to fast on days 2 and 3, where I will be supplementing the juices with similar wholefoods in solid form (more on that later). 

It’s worth noting that if you do intend to fast, particularly for a juice cleanse that lasts longer than a day, or if you are new to fasting and cleansing, it is recommended not to overly physically exert yourself. I’d recommend either fasting and keeping exercise low to minimal over the course of those days, or continuing your exercise routine and supplementing with some healthy, wholefood solids on days 2 and 3 as I did. 

I decided to have my Health Nut juice for lunch as today was a busy day. I knew I would get hungry around lunchtime and sure enough I did, so it was the perfect time to ingest some good fats from the almond, purified water, medjool date, cinnamon and nutmeg blend of this juice. I also had a green tea as I drink herbal teas on days that I fast to curb hunger, keep me hydrated, supplement the detox and keep my body warm. 

When we arrived home in the late afternoon I had some work to do, so I had my Clean Green juice with another green tea. This juice is delicious and just made from spinach, celery, lettuce, parsley, cucumber, lemon and mint. By this point in the day I had gotten past the lunchtime tiredness and was feeling productive, energetic and fresh to work. It was a much brighter feeling than the post-lunch carb slump I may have otherwise had. 

Then in the early evening I had my Black Magik charcoal juice - this juice tasted so good! The mixture of alkaline water, lemon, activated charcoal and coconut water was such a beautiful taste, it actually reminded me of Greek yoghurt. This was my favourite juice of the day. 

Finally, in the later evening and a couple of hours before bedtime, I had the Dr Green juice which consists of coconut water, spinach, kale, Medjool dates, avocado, lemon and chia seeds. This was so hydrating and filling and the perfect juice to have before bed. I had a little bit of fruit with my final juice of the day simply because I was enjoying the feeling of flooding my body with nutrients. I slept soundly that night and I believe the nutrients from the entire day of juice cleansing, combined with the components such as avocado in my final juice of the day, actually helped me to sleep better as they have been proven to do so.

The biggest benefit I noticed from day 1 of my juice cleanse was just how hydrated I felt throughout the day. The juices were diverse and interesting enough to stop any food cravings or hunger pangs, and I slept absolutely soundly that night. Stay tuned for the next blog post to find out how day 2 went!