Yikes, we’re so glad to be shedding the layers and getting some more sunshine

Even on the Gold Coast winter can still be challenging.

Energetically winter is heavy and calls for a slower, more restorative pace.

Throughout history, many cultures across the globe have practiced the act of internal spring cleaning to recharge the body and help release any residual winter energy.

Any change of season is a good opportunity to cleanse toxins in the body and help support it to reset for the new season.

But the truth is, spring really is the ideal time to do a fast or cleanse.

Why? Lets break it down…

Did you know fatigue, aches and pain is often natures way of letting you know that your body is releasing a build up of toxins?

Your body is naturally designed to to store in the winter and flush out in the spring. If you dig Chinese Medicine then you may know that they refer to this winter build up as ‘excess phlegm‘ in your system.

In addition to this, it is generally more challenge to detox in winter. The reason being that the average person tends to exercise less in winter and the exposure to toxins raises since you’re typically inside more often. Seriously people, we’re feeling pretty science-y right about now.

It’s not just that, we typically tend to eat heavier foods in winter which can be a burden on your kidneys and liver.

Spring is a time of rebirth

We think there is literally no better time to cleanse then spring. And science suggests so too! And the best part of doing a seasonal cleanse is the double-whammy benefit:

1. Your body takes a break from the regular burden of digestion, allowing it to devote energy to the detoxification process and the rejuvenation of your body & mind and;
2. You want to eat less because your cells feel invigorated and nourished. Say what? Yep, that’s right… Your clever little brain actually sends a message to your stomach saying, “hey life’s good in here, slow down… we don’t NEED any more food!”

It’s kind of like hitting the ‘reset button’ on your whole body.

Yep, we love spring and we love Cold Pressed Juice!

Happy spring juicers x 

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen xxx

The post When is the best time to cleanse? appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

Fermented foods play a huge roll in re-establishing and maintaining healthy gut ecology.

The health of your gut is linked both to your overall health in such a big way that it’s important to pay attention to it.

If you’re pretty health conscious with your ear to the ground, you’ve probably already heard of Kombucha.

Here’s the score…

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a naturally fermented drink that is made up of tea, raw unrefined sugar, pure water and “SCOBY”.

Now don’t freak out about the “sugar” bit, I’ll get to that in a moment.

“SCOBY” stands for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeasts. It kind of looks like a floating mushroom and is what creates the fermentation process and all of the health benefits that go with it.

How is it made?

Kombucha is brewed by fermenting the SCOBY with tea, water, sugar and any other ingredients you choose to combine with it (to add extra flavour) after the initial fermentation process e.g. apple, ginger, cinnamon, berries etc.

You’ll never actually see the SCOBY.  You’ll just be tasting the delicious tea it’s been brewing in (that stores all of the healthy benefits). Once the liquid is extracted, it’s bottled and carbonated, turning it into a refreshing, delicious, lightly fizzy drink.

And what about the sugar?

The SCOBY needs sugar to survive and grow, and in the process of fermentation the SCOBY absorbs nearly all of the sugar, leaving about 1 gram of sugar for every 250ml. So don’t stress, it’s just part of the process in bringing this tummy healing little potion to life!

Why do we love it?

Kombucha is loaded with beneficial probiotic organisms. These probiotic organisms have been scientifically proven to be associated with digestive health and immune function.

If you have IBS, or experience tummy pain and bloating, Kombucha is an awesome plant-based way to heal your gut and add back healthy gut flora that may have been lost by taking antibiotics, or an overload of stress on your digestive system.

Kombucha is also linked to liver and kidney health. A number of studies have shown that by drinking kombucha, you can help decrease the number of toxins that can cause damage to the liver and kidneys.

It is also an awesome probiotic if you happen to be vegan, or lactose intolerant!

How you can get it…

I love the refreshing taste of Kombucha and the healthy benefits it provides.  Fact is, we should incorporate naturally fermented foods and drinks into our diet on a regular basis to boost and maintain healthy digestive function and Kombucha is a simple, convenient, tasty way to get it.

It’s also an ingenious little addition to the mix when you’re fasting or juice cleansing for a few days.

That’s why we stock Kombucha in our “Grab n’ Go” store at “The 4217″, Beach Road, Surfers Paradise!

Healthy gut = happy life

Once again, the health of your gut is worth paying attention to if you want to stay vibrantly healthy overall.

Have a beautiful day,

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen x 

The post Kombucha: an ancient digestive remedy making a huge comeback! appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

Did you know that your dental health is a mirror of your internal health?

Yep, your smile says a lot about your insides.

And it’s not just that, what you do to take care of your oral hygiene effects your overall health too.

So it begs the question, why would you put something on your teeth (like fluoride), that you wouldn’t put inside your body?! It’s scary stuff when you really start to think about it.

Now I’m no qualified dentist, but I have discovered a thing or two about a couple of amazing ways to help generate a pearly white smile – without any harmful chemicals going inside my body.

This little gem not only whiten your teeth, deodorises your mouth, strips plaque and and releases bad oral bacteria, you can actually drink the stuff and even infuse it into non-toxic, natural bristle toothbrushes!

We’ve been raised to believe that we need fluoride to clean our teeth, but now it’s being exposed!

I’m not a fan of fluoride.  Yes, you’ll find plenty of medically-funded spin about the benefits of fluoride, but if you do a little digging, you’ll also find piles and piles of info about the DANGERS of it.

In my mind, why would you brush with fluoride when there are non-toxic, natural products out there now that do a better job?

My favourite ever, wonder teeth cleansing product, straight from nature is: Activated Charcoal

So on a good day (you know, when the kids don’t needing ferrying around, when all the juicing goes to plan, when life is just sunny) my routine looks like this:

Jump out of bed, and start the day with a cold-pressed juice, OR a couple of times a week I’ll start with our Black Magic (refreshing, detoxifying juice that contains Activated Charcoal).

Before leaving home, I’ll brush my teeth with Activated Charcoal (sometimes I’ll add salt, essential oils) using a Binchotan Charcoal Toothbrush

Yep it’s a pretty crazy how versatile this stuff is.  The secret’s out, I LOVE Activated Charcoal and I’d love for you to give it a try too!

So what’s so great about Activated Charcoal?

Activated Charcoal is negatively charged carbon that has been treated with oxygen.

The effect is the creation of a magnet for positively charged toxins, absorbing “pesticides or nonorganic veggies, dioxins on fish from contaminated waters, and even neurotoxins from breathing in mould,” – Integrative Physician Jeffery Morrison.

If charcoal is used to remove toxicity out of the body when it is poisoned, it can also be used to draw out smaller and less serious forms of waste as well.

Seriously try it for yourself and when you see and feel the benefits, I think you’ll be hooked!

Lots of love,

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen x

The post The secret to making those pearly whites sparkle… appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

Finding the motivation to eat well and move your body can be a challenge…

Especially when it comes to winter!

The weather is cold, the food is warm, and the wine is mulled.

But the truth is winter IS the time to be working on your summer body – and I don’t necessarily mean your bikini bod (although that is a great side effect) I mean staying ‘on top’ of how you look and feel during those months when it’s easy to let yourself go.

Healthy looks like eating plenty of greens, sleep, pure water and staying moderately active.

What you need to know about your summer body

So many of us reach for a carb-free, high protein diet when summer rolls around in order to shed a couple of kilos.

The scary thing is that a lot of these diet plans deprive your body of important macronutrient’s that it needs to heal and be healthy.

And while you may shed a little bit of fat, chances are you’ll also loose lean muscle too which lowers your Resting Metabolic Rate, which actually makes it EASIER to put fat back on later.

Yikes!!!

But it’s not just that, the change of seasons signals many changes to our body. Moving between seasons requires nurturing of our bodies, in order to support our the beautiful temple that is our body.

So in order to help you become vibrantly healthy this winter, and absolutely glowing in summer, we have thrown together our top three tips for nourishing yourself this winter.

1. Add greens to EVERYTHING

One of the best bits of winter is warm foods. You don’t need to eat a salad to get a huge dose of greens, it’s just as easy to throw together a nourishing winter dish. My favourite is Spinach and Broccoli soup!! And it’s not just greens, there is a way to enhance any winter food. We’ve been munching down on hot chocolate this year, think: cacao, coconut milk, cinnamon and coconut nectar. YUM!

2. Move you body

When it’s cold outside we tend to want to stay tucked up in bed, however just because the season has changed doesn’t mean your body is in any less need of being moved. It’s not even necessarily about being fit and toned (these are awesome by products), the truth is your body NEEDS to move. Life = movement. Even if its just a 45 minute stroll every day, or just 15-20 minutes of high intensity pilates, it will all help.

3. Get sunlight

Now I know this one is a bit of a wild card, I am sure a lot of you wonder how important the sun is in order to be vibrantly healthy. I can promise you, it is VITAL to abundant health!!! Our bodies thrive on vitamin d, and just like a plant wilts in the dark, so do our bodies. In winter it becomes especially important that you expose as much of your body as possible to the sun, because the sun is at its weakest and therefor we aren’t getting as much residual sunshine as we do in summer.

And there you have it!  Start your day with a cold pressed juice or even choose winter to do a 1-3 Day Juice Cleanse and you’ll be keeping yourself on top of your game and go a long way to avoiding those waster winter bugs.

Start doing all three things and we know you’ll start to feel a difference (and you’re body will start to glow because of it).

Have a beautiful winter Sunday juicy people.

Inga x

The post Summer Bodies are made in Winter appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

If you didn’t already know, we’re BIG fans of the Wholefood Medicine Man, Don Tolman.

You may or may not know that in our ‘other business’ life, we work closely with Cowboy Don Tolman, promoting his events in Australia and his Self Care products online for distribution globally.

Last week we left our beloved juice kitchen in the very good hands of our team as we travelled the country with Don, sharing with more than 3,000 people the benefits of ‘self care’ and plant wholefoods as medicine.

Our work with Don was our key inspiration for creating the The Cleanse Kitchen.

Over the years we’ve seen time and time again the healing power of fasting and the impact that embracing living juices and wholefoods has on people’s health.

We wanted to create premium bottles of living juice (what we refer to as “liquid sunshine”) so that it was easy for people on the Gold Coast to access and experience it’s benefits on a daily basis.

You CAN heal yourself from all kinds of sickness and dis-ease with whole foods and juice fasting or cleansing.

And at the very least, there’s nothing better that you can do for your health than start your day with a fix of cold pressed, living juice – before you put anything else into your body.

Going on the road with Don for a huge national tour breathed so much new life into our work and we’re more inspired than ever to continue spreading the powerful message of Self Care.

We couldn’t possibly put all down all the things we’ve learned from Don in one blog post, but we thought we’d jot down the three most important things that Don shared

1. To heal different body parts, eat foods that look like them

Now we know this may sound a little funny when you first hear it, but each whole food resembles and targets a part of your human body.

This wisdom relates back to “The Doctrine of Signatures” that contends that plant foods each contain a pattern or ‘sign of nature’ (Signature) that resembles a body organ or physiological function.

It also states that this pattern acts as a signal or sign, as to the benefit this particular food provides the individual who consumes that food.

This study reaches all the way back to Roman times where it was called the “Law of Similarities”.

Today it’s commonly referred to by scientists as “Teleological Nutritional Targeting.”

‘Let Food be they Medicine and Medicine be thy Food’ ~ Hippocrates 

For example, an Avocado looks like a womb with a swollen seed inside just like a woman who is pregnant. And astoundingly, it takes 9 months for an Avo to grow from blossom to ripen fruit. And today it’s been scientifically proven and makes complete sense, that the ‘good’ fats contained in Avos are great for the health of the feminine reproductive system.

Slice a carrot and it looks just like the human eye. You’ll see a pupil, iris and radiating lines. And it’s backed by science that today shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

The list goes on…it’s so fascinating when you learn about every food.

2. Being Healthy is DIRT simple

With medical science muddying the waters and turning health care into a massive industry, being healthy is made out to be confusing and complex.

What we learned from Don is that the 7 principles of health that revolve around, fresh AIR, clean WATER, SUNSHINE, WHOLEFOODS, WALKING, NON-TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS and PASSION are as simple as it gets if you want to live a happy, healthy, dis-ease free life.

3. The fastest way to heal is to FAST!

Here are some words of wisdom from Don Tolman:

“Fasting has existed since the beginning of life on earth. An ill or injured animal’s first instinct is to abstain from solid food until it is again healthy. They instinctively know that the healing process will be much faster and more effective when it abstains from solid food that will burden its digestive tract.

This instinct has always existed within the animal Kingdom. The human body also has this same instinct, for it is common for most people to stop eating when illness strikes. Put simply, fasting allows the body to direct all its energy to healing”. 

Yikes, it makes me want to do a juice cleanse right now!

There’s no doubt the self care revolution is really here.  After an exhilarating week away, we’ve come back to The Cleanse Kitchen and have this week been pouring our hearts into our amazing bottles of juice.

Thankyou for sharing this journey with us.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen x. 

The post 3 things we learned on the road with Don Tolman appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

The post The Top 5 Benefits of Maca Powder appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

By far – the most common question we receive about our juice is:

Why is your method of hydraulic “cold-pressing” SO much better than regular juicing methods?  

In light of this, we’re going to give you all the deets today… because the fact is, NOT all fruit and veggie juices are created equal.
So what’s the big difference between Cold Pressed and Conventional juicing methods?

Here it is…

Conventional juicers, e.g. centrifugal juicers like you’ll find in 98% of local juice bars or cafés, rely on speed and heat to extract the juice.

Whilst this process is quick and easy, the friction creates oxidation and separation, destroying much of the nutritional content of the juice.

It looks all foamy and brown really quickly.. you know the stuff I’m talking about!

Our COLD PRESSING process is a much slower method, gently grinding thewhole raw ingredients and then feeding them through a state-of-the-art,hydraulic press that applies tremendous pressure (without heat, speed or friction) to extract every last piece of nectar from the pulp.

It takes ALOT more produce to make the same amount of juice and the result is an ultra-smooth [pulp-free] juice with distinct flavours that pop.

It’s full of raw goodness, bursting with enzymes. Yum, right?!  

Kept refrigerated, you’ll have raw, unpasteurised, ‘living’ juice that stays fresh for at least 3 days – it’s the only type of juice to have if you want to flood your cells with nutrients and enzymes, feel lighter, more energised and boost your immunity.

So for your daily fix of liquid sunshine, which would you prefer?

We created The Cleanse Kitchen because not only are we avid juice fanatics ourselves, but we wanted to give people easy access to the benefits of deluxe, organic, cold-pressed, raw, living juice in premium grade recyclable glass bottles.

Is it more expensive?

Slightly, but your getting a “Rolls Royce” product.

You only need to try it once to taste and feel the difference!

Hand-preparing our Cleanses and Juice Packs is a process that takes a wheelbarrow load of raw produce, precious time and lots of love and care…but we wouldn’t do it unless we could do it right!
Each 500ml bottle of our amazing juice contains 1 to 1.5 Kilos of fresh, organic, locally sourced fruit and vegetables.

That means you’re getting a mega-dose of nutrients to keep you feeling refreshed and bursting with energy!

But don’t feel discouraged…

We dig juice, and we dig wholefoods, so if the only way to get an extra hit of wholefoods is to throw it in your juicer at home, we think you’re still on the right track.

Our tip: if you do make your own juice with a conventional juicer make sure you drink it straight away so you can get the most benefits out of it before it begins to age.

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen xxx

The post The shocking difference between ‘standard’ & Cold Pressed Juice appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

Eek, winter is here

And we all know what that means: clogged noses, sore heads and feeling like the pits.

But don’t reach for the cold and flu medication just yet.

The truth is, we get the flu for good reasons.

Team TCK are firm believers that the flu is not a dis-ease that we should panic or fear, however we know that days in bed can really get us down!

Our good friend and ‘Wholefood Medicine Man’ Don Tolman has some pretty good thinking on the subject.

He talks about how our body is like a house and each one has a fire place with a FLU for the smoke to rise, so it doesn’t fill the house with smoke and gunk!

Your body is actually venting constantly, through your pores, when you go to the loo and more.

However, occasionally your chimney gets so blocked up with junk, your body needs to open ALL the vents to start immediate clearing!

So you can imagine, when you suppress your symptoms with medicine, not only are you blocking your vents, you’re also weighing down your system with even more junk to clear.

Now, we think it’s important to do whatever is best for you, and we certainly aren’t doctors (although we like to think of ourselves as Juice Doctors!), but if you’re feeling the effects of the flu we have a few wholesome wholefoods that we reach for to speed up the detoxification process and get it over and done with, so you can go back to being a star!

The key here is to support the venting process, not to suppress it!

And now *drum roll* our three favourite flu busters:

Lemon

Our little yellow friends are jam packed with Vitamin C, which is known to help support the immune system. Lemon can help to bring up and dissolve phlegm (yikes). Lemon is also seriously anti-bacterial, so it will help clear out those nasties that your vents are releasing!

Turmeric

Turmeric is loaded with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, so it’s the ideal support for your body during a ‘clean of house’ process. By including turmeric in your diet you can fight infection and warm the body. Seriously, we love the stuff in a juice, stir fry or tea!

Ginger

Ginger helps to soothe the systems of the flu, as well as speed up the venting process. Ginger is a natural antiviral and can help stimulate perspiration, this is so important as the pores of your skin are your bodies largest vent. Ginger also contains antiseptic properties which act as a decongestant.

We love Lemon, Ginger and Turmeric so much, you’ll find each of them in a bunch of our juices. Think:

• Sunrise 
• Go Go Green 
• Ginger Snap 
• Beet Chia 
• Clean Green
• Daily Green 
• C.A.B.A.L.A
• Fireball 
• and more! 
• Because three is never enough 

And if you’re struck down with the flu right now, there are a few other handy tools from nature that we suggest you reach for. We make sure we have good, unrefined salt on hand at all times. Bathe in it, sprinkle it in your water and add it to your food. Seriously, salt works wonders for the flu. We also make sure we drink at least 3 litres of water a day when we’re feeling sick. If you really want to supercharge your healing process, add some activated charcoal to mop up any nasties that have been left behind.

And have a beautiful day,

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen xxx

** Blog image by the wonderful people at Par Avion Tea

The post Our top three flu busters appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

The joys of Fruit-Free Cleansing…

Taking a few days out to give your digestive system a rest and flood your cells with the Cold Pressed ‘bloods’ of fresh vegetables (of any kind) and leafy greens, is one of the best things you can do for your health.

But there’s something extra-profound about juicing on GREENS, with supporting detoxifiers.

Introducing our new Fruit-Free Cleanse…

This brand new Cleanse contains:

• 1 x Black Magic
• 2 x Burleigh Green
• 1 x Clean Green
• 1 x Doctor Green
• 1 x Health Nut

For anyone out there who wants a potent detoxification with alkalising benefits, this is the Cleanse for you. The four Greens will boost your pH. level, while the Black Magic acts as a potent detoxifier (it’s loaded with Activated Charcoal) and the Health Nut provides a nourishing dose of Nut Mylk with medicinal spices.

So why do you need to try our Fruit-Free Cleanse…?

Your system will become more “Alkaline”

If you missed my article earlier in the week about alkalinity, please check it out here. 

Seriously, leafy greens are commonly considered ‘nature’s blood’.

Why? Because greens are full of chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll is essential for plants to grow and produce fruit, so it’s like magic for your cells when you spend 3 days flooding your body full of it.  You’ll feel and notice an incredible difference.

No one said that going GREEN is the easiest thing in the world to do, but if you’re committed to a ‘deeper’ cleanse and greater results, then this really is the cleanse for you.

Green is the gateway to healing dis-ease in your body

As you start to load up on greens you’ll be changing your pH levels to put you up in the ‘neutral / alkaline’ spectrum…and as I mentioned in my article, it’s awfully tough for dis-ease to exist in an alkaline rich environment.

So as you become more alkaline, you’ll actually be working towards healing your body of any ailment or discomfort you might have. Think IBS, fatigue, viral overwhelm, congestion, eczema and more.

Feel energized, lighter, sleep better and experience improved digestion

When you cleanse on our Cold-Pressed Juices, you’re consuming the ‘bloods’ of fresh vegetables and leafy greens to satiate your cells with electrically charged nutrients that they truly recognise and thrive upon.

It’s kind of like hitting the ‘reset button’ on your whole body.

With virtually no digestion required, these nutrients are quickly absorbed into your bloodstream creating a double-whammy benefit:

1. Your body takes a break from the regular burden of digestion, allowing it to devote energy to the detoxification process and the rejuvenation of your body & mind and;
2. You want to eat less because your cells feel invigorated and nourished. Say what? Yep, that’s right… Your clever little brain actually sends a message to your stomach saying, “hey life’s good in here, slow down… we don’t NEED any more food!”

And have a beautiful week.

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen 

The post What happens to your body when you do a 3 day Fruit-Free Cleanse appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.

Let’s clear things up…

Do you ever feel bloated, sluggish, nauseas or run down?

If so, there’s a damn good chance your digestive and immune systems need a little more support.

So how do we do this?

By turning to so called miracle foods that are designed by nature to activate, ‘heat up’ and cleanse our bodies.

Here’s a list of the best from nature’s garden:

• Pepper
• Nutmeg
• Onion
• Garlic
• and probably the most powerful of all: GINGER!

If you have ever sipped on one of our deluxe Cold Pressed Juices you’ve probably tasted a zesty little hit of ginger – in fact about 80% of the juices in our range contain this dynamic little root vegetable for good reason.

Consuming Ginger = Supporting Healing.  It’s really that simple.

And by doing just a few minutes homework online at virtually any website you go to, you’ll discover just how miraculous Ginger really is for your health.

And in our cold-pressed juice blends, it tastes incredible too!

Ginger is not only a god send for improved digestion and cleansing, it will help increase your energy levels, improve circulation, overcome nausea, headaches, morning sickness and relieve pain and inflammation in the body.

Talk about quadruple whammy!!!!

And guess what?  Even if you don’t want Ginger in your juice, add it to your favourite stir fry or steep it into a tea with lemon and you’ll be doing your sweet little self a big favour.

Lots of love,

Inga & The Cleanse Kitchen. 

P.S. Want your healthy, delicious fix of ginger in it’s tastiest, healthiest form? Grab one of our Juice Bundle 4 or 6 packs for pick up from our kitchen or delivery to your door. Our cold-pressed juice blends that contain ginger are:

• Ginger Snap
• Go Go Green 
• Dawn Patrol 
• Beet Chia 
• Fireball
• Sunrise 
• First Thing Booster
• Tummy Soothe Booster 

The post The healing benefits of ginger appeared first on The Cleanse Kitchen.