The natural world #3: the juice cleanse

What is it? A juice cleanse is an opportunity to cut out processed, heavy, unhealthy foods and instead nourish your body with easily digestible and nutritious juices, all made from high end organic fruit and vegetables. 

Who does it? After much research online I finally selected Radiance Cleanse Some were hugely expensive but Radiance offered a single rest day cleanse. Don't get me wrong, it was still expensive, but it was something I really wanted to try, especially as with all the stress with the final project I've been having stomach issues, lots of uncomfortable feelings, not good. I wanted to get back on track by trying the cleanse. Plus my good friend D is almost at the end of a weekly retreat where she has cleansed and I wanted to share the experience! 

What do you get? Lots of guidance. I'd like to put that out there straightaway. As well as a very informative website I received several communications, including fact sheets for pre and post-cleanse eating. The pack itself arrived in a huge box! The juices were packed into this really smart black cool bag (so using that again!) and with two freezer packs to keep them cold (again, so using them again!). For a single rest day there was a total of 6 juices:

1. Ginger lemonade
2. Alka green
3. Cashew milk
4. Root boost
5. Vibrant veg
6. Vital green

Each juice is 500ml, in a bottle that could either be reused or recycled. There was also a timetable for each drink which came packaged in a thick, black, embossed envelope. All the bottles were numbered to help you out too. Taking all that into consideration and the freshness of the ingredients, I would definitely say this pack is value for money. There is no scrimping to be found. If I had to pick one word it would be: classy. 

How was it? A little bit weird. I've never done anything like this before so the whole thing was virgin territory. I've really only ever tried your traditional fruit juices, such as apple and orange, and don't have space for a juicer so that trend kind of passed me by completely. The first thing, after the excitement of the giant parcel, was being alarmed by the green juice! I was definitely nervous to try it, but it was actually very tasty and even though I could taste the vegetables, the sweetness from the other juices shone through. I liked the cashew milk a lot, but I've always been quite a big milk drinker, it's good for the bones you know. 

I struggled with two things. The first was boredom. I'm a big believer in variety being the spice of life and I apply this to my food on a daily basis. I seldom eat the same thing twice in one week, much less all in one day. By the 4th drink I was thinking, here we go again, more juice. I overcame this by telling myself how good I was being to my body. The second thing was the quantity. 6 drinks at 500ml each is 3000ml of juicy goodness over the day - that is a whole lot of fluid! I spent quite a lot of the day peeing (TMI?) Some drinks took longer to finish than others. 

How did I feel by the end? By the last drink I had to admit I was glad it was over. I could never do more than one rest day. I would certainly consider doing it again, as I do feel like I've given my digestive system a break, but it's not something I would think about doing on a regular basis. I was surprisingly full and didn't feel the need to snack. It was probably about 10pm before I started to think, hmm I could eat something right about now. But I stood firm. 

The pre-cleanse fact sheet was really useful and Wavey and I adopted a kind of mediterranean diet, lots of fish and salads with everything. I think we'll probably continue that as we both want to be more healthy and trim. I think it was worth the money and Radiance clearly know what they are doing. I'd recommend the company, and even the process, but be prepared for the boredom of just drinking juice all day. 

Any other comments? One unexpected thing was that my teeth felt kind of funky. Like they had a coating on them. I'm thinking it's all the natural fruit sugar but I was so glad to clean my teeth! And one huge advantage, there was no dishes to wash as I hadn't made any food! Added bonus. Summing up: juice cleanse = interesting experience. Tempted to try one...?