Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 years, you have probably heard of the “magic” powers of juice cleanses. You have probably seen numerous insta-models showing off their fit bodies, supposedly having achieved thanks to the “natural this” and “organic that” fitness teas or juices…But do these cleanses ever work? I put myself through the test with London’s own Plenish, to give you an honest and personal account of what really happens.
I had bought Plenish’s products through Ocado in the past (because who has time to go to the supermarket?) and to my delight, I later discovered that they do personalised multi-day juice cleanses too. Plenish’s programs can be anything from 1 – 7 days long, with 4 levels of caloric composition available, depending on your needs, desired results and general fitness level. I went for a 3 day, level 2 cleanse (920kcal per day), because I felt that 1 – 2 days was too short to make a real difference, but I couldn’t quite summon the courage to last more than 3 days without solid food (I’m tough but I’m not that tough). What you get in this pack is 3 days of 6 x 500ml cold pressed goodness (that’s 3 litres of juice a day…yeah it’s a lot) delivered straight to your door.
DAY 1: Immediate reaction, I felt lighter, and refreshed. It wasn’t too difficult to go the full day without food, and it definitely helped that the last juice of the day was cashew milk with dates, so a bit of natural sugar when the night cravings hit was helpful.
DAY 2: Still feeling lighter naturally, but a tad less energised as my body was adjusting to the drastically reduced caloric intake. To be absolutely honest, day 2 evening was particularly tough for me to push through without sneaking in any kind of a snack. You may even experience a bit of a headache, but trust me…take a hot bath or shower, go to bed early and let the sleep do the rest of the work.
DAY 3: The worst part was over and my body had adjusted to the new regime. Energy level was back on track, and I saw a noticeable difference in my skin complexion. Not the mention the 2kg weight loss! Who wouldn’t be happy about that?! I loved the way I felt, but also knowing that I could go back to a bit of solid food the next day definitely helped me get over the mental hurdle.
POST CLEANSE RESULTS: Obviously if you are on a liquid diet for 3 days your stomach shrinks a little and you start eating a bit less than normal, which is great. I generally felt like eating less the next week, but most importantly now that my liver has gone through a thorough filtration, any heavy foods made me feel very uncomfortable and sluggish (…the french fries did not go down well).
Why go through this deprivation at all, you may ask? Well imagine your liver and guts are a sort of filter. And over time remnants of toxins and all kinds of other things get stuck in the filter and they slow down your metabolism. A juice cleanse is meant to basically clean out the filter and flush out a lot of these bad toxins.
FINAL VERDICT: I am a total convert, and having really felt the “magic” myself, I have been doing 1 – 2 day cleanses once a month ever since. I couldn’t recommend this enough, and I am certain that you’ll love the effects of Plenish’s juice cleanses. I guarantee that you once you try them, they will be your go to method for hitting that “reset” button on your metabolism every time you feel you need to re-boot (and loose a pound or two for that special occasion ☺).