Samantha Flores
Staff Writer
Did you wait too long to start training for your spring break body? Are you trying to get a headstart on your healthy summer lifestyle? The latest trend to achieve these has been juice cleanses. A juice cleanse is a personal journey, and one must be dedicated enough to go through with it. Basically, if one wanted to try the cleanse, he or she would go to a store known for “healthy living” (i.e. Whole Foods, Kale Me Crazy, etc.) or a website that produces the juices and purchase the number of days desired. During the cleanse, a person is strictly instructed to only to drink his six juices and only eat almonds or egg whites should he become hungry. There is controversy associated with cleansing and the main thing people wonder is, does it work? These cleanses can be quite pricey, and there is also a question of whether they offer health benefits. With this conflicting argument posted all over the internet, I decided to try a one day cleanse myself.
I learned about juice cleansing through Hannah Meloche, a famous YouTuber, on her channel based around beauty and healthy living. She tried a one day cleanse and did not care for it much herself. After watching her 20 minute video of her “vlogging” her juice cleanse, I researched juice cleansing. I found a website run by a juice cleanse company called “Jus by Julie” based in Brooklyn, New York. I could choose which day I wanted my juices delivered to my house and pick my cleansing duration. I choose a one day cleanse since I was not sure how my body would react to drinking straight juice for an entire day. Many people choose to do a cleanse to experience drinking extremely healthy juices or trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. I am not overweight and I am not an “unhealthy” eater; I solely chose to do a juice cleanse to try it out and see if it would change me physically or mentally. The day before I began my cleanse, I tried to eat a lot less than usual and focus mainly on eating protein and fruits, so when I drank juices containing fruits and vegetables the next day I would be ready.
I woke up around 8am on the day I did my cleanse and I felt a pang of hunger in my stomach. I thought to myself, “Oh no. Of course this happens on the day I can’t eat.” My first juice contained kale, spinach, pineapple, banana, mango, and rice milk. To me, someone who eats basic food and is picky, this sounded revolting. I tried the juice and it was surprisingly not bad at all. The other five juices had similar combinations as the first, and they were all around 150 calories. Throughout the day I didn’t notice myself getting very hungry, as I drank the juices in two hour increments. I was pleased with this so much so that I decided to go on a quick two mile run. I was not tired at all during the run….and then the late afternoon hit me like a truck. I felt as if someone had smacked me in the head with a hammer, and I was starving. I allowed myself two boiled eggs and still felt like my world was falling apart. I somehow made it the rest of the day, disgusted by the juice flavors and feeling dizzy and very unmotivated.
Would I recommend doing a juice cleanse? Personally I would not do one again, especially during the school year. I lost five pounds in one day of cleansing and I felt great for the first half, but then I also missed delicious meals and experienced the pain of hunger. Juice cleanses are things people must be careful with; it is very easy to become dehydrated or give into their temptation of eating during the cleanse. Choose for yourself if you want your own cleansing experience, and have fun working on that healthy lifestyle!
Trojan Times 