Juice fasting is a type of liquid diet during which a person takes in only juice created from fruits and/or veggies. This method is generally known as a detoxification diet, designed to expel the toxins that accumulate in our bodies from the food we eat, air we breathe and water we drink, in addition to other environmental contamintants. Juice fasting is a great way to lose some extra pounds fast and refresh/re-energize your body, mind and spirit. If you have ben feeling sluggish, depressed, bloated and glum – then chances are good that juice fasting can help to get you back on track.

The whole concept of juice fasting is that, by abstaining from solids for some time, you give the digestive system much-needed time to focus on cleansing, healing and tissue repair. Since so much energy is required to maintain the digestion process, the body normally does not have the “time” to perform these crucial maintenance functions – at least not at the depht and thoroughness that it is able to when we fast.

In addition to detoxifying, juice fasting offers all kinds of other advantages. Many use a juice fast for religious purposes, while others might undertake it just to slim down. Juice fasting may also help one to break bad habits, such as smoking, over eating, or even being addicted to caffeine. This perfectly describes me. I was a two-pack-a-day smoker for nearly thirty years and could not go through the day without constantly drinking coffee – usually ten to twelve cups daily. Juice fasting can also be deployed as an an alternative treatment for a variety of ailments including cancer.

A Detoxification diet can range in the quantity of time it is practiced. There are many who fast for three-to-seven days several times per year. I personally juice fast constantly… at the very least once per week. The reason is that, due to many years of poor eating, I developed a liver condition that requires me to keep my body clean. Last year I actually did a 100-day juice fast. After a few weeks it just becomes second nature, carrying the juice jugs in my car wherever I went. It was amazing.

But that is not to say that you also need to fast for a hundred days. Juice fasting for 100 days is something that I always wanted to do, and I have been fasting for many years. If you are new, you need not break any records I always say.

Start slow with a one-day juice fast, then on to two and three days. Do this for a while until you get used to dealing with hunger and other fasting detox symptoms. THEN you can start doing longer juice fasts of seven days and beyond. But you don’t even have to do that. Frequent juice fasting of one to two days are usually sufficient for most people, unless you have a lot of weight to lose or are doing it for specific health reasons.

Most fruits and vegetables do not contain fibers, so it is sometimes essential to stimulate certain organs and assist in the detox/cleansing processe. Certain fasters use enemas to expedite the process, while others consume an herbal or crystal salt laxative to aid with elimination. I personally use a herbal laxative called Herbs & Prunes. It is cheap and very effective. Take two of those and you’ll see some pretty massive bowel movements, legendary even.

Another way to stimulate the colon and foster the elimination of built-up fecal matter is to add some psyllium husks to the juice. What psyllium does is that it creates an “abbrasive” bulk of fiber in your stomach that, in essence, serves to “scrub” the intestines and loosen stubborn debris adhered to the inner walls. This is the hardest debris to eliminate yet it is crucial to do so. If you are going to go through the effort and sacrifice of fasting, you might as well make sure that all of that filth is wiped out from your body so that it cannot continue to pollute your blood and organs.

Start out with a teaspoon of psyllium once a day with your glass of juice. If you do not move your bowels, move on to two teaspoons the next day. Do not exceed two tablespoons daily. If you STILL cannot go after this, then I recommend that you visit your doctor immediately. You could possibly have another type of more-serious obstruction. Seriously, don’t procrastinate…. get checked out right away.

There is a vast selection of fruits and veggies to choose from to prepare the juice. But not all will work well together and some of them like bananas simply cannot be juiced. Certain greens work great in a juicer, for example parsley, kale, and spinach.

Broccoli and cabbage also work very nicely, and can give the juice a very distinct flavor. Some root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes and carrots also work amazingly-well in a juice fast. Grapes, apples, and citrus offer an abundance of juice and taste absolutely deliciouis. Spearmint, pepper mint, ginger, and green onion are a few of the natural herbs which taste very well in juice, along with wheatgrass, fennel, and even basil.