If you’re into health and you’re into Instagram, it’s impossible not to have noticed the impressive influx of independent cold-pressed juice businesses in the last two years. Personally, I love them. And what’s not to love about cool branding on colourful bottles of juice, all lined-up like a magical rainbow of renewed health?

Most raw juice companies offer some sort of detox program based on their juices of course. Some call it a Detox, some call it a Cleanse, most recommend 3 days and some offer 5-day, even 9 and 10 day programs. Detoxing the body with cold-pressed juice is extremely effective. At the renowned Gersom Institute, juice fasting is the cornerstone of their successful cancer treatments.

I am not disputing the benefits of these amazing juices but it important to understand that the body must undergo certain preparations in order to ensure positive results before diving into a three-day juice detox.

Here is why going on a juice fast, without proper preparation of the body is not a great idea:

1. The elimination of fiber CLOGs THE PIPES

When you drink a cold pressed juice, you are drinking the extracted liquid from the fruit or vegetable and the pulp is discarded. A cold-pressed juice is water, concentrated nutrients, and zero fiber.

On the application forms to my detox program more than 80% of my past participants complain of chronic constipation. This is the “red flag” of poor digestive health and must be remedied as it leads to a host of health problems, not to mention, is a depressing and uncomfortable state to be in.

The number 1 rule for most people to stay regular is to increase the insoluble fiber content in their diet. This is the component of food that the digestive system cannot brake down. Fiber is the “binding” agent that allows for the proper forming of stool as well as easier and consistent elimination.

When you go cold turkey into a juice fast, you are most likely going to suffer from constipation because your body has nothing to bind with. And worse, the high levels of nutrients in the juices (specifically the dark leafy greens) activate the detoxification processes in the body, and then deny the toxins the most obvious and preferred exit route.

 2. You are what you absorb

Throwing yourself on a juice fast if you are living with high toxicity and poor digestion would be like pouring premium high-performance petrol into a rusty old clogged-up engine: kind of pointless and a waste of money.

Detoxification of the body means assisting the mayor pathways of elimination while you simultaneously encourage the repair of all metabolic function of the body. At the core of this process is gut health, and fundamental to gut health is good absorption. The highest quality supplements, the purest foods and the most nutrient dense juices are seriously under-utilised if gut health is poor.

You can’t detox with fructose

Most juices (green or not) are up to 50% fruit. In general the juice of choice is apple or pear because of their high fructose contents. Lots of sweet juice can make pretty much anything taste delicious. The classic: kale, celery, ginger and apple is delicious and gulpable because the intensity of the greens are masked by the sweetness of the apple. While apples are excellent foods and can be used to heal in a variety of ways, any juice high in fructose and fructose is useless if you are actively in a detoxification process.

The toxins stored within our bodies are not water-soluble meaning they cannot be flushed out of the system with liquids. We store them in our fat cells and we must burn these fat cells if we are to eliminate the holding of toxicity in out bodies. Very simply put, when we need energy, we burn sugars and when we starve the body of sugars, it must burn fat for fuel. Loading up with kale and apple juice really means you are loading up on fructose and your body will not burn fat or toxins no matter how “green” your juice is.

HOWEVER

THE NUTRIENTS HELP. You may not be absorbing all of the nutrients, but you will be absorbing some of them. And, resting the digestive system from digesting solid food is a great way to re-organize the way the body repairs and rejuvenates on a cellular level. As long as the constipation issue is addressed, this can be very curative regardless of the present state of health. Without proper preparation of the body though, no great breakthrough results will be accomplished on a 3-day juice fast.

THE CONFIDENCE HELPS. For most people, there is quite a lot of anxiety around entering into a 72+ hour period with no food. And like any challenge we take on for the betterment of our life experience, there is a great pay-off when we accomplish our goals. The feeling of mastery over our will, and the ability to dominate our natural instincts is very empowering and can be the catalyst for next level positive changes.