Beginning a strong juice fast, body flushing program without the proper groundwork will prove a huge mistake.  Preparing the body for the work about to be done is as important as the cleansing itself.  Even the introduction of fresh juice can cause a cleansing crisis if the immune system is unable to handle the toxins released for removal.  I’ve even seen people new to eating fresh fruits and vegetables suffer a detoxing crisis over a nice salad.

It’s All about Alkalinity

Think about nutrition for a minute.  Our blood is in balance when we’re slightly alkaline: with a pH of 7.35.  Pure nutrition is alkaline.  Alkaline foods are foods that raise the amount of oxygen that your blood takes in.

How much oxygen your blood can absorb is measured on a pH scale that ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 0 is most acidic while a pH of 14 is most alkaline.  Your body functions best when the pH of your blood is 7.35. If your blood pH gets below 7 or above 7.45, your body cannot function.

The question then is what will happen in a very acidic body when massive amounts of pure alkaline are introduced?  Every cell in your body jumps for joy and dumps its waste.  The entire system will begin to release massive amount of acidic waste for removal.  Will… Yahoo!? Right?  Wrong.  Unless you are into feeling like you have been run over by a mac truck.

Here is what will happen within about twenty-four hours.  Mr. New to Nutrition reads something about the benefits of juicing and decides to give it a try.  Instead of beginning his day with a glass of fresh juice for a start, he decides to jump right into a major juice fast.  Morning of day two he wakes up with a banger of a headache and likely muscle aches from head to toe.  The amount of waste up for elimination has overwhelmed his immune system.  All this waste must be attached and treated by the immune cells before it can be released from the body.  What the immune system is unable to treat is then reabsorbed.  Not good!

The Startup Plan

No, do not take your new juicer back to the store.  There is a plan.  You can have all the benefits of healthy living without the cleansing crisis.  Follow this simple start up program for a week or so to prepare the body for the onslaught of good you plan to do.

• Bowel Cleansing; Make sure the Bowels are open and working well. Establish the bowel cleansing program before beginning any cleaning campaign.
• Echinacea to Boost the Immune system. Begin boosting the week before beginning a major cleansing program or juice fast.  An ounce a day for four days each week you do an cleansing program is a good place to start.
• Always step up and down from a juice fast. How is this done?

Stepping Up and Down from a Juice Fast

Begin eating raw the week before you plan to start an extended juice fast, or intense healing program.  This will more gradually raise the amount of alkaline being introduced into the system.

Stepping Down

For an extended juice fast or healing program you will need an extended stepping down period.  This is very important.  Listen to your body.  Do not be in a rush to eat cooked foods.  If you transition back too quickly to cooked foods you can create a healing crisis all your own.

The rule of thumb is you will spend ½ the amount of time on the juice fast transitioning back to cooked foods.  If your juice fast was thirty days you will need a fifteen day period of raw food before introducing any cooked food back into your body.

Do not stop juicing.  Continue with your juicing as you reintroduce one raw food the first day.  You can have as much as you like but only one food.  I like to break my fast with either grapes or apples.  If this one food is well accepted depending on the length of the fast after a day or two you can introduce more raw food combinations.  After a week or two you should be eating raw fruit or Vegetable salads, supplemented of course with Superfood and fresh juices.

Continue this raw food program until you have covered at least half the time you were juice fasting.  On the day you plan to consume cooked food again I would boost with Echinacea if you are not already boosting.  The best first cooked food is either brown rice or a baked potato with the skin.  You must eat the skin or do not choose the potato.  Introduce the cooked food after your raw salad.  Enjoy, eating slowly.  If you do well continue to add cooked food slowly back into your food program.

Final thoughts:

Listen to your body.  You have provided an opportunity to clean house, allow your body the time to finish the effort begun.  Do not allow your appetite for cooked food to destroy the good you are doing.  You will enjoy cooked food again.  Taking your time during this transition period will allow the work you have done to be completed.