Broccoli Beet Juice and Juicing FAQ

Prepare ahead of time. A week or so prior, cut back and stop coffee, alcohol, processed foods - eating as clean as possible.

If you can fast for at least 10 days you will see benefits. The first couple days of a juice fast, your body is processing the food remaining in your digestive system. The next couple of days, your body focuses on the reserves stored in your liver. After 3-5 days, your juice fast really begins!

Start with your favorite fruit and vegetables, so it will be something you want to consume. Gradually move to most if not all vegetables, with one fruit here and there. Plan to shop every few days if possible, or invest in green bags that prolong the life of produce.

Finally, know where you can find fresh juice away from home – juice bars, gyms, even Jamba Juice has fresh juice!

Did you have unpleasant reactions?

Since I juice regularly anyway, and eat fairly clean much of the time, I did not experience many of the common side effects of a juice fast. Some of the possible temporary effects resulting from detoxing include headaches, dizziness, breakouts, feeling tired or lethargic, weight loss.

The first couple of days I was a little tired, and in five weeks I have had ONE headache (a happy and positive side effect!). I lost 10 pounds in the first couple weeks, and another 5 since. I am not in the habit of a scale, and I think the weight loss has plateaued.

The positives include increased energy and we feel incredibly healthy!

How do you know what tastes good; do you have a favorite recipe?

I don’t always know what will taste good – trust me, not all of my juices turn out well!

I have had to go back and add some pineapple or apple to mask some interesting flavors. I happen to be one of those people who loves the taste of greens, so most things still taste good to me.

I am juicing for Jason, too, and while he likes a lot of flavor combinations too, I do try to make things taste good and have a vast collection of recipes for all of your juicing needs!

How long will you do this?

I am currently on a 2 week fast, the end of which is timed with an upcoming event. (We have had weddings, house guests, birthdays and other events where we happily broke fast).

We are loving this, and are talking about keeping it up long term in some form. I have some great new raw food recipe ideas that I cannot WAIT to incorporate, and will juice regularly, at least once a day.

Are you still exercising?

I am exercising regularly while juice fasting. For the first week, it was very little – walking only. Now I am running (or at least faced paced walking!), weight lifting, and all of my regular activities at regular intensity depending on the day.

Do you juice once a day to drink all day, or several times a day?

The enzymes and nutrients in fresh juice begin to break down immediately, so I drink it immediately and make fresh juice each time to get the most out of my juicing. Yes, I know for many, the biggest complaint is having to clean the juicer.

Do you clean your juicer each time?

Yes, I do clean my juicer each time I juice.

I make myself clean it before I drink my juice, and it really only takes a few more minutes, at most. I have it down to a pretty quick routine now:

1. Turn on the hot water as soon as I am done juicing
2. Grab my scrub brush and just clean each piece as I take it apart
3. Stack all juicer components on drying mat

After much use and sitting on the drying rack by my kitchen window sometimes in the sun, the pieces have become slightly cloudy over time. This does not affect the juice or juicer at all.

Additionally, once or twice a week I’ll run the dishwasher safe pieces through the dishwasher (EXCEPT the plunger – that will melt / lose shape and not fit right after).

Yes, it can be a pain with what, six pieces plus wiping down the base, but when I think of cleaning dishes and cooking equipment, I think it more than balances out. If you think of how much time you are probably saving, the extra clean up each time might be more manageable?

What kind of juicer do you have?

When we started juicing, we used thisjuice fountain, which is the same juicer Joe Cross uses in the documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. Jason and I saw this movie about a week after we began our fast, and it completely validated what we were doing, and gave us even more motivation. 

When we realized juicing was going to be a standard practice, we upgraded to a cold press, twin gear juice extractor. This juicer is extremely efficient, producing a large amount of juice and minimal pulp, which is very dry.

It juices leafy greens very well also - I never juiced greens in my centrifugal, instead I would juice and then blend the greens in after. I still do this for more protein (spinach), but if I want only juice, we now have the benefit of greens.

Another benefit of the Super Angel - the twin gear mechanism grinds the produce in such a way that the enzymes do not immediately begin to break down - I still drink most of the juice right away, but if we want to take juice with us to work during the day, it will still be nutrient rich hours later.