Sipping Slow: A Guide to a Successful Cleanse

Cleanses can be a great way to pause and reset, for both your digestive system and for your mind. 

You can take the regained time that you would usually use to prep food, eat and do dishes and invest it back into yourself. A true cleanse is about more than just what you put into your body, take this time to cleanse all aspects of your life. Maybe take the day off social media, reduce your screen time and read a book instead or take some time to sit in the fresh air and just breathe.

 

 

There are many different reasons why people choose to start a juice cleanse. 

The most common include wanting to:

• increase energy
• decrease bloating
• improve sleep
• reset after a stressful time

Cleansing is a great way to flush out your digestive system and fill your body with the nutrients it's missing. 

  

 

The more you prepare your body, the smoother the transition to cleanse will be. When scheduling in a juice cleanse, we recommend that you "prepare" for it a day or two in advance.

To prepare for your cleanse, increase how much water you drink per day (try to hit 8-12 cups) and do your best to eat a "clean" vegetable-forward diet. Simple examples are smoothies, salads, soups, grain bowls etc. Removing gluten, dairy, and animal products for the day or two before your cleanse will help you shift into a pure liquid diet without a negative bodily response. 

 

 

If you are a regular coffee drinker you can have 1 cup per day on the cleanse, but try to have it black without any sugar or dairy. If you can substitute your caffeine intake with green tea, that would be best.

Some things to consider during your cleanse:

1. Drink the juices slowly. We recommend around 20 minutes per bottle. Each bottle contains 2-3 lb of veggies so you want to give your body time to absorb all of the vitamins and nutrients. Pouring them over ice, especially the green juices, helps keep them nice and cold, which makes them taste better.  

2. Move your body everyday. If you can, try to make time for a walk or some stretching/yoga. Movement does wonders for your body when you're on a cleanse as most of the toxins reside in the largest muscles of our bodies. On the other hand, make sure not to OVER exert yourself. You can get light headed easily on a cleanse if you're pushing your body too much. 

3. Drink water (or tea) in between. It may seem like you're drinking 20 gallons of liquid per day, but the more hydration the merrier and your system will thank you. Over 60% of our body is water.. We want to keep that level as high as possible.

4. If you find that you are feeling really hungry, please do not try to push your body too far! Listen to what it's telling you. Having to have a handful of cashews or almonds (raw and organic if possible) or a smoothie/blended soup will NOT discount your cleanse and can do wonders.

 

After a Cleanse 

When you're coming off a cleanse - you essentially want to do the same thing as you did when preparing for your cleanse. You want to slowly introduce food back to your system, try to stick to plant-based meals, and keep up the hydration! 

Many Nook clients will order our Nook meals before or after doing their cleanse so that they don't have to worry about making plant-based meals. Our hybrid cleanse (Spring Re:Wild), that offers both juice + food each day, is also a great alternative if this is your first cleanse, or if you are feeling unsure about doing a completely liquid based cleanse. 

Nook is here to provide the best fuel for your journey towards clean eating & living vibrantly. We are here to support you throughout your cleanse! Feel free to reach out at hello@eatnook.ca or call 519-650-0551.

Looking to get started?

We have 3 different levels of juice cleanses as well as our hybrid meal + juice cleanse. Check out our full cleanse menu here. 

If you have any questions about what cleanse would be the best fit for you or are wondering about substitutions, don't hesitate to email hello@eatnook.ca or book a free consultation with Nook founder, Madi, to get you started!