Good Day My Loves,
So I recently put on Instagram that I was doing a 3 day detoxification cleanse called the “Organic Green Juice Cleanse”. I wanted to flush my system out due to feeling overly tired, sluggish, and overall I felt like my body was heavy with impurities. Now I know that may sound extreme, however, I am a huge advocate for filling your body with love mentally, spiritually, and nutritionally. With my generation dying younger and younger, especially black women, it is important to me to take the proper action now. My recent diagnosis with Diabetes was a shock because I felt like I was doing everything in my power to control my PCOS. Although I knew the implications of PCOS, one of those being the onset of Diabetes, I didn’t think it would happen to me because I was living with PCOS for 10 years and managed to avoid it. However, if this situation hasn’t taught me anything, it has taught me to never get too comfortable because life absolutely will throw a curve ball whether you’re ready or not.
Okay so back to the cleanse. I wanted to find a company that offered a product that was completely RAW and used the entire vegetable and fruit within their juice. After doing tons of research, raw juices offer the necessary fiber needed and are more effective at detoxing the body of impurities. Although I had a juicer, mine was not industrially equipped to emulsify whole fruits or vegetables down to a consistency that could easily be sipped. No worries, I found exactly what I was looking for at Gaea Juice (pronounced “Gay-Ahh”). I decided on the Green Juice cleanse because of its simple ingredients and all ingredients were on the low end of the GI(Glycemic Index) table, which is important for anyone with PCOS and Diabetes. Additionally, you’re allowed to choose extra lemon, ginger, or apple to boost your juice. I decided to go with extra lemon sense I wanted to truly purify and break my dependency on sugar and junk food that I had consumed all of June.
So Now lets get into the process:
Day 1 – Vegan
After researching on google and reading some articles, I decided that the first day I would give up meat to truly give my body the opportunity to take in all the necessary nutrients and fiber from the juice. Let me mention also, that this juice is probably one of the better tasting detoxes that I’ve had. It simply tasted like spinach and apples…so i felt like I was drinking a salad. Anyway, Day 1 was pretty easy to me because I naturally love fruit and vegetables more than anything. Don’t get me wrong I will never be a vegan or vegetarian but I’ve never had an issue not eating meat for a day or two. I’ll admit Day One I was attached to the toilet, my body seemed like it was releasing a baby! I experienced severe cramping and a slight tremor but each trip I felt a wee bit better. I also chose to eat something because since juicing is straight carbohydrates, the enemy of PCOS and diabetes. I wanted to be certain to balance my protein intake to keep my blood sugar levels decent.
Day 2 – Migraine from Hell
I have to be honest, my body was not having it day 2!!!! My sugar levels had fallen too low and I had to call out of work. So a note of caution if you’re diabetic, MAKE SURE YOU GET ENOUGH PROTEIN. I definitely suffered most of day two in bed. However, I was determined to complete my cleanse, so I incorporated lean meat for at least one meal. Eating a little meat did help with my headache and I was able to function towards the end of the day. Additionally, my blood sugar raised within normal levels. My body continued to dump and my stomach had gotten flatter than it had been in month or two, which let me know I had been full of crap (literally).
Day 3 -A breeze
Literally by day 3, my body had gotten the hang of the reduced calories. It was hard to actually eat day 3 because I literally didn’t have much of an appetite, but forced myself to eat so that my metabolism could stay up.
The Pros:
The pros of this detox/cleanse is that I immediately felt more energized. I’m not exaggerating! I was able to do many of the things around my house that I felt too tired or couldn’t bring myself to do. I was able to get up and get going. Additionally, I didn’t crave anything sweet at all really or anything processed. In fact, I just wanted vegetables when I was done (I literally ate a family bag of broccoli as a meal on day 4). Lastly, I felt like my brain fog had subsided finally. June was a terrible month! I felt like the only thing I truly could focus on was sleep. Since detoxing, it’s so much easier to get my day started and remain active. I actually want to extend the cleanse a few more days….just because the juice taste good and the fiber keeps you regular.
The Cons
So the biggest con is, as soon as you start eating regularly again, your body is going to hold everything you eat as water weight, especially anything carbohydrate filled. The bright side to that is, I truly see how terribly carbs do my body for the first time ever. Although juice is pure sugar, bread is the devil reincarnated for me. On day 5 I called myself eating some rice, I completely bloated up like a blow fish. I was shocked! I immediately didn’t eat another carb for the rest of the day and drank every bottle of water I could find. Detoxing is great for really understanding how good impacts you once you start eating normally again. The other realization I received is bread makes me soooo sleepy unless it is gluten free. I ate gluten free carbs and was absolutely fine with its bloating. Now I am not saying I have a gluten intolerance, but maybe there is something to gluten free food that is beneficial. In the past I shrugged it off, but wanted to explore some health foods I wasn’t accustomed to eating. When I do it again, I most definitely will not introduce bread back into my eating for a few days to give my body time to adjust.
Conclusion
I just want to make this disclaimer: DETOXES DO NOT PROVIDE PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS. If you do them understand it should be to rejuvenate and restore your body to a more balanced state. Secondly, if you have insulin resistance or are diabetic….never do it without some protein intake. My blood sugars luckily stabilized but Day 2 was terrible because of the spike in sugar intake it caused. Migraines are not fun by any means. Overall though, I would of course do it again with some modification. I’m happy with my initial results as my goal was to stop wanting sooo much junk food and I haven’t had one craving since. We will see how long this lasts. Finally, my stomach definitely debloated (until I ate bread of course see below), so my goal of cleansing was accomplished.
Stay tuned for my next health adventure!
With Love,
Lolo
