Juice Cleanse Experiment courtesy of Antidote.SG
Days 1-2
The [Intermediate Juice Cleanse] is a nice balance between fruit juices, green juices, and a nutmilk. The beginner is mostly fruit juices, while the advanced is mostly green juices.
6 bottles a day for 5 days:
To start the day, bottles 1 and 2 are the only green colored juices in the pack. They each have some fruit in it, so they are unexpectedly refreshing and palatable. The anti-inflammation and hydrating properties of the juices have been a great way to begin the morning.
But mostly, I get through those as quickly as I can in anticipation of bottle 3. I love ABC juice in general (apple, beetroot, carrot), but Antidote's Angel Falls is especially delicious. Each ingredient is added for its health properties, but I've found the addition of coconut oil adds a silky texture to the juice, while the rosemary keeps the 500ml of juice interesting with its herbal dimension. Absolutely love this juice, it's the only bottle I finish without a problem.
That's not to say that the next three juices aren't good. Victoria Falls was my favorite juice until Angel Falls came along. I've actually posted about it before on instagram when I was diving in Bali.
The Atlantic, bottle 5, was new to me out of the Antidote range. Packed full of natural sugars from apple and pineapple, by day 2, it almost felt wonderfully sinful to drink. I felt like I should be drinking this out of a cocktail glass with a little umbrella. My friend, Adam Tun-Aung, who was giving me looks of disgust about "juice cleansing," tried a bit of this from my bottle... and then a bit more... and a bit more. The juice is delightful.
Speaking of sinfully good, the final concoction of each day ends with this:
You know the Chinese black sesame soup dessert? Or tang yuan, the sticky rice balls filled with black sesame goodness? It reminds me of that, except in a milky bottled version, and organic. This is another bottle I have no trouble swigging through.
Notes about the cleanse:
Issues I had:
- I started this cleanse the day after a big night out for a friend's birthday (read: alcohol). Don't do this, folks. I was thinking about bacon, egg, and cheese sammiches all day on day 1.
- Each bottle is 500ml (2 cups), there were many times I had trouble finishing everything. They're filled with cold-pressed juices and are surprisingly filling. I drink a lot of water everyday normally, but I found I was simply too full to fill myself with additional water as I constantly do normally.
- Being on a bottle all hours of the day, I needed access to bathrooms for what feels like every 30 mins. But thankfully, bowel movements weren't wrecking havoc (popular belief is that explosive diarrhea is part of the juice cleanse - it's not! phew!).
- However, my stomach constantly made loud churning noises. Supremely awkward when I'm in a quiet room next to someone. I'm not sure why the noise, since I wasn't really hungry.
- I wasn't hungry, but I missed having something to chew on.
- I had to turn down a lot of social meal-time gatherings, since I have crappy discipline around good food and good company. Same for needing to change my gym time, when I go for high-intensity classes with friends. Didn't want to faint or expend excessive energy.
Good issues I had:
- So when I was craving something to chew on, on day 2, I munched on 2 big leafy lettuce leaves. It turned out to be very satiating, ha. Due to the liquid cleanse, I suppose any tangible food feels plenty. I had 2 egg whites one afternoon (it wasn't on the list of approved foods, but I did so anyway hehehe) and it kept me full for hours.
- Convenience. I didn't have to think about what to eat, where to eat, what to buy. It saved me a lot of time and energy that I instead spent on work and hobbies.
- I discovered yoga isn't as boring as I thought.
- A combination of juice cleanse + strength training at Lifestyle Fitness = lean. I already saw some positive slimming changes in my body a little past day 2. (Granted, I lose and gain weight really easily. I happened to start this cleanse when I gained a lot of weight recently)
- I usually need minimum 3 shots of coffee a day, now just one cuppa joe carries me through the whole day.
Also to note, I have continued supplementing my diet with Swisse Vitamins (alternating between Women's Multivitamins, Hair+Nails, and Immunity). I've been taking them the past few months since seeing their positive effects and don't want to halt that at the moment. I don't know if that is overkill, I'm not a nutritionist, but I feel fine. My pee is also all sorts of bright colors now.