The 30 Day Juice Diet is another name for 30 Day Juice Fasting, a practice in which the dieter consumes only juices made from fresh fruits, vegetables and grasses for 30 days. Proponents of juice diets and fasts claim that they can help dieters lose weight, detoxify their body tissues and enhance every aspect of their health, particularly their immune system functions. Before beginning a 30 Day Juice Diet, or any juice diet, you should be aware of how to properly prepare and what side effects you may suffer from during the course of the program.
Guidelines
According to proponents of the 30 Day Juice Diet, the program may be helpful to you if you suffer from any of the following symptoms on a regular basis: unexplained headaches or migraines; a tendency to become ill with colds or infections easily; a persistent feeling of fatigue and sluggishness; difficulty concentrating; digestive problems like bloating, indigestion or flatulence; skin problems like psoriasis or eczema; and a tendency to suffer from environmental and food allergies. While on the 30 Day Juice Diet, try to avoid all food temptations whether from magazine ads, television or radio and keep cut-up fresh vegetables on hand to eat raw if your hunger becomes so severe you are tempted to quit. Plan to drink between 8 and 12 oz. of fresh juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner and to drink plenty of warm or room temperature water as well as herbal teas like peppermint, chamomile, oolong and green tea in between your juice mealtimes.
Preparing for the Diet
To prepare for the juice diet, start at least 7 to 10 days in advance by altering your daily eating habits: reduce how much protein you eat and being completely eliminating eggs, dairy products, all wheat products, sugar, alcohol, processed foods and sweetened beverages. Make sure you have a working juicer -- the Juicing for Health site recommends a gear juicer as opposed to a centrifugal juicer since gear juicers are believed to preserve more of the juice's enzymes and nutrients -- and, one day before you begin, stock up on fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. If at all possible, schedule as much rest time as possible for the next 30 days since you will feel weak and tired for the initial stages of the diet.
Types of Juices
Drink only fresh juices -- avoid all canned or premade sweetened juices. The best fruit juices to drink are apple, carrot, cranberry, strawberry, watermelon, grapefruit and guava; however, most proponents of the 30 Day Juice Diet recommend making fresh vegetable juices your primary choice during the plan. The best vegetable juices to choose include those made from cabbage, beets, asparagus, celery, cucumber, spinach, chard, kale, tomatoes, watercress, zucchini and wheatgrass. Try to consume the juices as soon as possible after preparing them, and do not store any of them for longer than 24 hours. If you are nervous about going for 30 days without consuming appreciable amounts of protein, the Prothispo recommends adding at least 20 g of protein daily in the form of soy, rice or whey powder to your juices.
Benefits
Supporters of the 30 Day Juice Diet claim that adhering to the program will not only rid your body of excess wastes and toxins, and, according to them, begin to heal damaged tissues and organs, it will flood your system with antioxidant and phytochemical rich vitamins and minerals that can improve your overall health and help prevent the development of certain medical conditions, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Many proponents of the plan claim that these types of health benefits from juice fasting can only become apparent after at least 21 days of following a juice-only diet.
Drawbacks
The Every Diet site warns that juice diets that last longer than a few days are nutritionally unsound since they provide little protein, fat and calories. The site recommends that such a diet should not be started without first speaking to a physician. Even supporters of juice fasting advise that a juice diet as long as the 30 Day Juice Diet should not be attempted until after you have experience juice fasting for shorter periods lasting from one to five days. Juice diets are not for everyone and you should not try a juice diet of any length if you suffer from diabetes, epilepsy, anemia, kidney or liver disease, hypoglycemia, low blood pressure, any type of eating disorder and terminal conditions like cancer. Avoid juice diets if you are pregnant or nursing, are currently taking prescription medications to control a serious medical condition or if you have recently had, or will soon have, a surgery.
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