The differences between a juice cleanse and a vegan meal plan detox

We write this as we prepare for our 3 day detox next Tuesday, and we are so ready. Most people who have experience doing a cleanse carry a similar feeling to us: you just know when it’s time to detox. You’re feeling off, but can’t exactly describe why. You may be headachy, extra tired in the afternoons, or even wake up feeling wiped out. You may even have regular indigestion or sugar cravings that are hard to fight. All of the reasons are why we actually get excited to take 3 days to reset, take care of ourselves, sleep deeply, feel refreshed and renewed. 

We take on a detox quarterly. Every few months when the time comes we weigh out our options to go for a meal plan or a juice cleanse, and we thought it might be helpful for us to walk you through a bit of our thought process!

A juice cleanse is simple in that you load your fridge with 18 juices and 3 vegan, high fiber meals. Each day you consume 6 of those juices (we number them for you but it actually doesn’t really matter which order you drink them), and 1 meal. In between your juices, you should be drinking room temperature water, lemon water, and/or herbal teas.  The juices travel easily to work or around town for a day. By the end of the 3 days, you are extremely hydrated, often down about 5-7 pounds and inspired to stay on track for light eating and healthy choices. While we tend to drink 1 cup of caffeine a day while cleansing, we notice our dependency on caffeine reduces dramatically. When you’re properly hydrated, you tend to feel energized and focused and therefore less dependent on caffeine.

The amount of nutrients that come from these 18 juices is unmatched in any other form of cleansing. Each juice contains 1-2 pounds of organic fruit and vegetables.  That’s 30+ pounds of organic minerals and vitamins over just 3 days! When you drink that many nutrients, your body easily absorbs them and assimilates those nutrients into your cells. Just imagine the powerful healing and energizing you will experience. (If you have diabetes or other blood sugar issues, it’s best to stick with mainly vegetable juices, minimal fruit, and always check with your doctor before signing up).

What’s challenging about a juice cleanse is there is minimal food, so you may feel that lack of activity that comes from food prepping, eating and chewing. And, when you are done with the 3 days, you may feel concerned about what foods to eat next. We stick with a meal plan that centers around smoothies for breakfast, big salads for lunch and various roasted vegetables, quinoa, and fish for the few days following a juice cleanse.  This way your system gently eases back into harder to digest foods. A juice cleanse is incredibly rewarding, from both an “I did it” perspective, and from a hydrated and cleansed state!

The Vegan Meal Plans on the other hand, involve a good amount of food and cold pressed juices. In the winter months, we prefer the vegan meal plan because we can warm the foods. There’s comfort in the routine of eating 3 meals a day (plus a snack), and it’s really fun to try out the new recipes and foods. The roasted brussels sprouts with sticky maple quinoa, powerful greens soup, parsnip and beet roasted veggies never disappoint! It’s satisfying to incorporate these dishes into future meals, and we wind up sticking with a vegan, high abundant vegetable way of eating for weeks to come. This is especially satisfying in winter months as we tend to be home more often, and less pulled to social outings.

On this meal plan, we find our customers still tend to drop 5+ pounds, sleep really well, and calm down their sugar cravings. This is because you replace the need for carbs and sugars by consuming healthy fats, high fiber and so many nutrients, as well as hydration and mineral intake from the juices and wellness shot. Without the burden of proteins, alcohol and caffeine, this meal plan allows your digestive tract to reset and do it’s job properly: extracting nutrients from food to turn them into energy. 4x a year we adapt this meal plan to the seasons, so the recipes stay fresh and exciting!