Juicy Gossip: Inside The Cleansing Craze
The concept of consuming 20 pounds of body-cleansing fruits and veggies in a day can seem a both uplifting and daunting. On one hand, with that kind of fuel, who wouldn’t feel like a bionic superhero, teeming with the energy to leap buildings (or at least roles — from parent to office champ to lover) in a single bound? But chewing through 20 pounds of veggies? Who’s got the time?
That's where juice comes in. Cold-pressed juice companies such as BluePrint Cleanse, Pressed Juicery, Ritual Cleanse, and Red Carpet Cleanse are having a major moment, appealing to health-concious consumers and celebrities seeking good taste and convenience. They absorb the work of shopping for, cleaning and preparing organic veggies and fruits by blending concoctions crammed with good-for-you foods like spinach, kale, romaine, celery and lemon, to consume on the go.
What’s more, many of them deliver one, three- and five-day cleanses that claim to detoxify your body, de-fuzz your mind, and restore vitality. All those healthy ingredients without even having to think about what’s for dinner? It’s enough to make juice cleanses seem like a no-brainer. If you can afford the 70ish dollar-a-day charge, why not simply drink your calories with a numbered sequence of vegan and raw-food drinks?
Juice devotees swear by the idea, with some saying that an occasional cleanse can be nothing short of life-changing. "Cleansing makes me feel more energetic, consistent, clear-headed, and lighter overall," says Jessica Kill, 37, a partner at Popular Press Media Group in Beverly Hills. "It gives me better skin and digestion, but most importantly, I like that I'm putting clean, natural, living food into my body. Like my mentor, Dr. Susan Udry, says, 'Dead food feeds dead cells. Living food feeds living cells.'"
Similarly, Patty Jeydel, a 31-year old legal recruiter from New York City, who adopted a vegan diet a year and a half ago, says juice gives her more a.m. pep — and keeps her on a healthy nutritional path, too. “I've never had a strong reaction to caffeine, but the greener the juice [I drink], the more I feel what I imagine coffee drinkers feel every morning," she says. "I attribute my increased energy, along with my greatly improved disposition and complexion, to my rehabilitated digestion, which is never better than when my day begins with a large dose of hydrating chlorophyll."
There's little doubt that juice cleansing is popular among its growing number of adherents. But, can cleanses truly work body magic — leading to weight loss, clearer thinking, and glowing skin? To find out, we turned to some nutrition experts.
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