A juice cure is a modified, modern form of therapeutic fasting: for a few days, you completely avoid solid food and replace your meals with fruit and vegetable juices. The reduced energy intake activates what is known as autophagy, the self-cleaning of cells. This triggers the body's own regeneration processes.

A juice cleanse can be seen as a kind of reset for the body. This new start can help you to end annoying eating habits, reduce stress, recharge your batteries, improve your well-being or start a new phase of your life fresh.

Our everyday lives can be quite stressful sometimes. Stress at work, appointments with the family, household chores that need to be done. In all this hustle and bustle, many of us forget to give our bodies what they really need. But we know very well that an unbalanced and unhealthy lifestyle can have a negative impact on many areas of life.

Juice fasting is just the thing for you if you are looking for a new inner balance. When you juice fast, you do not completely avoid food, but rather you supply your body with nutrients and secondary plant substances using special juices.

The 5-day juice cleanse is the most popular juice cleanse at I·DO. The positive effects of fasting are clearly noticeable and the 5-day period can be easily integrated into everyday life with little preparation.

Start your preparation by taking enzymes. They control your metabolism and are easier to absorb if you include more raw foods in your daily diet. Homemade vitamin water is also an easy way to supply your body with important nutrients. When it comes to fruit and vegetables, everything is allowed.

To optimize the effect of the juice cleanse, the body should ideally be in an alkaline state. Therefore, try to avoid caffeine as much as possible, but also other acidic drinks. But are you an absolute coffee lover, maybe even a coffee "junkie"? No problem! It is not essential to avoid it completely during a juice cleanse. An alternative, however, would be to switch to less acidic "cold brew" coffee, or caffeinated teas (e.g. green matcha tea). All alternatives maintain the alkaline state in the body and are also proven stimulants. But purists also avoid them! Everyone else is recommended to use the fasting cure to be mindful of the stimulant provided by coffee.

Attention smokers!

Juice cleanses are often referred to as detox cleanses. Even though a fasting cleanse definitely promotes the body's own detoxification processes, there is a huge difference between a juice cleanse and a real detoxification cleanse. Juice fasting (like almost every other fasting method) involves a radical change in basic body processes. Smokers are advised to reduce cigarette consumption during the juice cleanse; however, due to the physical dependence, you can continue smoking to avoid any withdrawal symptoms that could spoil the juice cleanse experience. Of course, it is still a good idea to use the juice cleanse to ring in the end of your smoking career 😉

Thirst is often confused with hunger. That's why you should drink at least 2 liters of water every day. Even before you start the juice cleanse, fluid intake (and excretion) is very important. Water transports important nutrients into the cells, flushes harmful substances out of the body and supports the kidneys in the natural detoxification process. In addition to water, teas or vitamin water can also be drunk at any time as an alternative - even during the juice cleanse. We have put together a few tangy recipes that are both delicious and refreshing. These will be presented to you in the app during the juice cleanse.

Keeping a fasting diary will help you to become more aware of the experience you have had. It is best to start by clarifying your goals and wishes for the abstinence and writing them down. Here are a few tips for your fasting journal:

• Take a before and after picture
• Document daily water consumption
• Document your daily state of mind
• Mindfulness exercise: Hunger vs. appetite – what is what? Write it down!
• How do family and friends (or colleagues) react to your juice cleanse?
• What is changing in my body?

Try to eat a predominantly vegan diet 2-3 days before starting the juice cleanse. This means no meat, no fish, no eggs and no dairy products. As an alternative to meat or fish, foods such as lentils, chickpeas, beans, sweet potatoes, avocado and tofu can provide the body with similar nutrients and, above all, proteins. Classic milk can also easily be replaced with oat, almond, rice or coconut milk. Animal products are harder for the human digestive system to process than plant-based products. A purely plant-based diet relieves the strain on the intestines before starting the cleanse, gives it the opportunity to regenerate and gets you ready for your new juice cleanse self.

Industrially processed sugar in particular slows down digestion and increases the risk of diabetes. The body takes a break during the juice cleanse. That is why it is recommended to avoid industrial, white sugar before starting the cleanse. Alternative and natural sweeteners such as agave syrup, honey and maple syrup can make it easier to avoid sugar. Bread also slows down the work of the human digestive tract. White bread is even considered to be a real fattening agent because it does not fill you up as well as other bread. It contains only a small amount of fiber, which is converted into sugar more quickly due to the starch. Once this energy has been used up, you are immediately hungry again.