A liquid Cleanse

A LIQUID CLEANSE

21-Day Juice and Soup Diet

Author: Teejay Hawker

Numerous diets exist worldwide, each for its cause and purpose. Today we will look into a liquid, juice, and soup diet. As extreme as this diet may seem, more vigorous diets can become a health hazard if not appropriately followed. And as such, in these two liquid diets, one must take the proper steps and precautions to avoid health degradation.

It is fair to mention that all diets have a common denominator: to achieve a different health standard from that of a current or previous state. The form in which a liquid diet aims to reach an individual is mainly weight loss.

We must understand the mechanics of a juice and soup diet, its effects, and correct implementation to avoid bringing distress to your body and use it efficiently and effectively to reap the rewards.

In a 21 Day juice and soup diet, the first eight days are strictly for consuming freshly made fruit, vegetable juice, and water. It would be best to make your own juices and not store-bought bottled juices, as they may contain preservatives, stabilisers and unnecessary additives. The dosage varies; however, the ratio is best consumed at 220 ml-250 ml, followed by another 220 ml-250 ml of water. This effectively changes your metabolism and digestive system as your body adapts to absorbing liquids, which may cause bowel complications. Do not be alarmed; this is simply the body's way of adjusting to the food source.

For the next three days, your body has to acclimate eating solid foods again. In this phase, you adjust by eating very light foods, such as solid bite-size fruits and vegetable soup, with no meat contents added to the soup. Changing from liquid to solids may be harsh on the body as the stomach and intestinal lining may undergo distress, causing cramps. Therefore, it is advised to consume tiny portions. If you are used to having four meals a day, break it down to 8 small portions a day comprised of only bite-size fruits and vegetable soup.

After that, in the last phase of the diet, at which point you will start consuming 75 per cent of fresh and raw food, meals can be much larger as the body would have adjusted in time to digest solids. Therefore, meals such as salads and many portions of whole fruits or vegetables are acceptable. However, avoid eating meals that contain any meat or poultry. Though Fish may be permitted, do not consume fried or breaded fish meals.

At this stage, your body returns to a somewhat normal metabolism, as solid foods can be ingested and digested. However, intake of rich, heavy proteins derived from meats will be rejected violently by your body as the body resets its required energy source.

The result of culling the need to supply the body with rich, heavy proteins such as meat and poultry causes the body to contract as the fats needed by muscles, joints and ligaments are significantly reduced, resulting in effective and efficient weight loss.