I have a couple of juice fasting questions. I know there's another recent juice fast thread, but I wanted my own thread. I usually end up writing a lot of silly stuff, and I would hate to mess up someone else's thread. So I'll just write my goofy stuff here. (shhhhhh, don't tell Tutu! ).
1) Whenever I drink vegetable juices, I get a bunch of movement on the right side of my belly. It sounds like something is moving or draining there. Do you know what that is? Is that the liver, or the colon? I would just like to understand what's going on.
2) I don't have any internal symptoms of candidiasis, but I just finished about 6 months of abx. I've been taking care of myself pretty well, but most likely I have some kind of a candida overgrowth (although again it's not causing any symptoms). Do you think it's safe to do juice fasting if someone might have a high internal load of candida?
3) Did anyone else start juice fasting right when they finished abx? I thought it might be a good way to boost the immune system and detox the body, but I'd like to hear if others have done that also.
So far today I had plain oatmeal for breakfast, veggie juice for lunch, and veggie juice for dinner. I FEEL GREAT!!!!!! I wish everyone else would feel good also.
Thanks for the help! Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
Carol,
I don't think James is permanently changing his diet to only oatmeal and vegetable juices ...this is a short-term thing (a few days) to help clear out the junk that has accumulated in his body from Lyme die-off, etc.
James,
Have you been taking (and are you continuing to take) probiotics? If so, and because you have no obvious candida symptoms, then I wouldn't be as concerned about the candida if I were you... But if you are concerned, I see no reason to jump on it right now - IMHO, let the fast do its job for a few days and then once you break your fast then you can deal with candida. Raw veggie juices contain tons of enzymes that should inhibit the candida during your fast (in my opinion).
Also, on the gurgling, could be gas moving around... Could also be that your intake is more liquid than what you are accustomed to...should pass (pun intended ) soon.
The obligatory disclaimer : All contents of this post are my opinion only...I am not a doctor. Please consult your health care provider and your own inner wisdom before making any changes.
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
I did a four day juice fast. I would worry about candida as long as you stay away from fruits. Green apple and lemon are ok. But otherwise use veggies.
I now juice about 2 x per day. Usually kale, celery, cucumber, Ginger, green apple, lemon.
Prepare to herx 2-3 days in. On my day 2 all he'll broke loose. I go a huge flare of symptoms I haven't had in over a year. So the juice fast really stirred something up. Ditto for my wife.
I recommend you watch "fat, sick, and nearly dead". Good film on juice fasts.
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
Carol - Yes, Razzle is right... I'm only planning on doing this short-term. I agree that it's not healthy to do a juice fast for a long period of time. I'm just trying to detox 6 months of toxic antibiotics, and also I'm trying to boost the immune system. Some people even use juice fasting to cure cancer! It's a very powerful therapy. Thank you for your concern!
Razzle - yes, I'm taking tons of probiotics. Thanks for your concern! Concerning the candida, my oral thrush is disappearing at an ALARMING rate! I almost feel bad for the little guys.... NOT! But internally I still don't feel any symptoms of candidiasis.
bcb1200 - I just watched that documentary yesterday. I thought it was AWESOME!!! I liked it a lot. The narrator was so cool, and he had a great sense of humor! The most amazing thing was to watch how much people can change with a short-term juice fast. It's almost miraculous.
@everyone: I had nothing but juice so far today, and I feel EXCELLENT!! On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say I feel like 100. This HAS to be beneficial for the immune system. I feel so good, I can't even explain it.
Now I'm gonna go buy a ton more organic veggies from the store. I didn't know that kale was a popular juicing item, so I'm hoping to get a big box of it.
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
James1979 GOOD FOR YOU!! I drink the "Mean Green" juice primarily.
Glad you are feeling good now...just be aware that if you have starte this cold turkey, you will likely flare in day 2-4 big time. Again..all hell broke loose with me (although it was manageable.) So it either stimulated the immune system to fight lyme & co, or else it burned through layers of fat, etc, and released bugs...or else it was a detox reaction as your body rids itself of toxins.
I am going to try a 10 day fast in November.
Posted by penguingirl (Member # 28688) on :
I go broke trying to do a juice fast! Since you need so many vegetables to make a good amount. I am already small so losing more weight is not really an option.. I eat a lot of almonds in between these drinks since I get so hungry. How do you not starve??
Anyway I try to incorporate it as much as I can - like at lunch or right before dinner if I'm hungry.
Just beware of beets! Too much sugar - and splatters your wall and looks like you have blood on the wall.. not so cute.
I like kale since it's fairly reasonably priced and easy to prepare. Carrots are ok but annoying to have to peel. I like granny smith apples with kale and cucumber. Too much celery will taste icky. And a few carrots.
But I am lazy so I will do a mega batch in a gallon pitcher and just shake it up before each drink.. i'd rather do a major cleanup just once every few days than after each drink.
Posted by Mo (Member # 2863) on :
right side would be gall bladder, part of the liver, or appendix.
juice fasts can be great at the right time, i tend to do short ones, and then a combo diet with eating involved. i would just wonder about getting enough good fats so you're gall bladder doesn't get too overloaded in detox mode. you may have cleansed it a bit with the gurgling.
can you/do you take plant oils, hemp, coconut, borage, evening primrose, ect on this program, to protect the biliary tract?
m
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
bcb - thanks for the positive words!
PG - why do you peel the carrots? I just wash them off quickly and throw them in. I'm curious to learn if it's dangerous to use them unpeeled. I always thought that most of the nutrients were in the skin...
Mo - yep, I also make sure to get a fat intake. I take coconut oil, plus some fish oil, and sometimes a little flax/borage combo. And sometimes I have some ghee. Thanks for reminding me of the importance!
I just had my first kale juice today. It was so wonderful!!! What a great gift from God!! I had no idea that most people use kale as a base. Now the drinks aren't as sweet, either, so that's probably good for preventing candida.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I never peel my carrots either, James. I do use beets, but not more than one small one or a half large one per glass. They are sugary, but very detoxing. (I don't use kale as a base, I use carrots/apples/celery as a base, but I'll have to try it)
Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
I also never peel my carrots. I don't peel most of what I use...including a lemon. I do soak everything in 1 cup of peroxide to one gallon of water.
Cathy
Posted by penguingirl (Member # 28688) on :
Oh good to know- about the carrots. you guys will save me a ton of prep time!
Of course Whole Paycheck never seem to have the vegetable cleaner and have no GSE so maybe I should do what tdtid does and soak in peroxide/water.
What if I blanched them? Is that good enough?
Kale is awesome as a base..
SGK - is it ok to use beets raw - I read in the bodyecology diet book that they should only be consumed as cultured vegetables..
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
PG - Eek! I would definitely not blanch them. It will destroy vital nutrients.
tdtid - Are you using organic lemons? Because most non-organic lemons have a petroleum based coating on the outside. I think it's very dangerous to use the peelings of non-organic lemons, even of you wash them very well.
I use the beets raw. I wonder why BED would suggest not to...
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
The day after I saw Fat Sick and Nearly Dead I decided to do a juice fast. My first juice was apple, kale and carrot. It made my stomach cramp so bad I had to lie down.
Seems like a great idea and I admire those of you that can stomach it but I couldn't.
I switched to vegetable soup instead and did that for three days with salads. I was feeling weak without enough protein so I added nuts, then beans and then brown rice.
I also did it to detox the abx I just came off - and because I felt my kidneys needed a flush.
Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
James....yes, everything I use is organic. The actual vegetables I was using all came from our garden and those we KNOW nothing was put in the garden. But yes, the lemons are orgaic that I have used peals on and I still soak them in my peroxide and water combo as an added measure.
Actually, I use to peel things like lemons but I was recalling back BEFORE my lyme diagnosis when I would have iced tea, I would eat the lemon WITH peel so I figured if I could eat it back then, why not add it to my juicing. I'm still surviving so guess time will see. :-)
I too saw the movie but haven't tried a pure juice fast. At this point, I am just doing it once a day and two times max. But perhaps as I wind up treatment...... ?????
Cathy
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
Cathy - that's super cool that you have so many veggies in your garden! I'm zone 5, so we have a short season. There's no way we could grow things like lemons outdoors, but I do have a couple of indoor lemon trees. They're just barely surviving, though.
Why do you guys soak your veggies in hydrogen peroxide? Is it because there are dangerous germs on them? Has anyone ever gotten sick from these germs?
Also, are you guys using food-grade h2o2? Because the "regular" 3% stuff has all kinds of chemical stabilizers in there. It seems a little contradictory to me to be using organic veggies and then to soak them in chemicals...
Do you guys think it's much more beneficial to do a strict juice-fast, or is it similarly beneficial to drink mostly juices but to have 1 main "regular" meal during the day? I've been having 1 meal a day besides the juices, and I'm willing to give up that meal if straight juice-fasting would be better.
Thanks!
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
Up - can anyone answer my questions above?
Here's some more stuff I wanted to write: Has anyone noticed that the juices start to get addicting? I've started craving them more and more often. Sometimes I even have intense cravings for juices.
I didn't want to drink too many juices today, because I'm doing a 24-your urine test. I didn't want to pee too much, and then the lab people will think I'm some kind of a freak! But the juices were too addicting, and I couldn't stay away from them. Today I already drank 3 quarts of juice. I'm probably gonna fill up 3 of those orange lab containers! Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
For the herxing, I think it greatly depends on your toxin load. For example, people were telling me on this forum that I'll probably herx bad after 3 or 4 days of juicing, but I have felt nothing negative this entire time. In general, though, I never have any kinds of "detox crisis", even if the supplement says: "Warning! Start slow or you'll have a detox crisis!" I always start quickly and I never have a problem. Maybe because my diet is so clean (i.e. I haven't touched "fast food" in about a decade now).
Regarding your question on if you can still have a herx if you're not doing strict juice fasting: Again I think it depends, but I do think that if someone has a high toxin load they might have a detox crisis if they are replacing 1 or 2 meals of the day with juices. That's just my opinion.
I also wish someone would answer our question about cleaning the veggies with h2o2! Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
James, I'm still in the learning process of all of this, but since I was one that mentioned cleaning the vegetables, I'll pass on what I was told.
It actually came from one of the speakers at the Washington DC Lyme Rally last May.
He said that you can wash your non organic fruits and vegetables this way. He said that many of the pesticides absorb into the fruit and those can't be removed, but that the majority of the pesticides are "glued" to the surfaces of them.
I don't tend to use the mixture for my organics but when I have several things that aren't... I will use the solution. But this is just ME after what he had said. Not saying everyone should.
Cathy
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
Cathy - thanks for the info!
Here's something interesting that happened to me yesterday: As I wrote above, I was doing a 24-hour urine test yesterday, and I was afraid that maybe I would end up peeing too much because of all the veggie juices I was drinking.
Well, I ended up drinking about a gallon of veggie juices, but still I only peed 3,000 ml in 24 hours! It was perfect, because it filled up the jug to the top. I was surprised, because I thought I would pee much more than that.
Posted by shadesofpurple (Member # 23923) on :
Hi There, I haven't done a juice fast YET, but we do juice quite a bit,& I am considering doing a short fast soon.
Mostly we do plain juices, like plain carrot, or pear or apple, spinach & kale etc.
sometimes i mix spinach or kale etc, but the few mixed veggie juices I have tried didn't taste very good. i have added ginger etc, but i have had a hard time finding a combination that tastes good, so i just keep it pretty plain.
I am just curious, about the lemon comment above, Do you guys juice the whole lemon peel & all?
I thought you were supposed to remove the peels from citrus when you use a juicer? Maybe I misunderstood that little detail.
I always buy organic, but still... Is the peel of ctrus okay to juice? I really haven't juiced citrus yet. waiting for citrus to be in season so i can afford it. have juiced lots of things from garden & farmers market & our apple/pear trees.
Also do you guys still take your supplements while you fast? Like green tea, turmeric etc?
Thanks
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
shades - I peel the lemons if they're not organic. But if they're organic, I don't see any reason not to use the skins. Technically, people bake with the skins, don't they? So if they eat them in baked goods, I'm sure it's probably okay to juice them as well. I'd probably wash them well first, though.
I still take the more essential supplements when on a juice fast. I think it's okay to knock out some multivitamins and mineral supplements, because the juices are full of vitamins and minerals. But if we're using supplements to help with specific problems, I think we should probably keep taking those.
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
A few comments:
First...juice does have liquid. But you should really think of it as food that is very easy to digest. That is likely why you only peed a little amount versus what you took in. The rest went in your large intestine.
Second...I don't peel my lemons. Period. The juicer takes care of everything. I do wash them though.
Third...adding in green apple and a lemon into a mixed veggie juice can make it very tasty. I recommend green apple and lemon (and ginger) in all juices!
Posted by scorpiogirl (Member # 31907) on :
James, I thought the same thing too at first. But I was surprised at how much my body actually absorbed the juice thus not peeing as much as I thought I would.
My favorite detox juice is
Beets Cucumber Carrots Ginger
I have tried kale, swiss chard, papaya, cilantro, tomatoes, green apples, pineapples, etc... I do NOT like dandelion leaves (very bitter). I do NOT like peppers (they give me heart burn). I do not use lemon peels they are bitter as well. But the lemon juice is fine.
Posted by shadesofpurple (Member # 23923) on :
Okay, Thank You I will try that.
I am cautious of the mived recipes because some of the ones I made really tasted icky, but then again, I am pretty new at it.
I tried a recipe that had beets in it but it tasted OVERWHEMINGLY of beets, I decided next time i would only use half a beet, in that recipe, but I haven't tried it again.
Same thing happened to me once with ginger, i just added too much and it was too gingery. I guess i just have to work at it a bit.
I will try adding a lemon in some & see what happens. I had planned on making carrot juice tonight, but maybe i will experiment a bit again.
Posted by penguingirl (Member # 28688) on :
Beets should be used in moderation- in that it can be overpowering like shadesofpurple noted.
I used 2 beets once and it was too sweet!!
A grannysmith apple will add some sweetness (if doing veggies) without overpowering it. Or maybe one pear.
Yeah peppers are too heartburney. I can't even eat them solid.
Parsley - not so good juiced. Too strong.
Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
I have tried juicing just about any vegetables I can get my hands on. You are right that many of the greens aren't as tasty, but when I'm in the right mood, I will still juice them since I know many of them have so much nutritional value.
I think it takes a lot of experimenting on what will help make it tasty but I'm in total agreement that using green apple, lemon and ginger will help when you mix the others. Even though they TASTE better, I don't do as many fruits since in reality, they have much higher sugar content and that's not what I'm trying to accomplish.
I do have a web site that I found interesting that was fun to jump around. It will give you a list of the veggies and and fruits and tell you what each one is good for.
I don't like dandelion leaves either, Scorpiongirl, but I still have been using them off and on due to their list of things they help. But everyone has their own gag reflexes...HAHAHAHA.....so finding something you enjoy is a good thing.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
).![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
...this is a short-term thing (a few days) to help clear out the junk that has accumulated in his body from Lyme die-off, etc.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
) soon.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
: All contents of this post are my opinion only...I am not a doctor. Please consult your health care provider and your own inner wisdom before making any changes.