If you’re looking for a way to lose weight or just clean out your system a bit, a juice cleanse may be the way to go. Juice cleanses have been super popular in the last few years, but if you’ve never done one before, it’s sometimes an adventure figuring out where to start. There are a ton of juice cleanse recipes out there, and all of them do something slightly different for your health and wellness. Here are a few of our favorite detox juice recipes for you to use as a starting point!
Juice Cleanse Basics
If you’ve never done a juice cleanse before, make sure that you know the basics before you start your detox. The premise of a juice detox is that you basically just drink juice (with a ton of healthy ingredients) and water for a set amount of days to give your body a chance to reset. I don’t recommend jumping right into a juice cleanse – instead, give your body a few days to ramp up. Similarly, don’t go right back to your old diet, but slowly work foods back in.
In the days leading up to your cleanse (probably at least the two or three days before), you should basically be eating a raw food diet. That is, cut out pretty much everything besides fruit, veggies, and nuts. Your body will really appreciate the time to adjust and get ready to be taking in way fewer calories than normal. You’ll basically do the reverse after: start with just fruit and veggies, then work in lighter proteins like fish and chicken, an eventually put red meats and grains back in.
Most detoxes recommend that you drink at least six juices a day with an equal number of cups of water. Make sure that your recipes have plenty of nutritious ingredients (like kale, spinach, etc.) so that you aren’t effectively fasting for the length of your cleanse! You can juice for as many days as you want, but it’s better to start small – three days will give you good results and a better idea of how your body handles cleansing. Now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, on to our recipes!
Ultimate Green Detox Juice Recipe
A lot of the quintessential detox juice recipes out there will turn out green – and that’s because a lot of ingredients that are great in juices have green ingredients! This particular recipe has a great blend of fruits and vegetables which give you a number of different health benefits. The apples are a great source of vitamin C and the flavor of this one is really easy to adapt – just add or subtract the amount of apple you add to get the flavor you want! Ingredients:
- 2 green apples, cut in half
- 3 stalks celery (no leaves)
- 1 cucumber
- 8 kale leaves
- ½ lemon, peeled
- 1 piece of fresh ginger
Blend all of the ingredients together until the juice is a thickness that you want, and garnish with a mint leave (if you want).
Red Zinger Detox Juice Recipe
The major health benefit in this drink comes from the beets. Beets also contain vitamin C, but in addition, they have a ton of minerals the body needs – like potassium, magnesium, and iron to name a few. This one has a bit of a sour kick from the lemons, but it’s a great way to start the morning! Ingredients:
- 2 lemons
- 2 carrots
- 2 beets
- 2 apples
Squeeze the lemons and make sure that the other three ingredients are all cleaned and taken care of properly (remove the seeds in the apples), then combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and enjoy!
Green Spinach Lemonade Detox Drink
This is a pretty popular recipe as far as detox drinks go. The spinach in it gives you a protein boost, and the kale is overall great for you – it’s known as a superfood partially because it’s high in nutrients but really low in calories. This drink tends to give you a nice energy boost, so I’d recommend using it during the afternoon slump. Ingredients:
- 1 cup spinach
- 2 stalks celery
- 4 kale leaves
- 1 piece of ginger
- 2 apples
- 1 lemon
If it’s too tart for you, feel free to add some honey to the recipe, but taste the drink as is first and use the sweetener sparingly – it will slightly skew the results you get from the drink. As with the rest of the drinks, blend it all together and drink up.
Orange Dreamsicle Detox Juice Recipe
I’m guessing most of you remember orange dreamsicles from your childhood (or from the flashback that Chick-fil-A provided with their Frosted Sunrise that ran as a seasonal option earlier this year). This drink is a great adult alternative – and the pears in it give a great nutrient boost. They’re rich in vitamins K and C and contribute to your body’s need for copper and potassium! Ingredients:
- 2 medium apples
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 orange (peeled)
- 2 medium pears
- 1 sweet potato (approximately 5” long)
Once again, blend it all together. In this case, you could also freeze the juice into Popsicle molds to enjoy a nice frozen treat – even more like a dreamsicle and it might provide a nice break from the constant liquid diet of your cleanse.
Tropical Mint Detox Juice Recipe
The winner here is the spinach. It’s appeared in another of these recipes, but in this one, it’s the major powerhouse of nutrition. Spinach contains a ton of vitamins and minerals, including potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamin K. I love this recipe for its inclusion of pineapple, too, because I love the flavor. Ingredients:
- 2 stalks celery
- ½ cucumber
- 2 cups spinach
- 3 cups mint leaves
- 1 cup pineapple
- ½ lemon
Remember to always be using fresh fruit. It would be a lot easier to get canned pineapple (since you only need 1 cup), but you’ll get the most benefit from the fresh version.
Juice Cleanse Benefits
The basic idea of the juice cleanse (as mentioned above) is to give your body a rest and let it clean out any toxins that are hanging around. There are a ton of other benefits, though! For starters, a lot of people struggle to get all of their servings of fruit and vegetables in – this will definitely not be a problem while you’re cleansing!
In addition, juice doesn’t need to be digested nearly as much as solid foods, so the nutrients that are in the juices are more easily absorbed by your body. That’s why your body is able to detoxify during your cleanse – the energy that it would normally put toward digestion can be reallocated to work on eliminating toxins. Here’s a basic list of some of the major benefits:
- Helps you lose weight quickly (it’s great for kicking off a diet!)
- Improves nutrient absorption
- Helps lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels
- Detoxes your liver
- Improves your skin
- Feeds good bacteria in your gut
There are definitely additional benefits to detox juice recipes, but that’s a good overview of the main ones. There are a few ways to incorporate the benefits of detox juices into your diet. You can go for a total juice fast (as mentioned above), replace one or two of your daily meals with a juice, or just add a juice to your daily routine to accompany a healthy breakfast. The first will have the most dramatic results, but even throwing in a juice addition can give you great additional nutrients and combat the problem of not having enough fruits and vegetables in your diet!
Conclusion
Whether you’re looking for a quick way to clean out your system or searching for a diet supplement, detox juice drinks could be a great fit for you. Are you someone who already juices frequently or just trying it for the first time? Do you have a particular recipe that you love? Did you try one of these and have great (or terrible!) results? As always, let us know in the comments.