This is the second post on my Juice Cleanse “experience” covering Days 1-3. I will cover the last 2 days on Saturday and give a round-up of my final thoughts.
Day 1– My juices were supposed to arrive this morning. You can see the issues with delivery I mentioned in my previous post. I managed to get hold of them in the evening, but decided to give myself a lighter day than usual food-wise as well. I had 2 Innocent smoothies, a chicken salad sandwich and some melon.
Then after I got home from work I cracked into a No. 5 juice. This is a green one, and is quite nice and refreshing although I found the inclusion of mint a little overpowering. The juice was finished way too quickly and for the rest of the evening I was sooo hungry! I ended up drinking several cups of tea and delving into a book to distract me.
Day 2– Not hungry when I got up, and I had the first juice when I got to work just after 8am. Then the 2nd at 10:30am, by which time I was getting a bit peckish, but it passed. I tucked into the 3rd, post lunchtime run (just 10mins plus 10mins walk- testing out my hip slowly…) This was the tastiest, and I felt pretty satisfied, but it didn’t last long however, and by 2pm I had a headache and felt nauseous. I was also having trouble concentrating, which is kind of normal for afternoons for me, but it definitely felt worse. I googled stages of a juice cleanse and was reassured that the first 2 days are always the hardest!
I managed to hold out until 3pm for the 4th juice, and felt better afterwards, although cold! I’m told this is normal as your body doesn’t have the energy to keep warm.
The 5th juice went down around 6pm, and I blended it with a banana to bulk it out a bit. I then had a bowl of miso soup at 8pm. Watched some STNG (Star Trek The Next Generation!) and went to bed early 🙂
Day 3– Woke up a bit hungry, but waited till 8am to have Juice 1 on the train. Generally feeling good this morning. Had some water and a fruit tea and felt ready to go- see how long that lasts! As expected by the afternoon I was feeling very “brain-foggy” with things taking a lot longer to do than normal. I spent a lot of today thinking about what I’m going to cook when this is over!
I chatted to a friend at work about cooking meals from scratch, bulk cooking and freezing and generally being more interested in healthy food. I’m already thinking ooh, I should go to Surrey Street Market in Croydon for some fresh veggies, oooh I’ll pin that recipe to make next week! I’m looking forward to getting back in the kitchen, and rekindling my love for creating tasty dishes, rather than resenting the fact that I’m “only cooking for one, it’s too much effort, lets just buy a pie to stick in the oven”… (I’m not saying I won’t eat Pieminister pies anymore because they are amazing by the way, just maybe not every time I can’t be bothered to cook – which has been quite a lot recently)
I also exchanged some emails with Soulmatefood who finally apologised for the mess-up with my delivery, and have offered me a free replacement cleanse whenever I want, as well as telling me they will post out the missing Evening Detox Teas (although by the time they arrive I will probably have finished!) But I do appreciate the effort to sort things out.
What I didn’t appreciate however, was the nutritional information they sent me – I was quite frankly, shocked! I knew the juice cleanse was low calorie but to have confirmation of exactly how low it was, honestly I felt like an idiot.
This seems ludicrously low to me. If this information had been clearly stated I’m not sure I would have done it, as it just sounds harmful. Even on the 5:2 diet, the “fast days” are 500 calories (and you’re eating normally most of the time), and if you go by the calculation of your BMR (basal metabolic rate) that gives me a figure of around 1400 calories per day, assuming a totally sedentary lifestyle. Even “eliminating the energy required for digestion” it still seems a bit silly. I’m sure people can survive on a caloric intake that low, but really, how good is it for your body and why would you want to?!
After posting this information on Facebook and talking to friends everyone’s responses were the same:
I asked Soulmatefood how they could justify such a low daily caloric intake and this was their response:
“The cleanse is has been designed by our Nutritionist, and the aim is to maximise the cleansing process by keeping the ingredients simple.
Our Perfect cleanse is packed full of vegetables and fruit which are high in antioxidants and health boosting vitamins. Although small bottles they are quite filling, customers often comment on this fact and that they didn’t feel the need to snack alongside the cleanse.
They are relatively low calorie so are only suitable to do short term, and no more than once a month. Just to give your digestive system a rest, and kick start the metabolism and get you back into a healthy way of thinking. Customers do comment that the cleanse was enough to give them the boost to eat healthier, some even going on to order or food plans too.
We don’t advertise if as a diet, just as a boost to make you feel better and hopefully give you the boost you need to lead a healthier lifestyle.
We do use coconut milk on our other Juice cleanse, and feature other milks like soya and almond in our food menus, its just not been included in the Perfect cleanse.”
I still didn’t feel happy about voluntarily choosing to restrict my calories so much, so that evening I made some vegetable soup. Rather a lot in fact! But I found after tucking into my usual sized bowl, that I felt full after only a small amount, so I divided the leftovers into smaller portions.
I felt much better that evening after my comforting bowl of soup and will repeat this for the remaining Juice Cleanse days.
This is the recipe if you’re interested:
2 small sweet potatoes
2 carrots
1 onion
Can of coconut milk (400ml)
600ml vegetable stock
Paprika, cumin and black pepper
Add everything to one pot and simmier for 30-40mins, then blend.
Do you think such a low calorie intake can be beneficial? What’s your favourite soup? 🙂
Beki x
Miss Wheezy 
Hi Beki,Total respect for you trying this out and being critical from the beginning. I hope you don't take what I have to say personally as it's all directed towards the company.What absolute bullshit.Any "nutritionist" who designs a <400 calorie/day diet should be put in jail. Not to mention the debate on what a "body cleanse" actually is. Even though they put the word science on their bottles, it doesn't seem to actually match any of the real science that says your body is just fine at detoxifying itself and a calorie deficient liquid based diet doesn't stimulate or add any magical extra cleansing power.I know these topics can be controversial on blogs and like I said above I'm glad you tried it and are being critical on your blog and back towards the company. I just sorta wish these companies would go away as I do believe they're doing more harm than good. rant over Hope your hip is getting better! 🙂
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Exactly Laura! Thanks for your honest words, and I absolutely don't take it personally, because I have to say I totally agree with you! I was curious but this is has just proved to me that it is indeed mostly a "celebrity fad" based on no scientific fact. I will be putting these thoughts into my final review post. And yes, my hip is feeling better- managed a 10min run pain free on Tues, and am upping the time slowly! 🙂 x
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I'm a little shocked too that it's just 338kcal! I've been waiting for you to come back and say "oh it's a mistake, it's 33kcal per juice or summit" lol …I think you're right to supplement with soup…I know for sure my cleanse could not have been that low in calories as I was exercising and being active as normal…I think I would have died if it was so low in calories. Good luck with the rest of the days though 🙂 The links to my posts are here 🙂 http://www.keepitsimpelle.com/2013/09/post-juice-cleanse-update.html
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Thanks for sharing your posts Elle- looks like you did the Fruit Cleanse which according to the Soulmatefood website is a total of 768 calories per day. So more than double mine, but still pretty low- I'm impressed you managed to be so active! 🙂
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Blimey! That does seem really low. No wonder you've felt nauseous. Out of interest, where does the fat and protein come from in the juice cleanse? I'm always wary of eating systems (whether it is for 3 days or whatever) that trim out some food groups.
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Hi Beki, I hope you are ok! This whole thing sounds like a total disaster. Tbh when I first saw Soulmatefood's website I was somewhat dubious – no clear information regarding the juices (e.g. ?are they just something you could buy from a shopping aisle??), calorie intake (you know already that I think 338kcal is ridiculous), and the fact that it was so 'cheap' for a juice cleanse made me feel that corners had to be cut somewhere. I guess your experience just proves this?I feel like it is a shame though to tarnish all juice cleanses with the same brush. You know that I had a fantastic time on my cleanse without hiccup & whilst I agree with Laura in that the body most definitely can detox itself with functioning kidneys & a liver, I would wholeheartedly say I would do a juice cleanse again with the right company (or done by myself) – I use the term 'cleanse' to describe the days juicing despite not believing it 'cleanses' the body – I did it for reasons to retrain my tastebuds/regain some mental discipline to not reach for junk food all the time as had got caught in a destructive loop. & for me, that is exactly what it did.So yes, that is just my 2 cents! As with everything & mentioned many times before, I think it is down to each individual, & for each person to go by feel so kudos to you for giving it a go & for having your own opinions about it! x
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I cannot believe they are hawking this cleanse for less than 400 calories a day, I find that absolutely appalling. I was going to say basic human needs just for lying in bed all day would be around 1600, so I have no idea what they are thinking with a calorie count that low, your body is essentially starving at that point. This just makes me so bad, and I think company's like this give juicing a bad name. I know whenever I've juiced myself in the past, I've been getting a tonne more calories in than that and have always felt great when doing it. I just don't understand how they think something that low in calories is ok to sell.
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Protein is supposedly supplied from the broccoli, spinach, kale etc in the juices, although I'm not sure how that amount would compare to your recommended intake.
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Thanks for your comment Lucy, and for the emails and support too 🙂 I totally agree that there is nothing wrong with a Juice Cleanse in principle as a way to add more fruits and veggies to your diet, and as you say to regain some mental discipline! I know for me it was a "reset" rather than a "lose weight fast/bodydetox" process, as I agree with Laura that this is not necessary. But I'm honestly appalled that a product that is so low calorie is being marketed as something that is great for your body!x
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Yes, I calculated my BMR for being totally sedentary and that was 1400 so to try and survive on less than a third of that is just nuts! I've read your posts on home juicing, and I think that doing it yourself sounds much better when you can regulate what you put in, and make sure you're eating enough to still function and exercise as you want. Thanks for commenting! 🙂 x
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