A juice feast? Yes, I am treating myself to a juice feast this week. Meaning, I am consuming vegetable and fruit juices (blended with pastured egg yolk), coconut water and water instead of food. I thought I would post about it just to share my experience.
So it all started when.....
A friend told me about her plans to do a 15 day juice fast as she wanted to allow her body to do some deep cleaning. She is vegan, so I would say already pretty deeply cleansed, but nonetheless this was her plan. She ended up stopping the fast after three days because she lost four pounds and felt awful. However she did share the program she was following: Reboot With Joe.
I checked it out and filed it away.
In the meantime, I had been noticing a soreness or irritation after eating these past couple of weeks. It didn't seem to matter what I was eating, there would be this feeling of inflammation on the right side of my abdomen. I spoke about this with our Osteopath last week and she said the location was that of my appendix and gave me a little education in the purpose of the appendix. Yes, it has a purpose! The functions are still being understood, but one of the functions of the appendix may be to serve as a reservoir for beneficial bacteria. Another function may be to secrete an oil to lubricate part of our intestines where food must travel uphill. It may also be involved in assisting with immune system responses. She suggested that perhaps my appendix might be clogged and I may want to consider stopping probiotics for a while. I researched and found recommendations for a three day water fast followed by a light diet of alkalizing broths to help "cleanse"the appendix. Water fast.....no, not for me!
Then I remembered the Reboot With Joe site and thought why not give my body a break from digesting, keep things pretty light and flood my body with nutrients and see if it makes any difference with the irritation I am feeling? So using the Reboot program as a starting point, I began on Tuesday. I did not do a lot of prep, just ate normally the day before, though I did have a salad for diner. I am also not keen on the quantities of sweet juices on the Reboot, so I am not making my juices as sweet (using less fruit), and I do whisk in 1-2 egg yolks to each juice. These fats aid in the assimilation of the nutrients, are easily digested and help balance the sugar content of the juice. I'm using Granny Smith apple, lemon, grapefruit, carrot, beet, cucumber, kale, romaine, dandelion, parsley, ginger, and daikon radish in my juices. I use the Vitamix and strain the juice with a nut milk bag. I am not taking any of our supplements, including probiotics. I should note, this is not my DOs advice, just my own.
So far, end of day two, I feel good. Normal even. I haven't been starving, find myself full on slowly drinking the juice, water or coconut water, and am enjoying the break from eating. I miss it slightly. I am not feeling any form of die off, tiredness or other issues. I think the GAPS diet is so nourishing that taking a break from solid food, won't cause issues like my friend experienced. One thing I have noticed is a lot more plaque on my teeth, but I suppose lack of chewing allows plaque to stay on your teeth better!
My plan is to continue the feast through the day tomorrow, then see if I want to continue. I will then transition to broth based soups with cooked vegetables and egg yolks and resume normal full GAPS eating over a couple of days. I will come back and let you know if it helps with the cranky appendix.
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